Sociocultural Influences of Sleep Health Among Latinx Youth
Abstract
Sleep is critical to the development of adolescents. However, insufficient sleep duration and quality are frequently reported among Latinx youth in the United States, often attributed to experiences of racial discrimination and sociocultural stress. Despite the well-documented impacts of racial discrimination, little is known about the implications of other sociocultural factors that may promote or otherwise influence sleep health. Based on previous models of ethnic-identity development and socio-ecological influences on sleep, the current study explored associations between actigraphy-measured sleep processes (sleep duration, sleep quality, and waking minutes) and three key sociocultural factors among Latinx adolescents: racial discrimination, ethnic identity affirmation, and bicultural comfort. Participants included 55 adolescents, aged 11 – 15 years old, that completed four consecutive nights of surveys, daily diary logs, and wore actiwatches. Multilevel models were used to examine between and within-person differences between key sociocultural factors and sleep processes. There were no significant differences found between racial discrimination and sleep in either the between-person or within-person levels. However, both between-person and day-to-day effects were observed with sociocultural factors of ethnic identity affirmation and bicultural comfort. These findings suggest that ways in which Latinx youth perceive their identity and interacting with members of other ethnicities may influence their sleep outcomes.
Subject Area
Psychology|Clinical psychology
Recommended Citation
Pathak, Ayurda, "Sociocultural Influences of Sleep Health Among Latinx Youth" (2023). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30486045.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30486045
