Discrimination and Sleep Difficulties during Adolescence: The Mediating Roles of Loneliness and Perceived Stress

Abstract

Irregular and insufficient sleep place youth at risk for adverse psychological and physical health outcomes. Recent research indicates that discrimination constitutes a type of stressor that interferes with adolescent sleep; however, the mechanisms through which discrimination affects sleep are not well understood. This study examined whether ethnic and non-ethnic (i.e., gender, age, and height/weight) discrimination were associated with adolescents’ sleep duration, variability, and quality, and whether loneliness and perceived stress mediated these associations. An ethnically-diverse sample (42% Latino, 29% European American, 23% Asian) of adolescents (N = 316; Mage = 16.40 years, 57% girls) reported on their experiences of discrimination, perceived stress, and loneliness. Sleep duration and variability were assessed by actigraphy and sleep quality through self-reports. Ethnic discrimination was related to shorter sleep duration and both ethnic and non-ethnic discrimination were associated with worse sleep quality. Loneliness and perceived stress partially mediated the relation between discrimination and sleep quality. Discriminatory experiences can heighten feelings of loneliness and stress, which, in turn, may contribute to diminished sleep quality during adolescence.

Perceptions of Pubertal Timing and Discrimination Among African American and Caribbean Black Girls

“…Perceived pubertal timing may be linked to gender discrimination since the physical changes of puberty result in a heightened awareness of gender identity and gender roles (Hill & Lynch, ). Yet, prior research using the Everyday Discrimination Scale among ethnic/racial minority adolescents indicates a small minority chose gender as a discrimination attribution consistent with the current results (see El‐Sheikh, Tu, Saini, Fuller‐Rowell, & Buckhalt, ; Majeno, Tsai, Huynh, McCreath, & Fuligni, ). Lastly, it is possible that Black girls may report more discrimination experiences when physical differences are more noticeable, and research is needed to examine discrimination experiences during the beginning of the pubertal transition when early maturing Black girls are the only ones in their age cohort showing visible signs of pubertal development.…”

Developmental trends in sleep during adolescents' transition to young adulthood

“…During the phone conversation, the staff obtained verbal consent and scheduled a visit for families who confirmed their wish to participate in the study. Written consents were obtained during the first visit, which took place in Previously-published papers from this project have examined the link between sleep and inflammation [6], HPA-axis functioning [27], mood [28], discrimination [29] and family stress [30], using data from only the first wave of the study during high school.…”

Trajectories of Early Adolescent Loneliness: Implications for Physical Health and Sleep

“…In older adolescents, loneliness has been associated with subjective sleep outcomes such as quality and daytime dysfunction (Matthews et al 2017), but not related to objective measures such as sleep duration and latency (Doane and Thurston 2014). Majeno et al (2018) highlight the importance of loneliness and social stress, suggesting loneliness partially mediates the relationship between discrimination and sleep in adolescents.…”