Within-Person Associations between Racial Microaggressions and Sleep among African American and Latinx Young Adults

• In Event: Antecedents and Consequences of Sleep Patterns and Ethnic-Racial Discrimination among Ethnically-Racially Diverse Youth

Abstract

Background. Emerging work suggests that experiences of racial discrimination may impact overall sleep health; however, there is limited work on the link between racial microaggressions and sleep. Using a critical race theory lens, the current study sought to explicitly examine the contributing role of racism in sleep health inequities among college students. Critical race theory calls for researchers to ensure racial equity remains at the forefront, seeks to raise the voices of the racially/ethnically marginalized, and exposes racism as an everyday occurrence that is experienced by the marginalized. While it is understood that racial discrimination has adverse effects on sleep, there is a dearth of studies examining how racial microaggressions associate with sleep outcomes longitudinally. The current study extends this research by examining the link between racial microaggressions and three indices of sleep functioning among African American and Latinx young adults. Specifically, we examined young adults’ weekly reports of racial microaggressions across 4 weeks and their relation to weekly reports of sleep onset latency, reduced total sleep time, and poorer sleep quality. This design allowed us to examine how within-person fluctuations in racial microaggressions corresponded with young adults’ sleep.

Method. Data were collected among 140 African American (62.1%) and Latinx (37.9%) college students attending a Midwestern University. Students were randomly selected to participate; they were, on average, 20.70 years old (SD = 1.22) and majority female (69.3%). Participants self-reported their racial microaggressions and sleep behaviors (i.e., sleep onset latency, total sleep time, and sleep quality) each week (across 4 weeks).

Results. Multilevel modeling showed significant within-person effects of racial microaggressions for sleep onset and sleep quality, but not for total sleep duration. Specifically, on weeks that individuals reported increases in racial microaggressions, they reported greater sleep onset duration and poorer sleep quality. The current findings provide preliminary evidence that racial microaggressions are associated with sleep onset durations and sleep quality among African American and Latinx young adults (see Table 1).

Conclusions. Although racial microaggressions are often considered subtle, they may impact the sleep health of young adults in marginalized groups. Study findings provide directions for future research and implications for marginalized college students’ clinical care. Results of this research suggest that providing Black and Latinx college students with self-care coping strategies, and especially concrete strategies to disarm racial microaggressions, is necessary. The direct linkages between poorer sleep outcomes and racial microaggressions underscore the need for monitoring sleep health, while treating students’ mental health concerns using microintervention strategies in outpatient settings. Collectively, the current racial discrimination and sleep findings are clinically meaningful, given Black and Latinx students are more likely to experience poorer sleep outcome as a consequence of discrimination.

Authors

• Mattina Davenport, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Presenting Author

• Antoinette M. Landor, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Katharine Zeiders, University of Arizona
  Non-Presenting Author

• Evelyn Danilova Sarsar, University of Arizona
  Non-Presenting Author

• Melissa Flores, University of Arizona
  Non-Presenting Author