Black college students enrolled at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) face sociocultural stressors and racialized experiences that can affect their psychological and behavioral functioning thus predisposing students to poor sleep health. Sleep satisfaction, a subjective indicator of sleep health may be affected by campus-based minority stress exposure. Ethnic identity shapes how minority stress is appraised and internalized, buffering or amplifying its association with sleep satisfaction. Sleep consistency, defined as the regularity of sleep and wake timing, represents a salient yet understudied component of sleep health in racially minoritized youth. Race-based discrimination and sleep hygiene practices may influence sleep consistency. The present study investigated sleep health among Black college students using two methodological approaches. Cross-sectional survey data (n = 247; 81.4% female; Mage = 18.91 years, SDage = 1.32) and multiple regression analyses were used to examine associations between minority status stress, ethnic identity dimensions (i.e., ethnic identity achievement and ethno-racial affect), and sleep satisfaction. Online daily diary data (n = 69; 82% female; Mage = 18.94 years, SDage = 0.97) and multilevel modeling were used to examine within-person associations between race-based discrimination, sleep hygiene practices, and sleep timing regularity. Survey results supported some of the hypothesized associations. Minority status stress, ethnic identity achievement, and negative ethno-racial affect were significantly associated with sleep satisfaction Aims 1a and 1b. However, ethnic identity achievement and negative ethno-racial affect did not moderate the association between minority status stress and sleep satisfaction Aim 1c. Daily diary findings did not support any of the hypothesized within-person associations. Neither daily discrimination nor daily sleep hygiene were significantly associated with sleep timing regularity Aims 2 and 3. Daily discrimination did not moderate the association between daily sleep hygiene and sleep timing regularity Aim 4. Further, sleep timing did not moderate the association between discrimination and sleep hygiene Aim 5. The findings suggest that the effects of race-based discrimination on sleep health may accrue through chronic exposure rather than through discrete daily incidents.
Crishnaa Joshi (Thu,) studied this question.