0155 The Association Between Perceptions of Social Roles and Insomnia Symptoms Among Racial/Ethnic Diverse Women in Mid-Life

Abstract Introduction Optimal sleep quality is essential for overall health. Alarmingly, women are more likely than men to experience insomnia, with gender differences widening during mid-life. Although biological factors partially explain these differences, gendered psychosocial stressors may exacerbate these differences. Specifically, women are more likely than men to have multiple social roles, such as working and caregiving, which may increase women’s stress burden leading to increased insomnia symptoms. Most sleep studies have measured social roles objectives, ignoring how perceptions of these roles impact women’s sleep. This study examines the independent and synergistic effects perceiving social roles as rewarding and stressful on insomnia among mid-life women. Methods Using survey data from mid-life women participating in the Study of Women Across the Nation Wave 1 (n=2,325), we conducted standardized linear regressions to test the effects of rewarding and/or stressful social roles on insomnia symptoms. Scores for rewarding and stressful social roles were summed across social role categories (i.e., employment, family caregiving, being a spouse/partner, and childrearing). Insomnia symptoms were measured using the Women’s Health Initiative Insomnia Scale (WHIIRS). Because social roles can be simultaneously rewarding and stressful, we created a 4-level variable with combinations of high/low reward and stress- rewarding, ambivalent, stressful, and indifferent – to test synergistic effects. Models were adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, health conditions, and number of social roles. Results Participants had Mage=46.83(SD=2.68) and most identified as non-Latina White (50.06%), spoke English (87.53%) and were perimenopausal (70.67%). On average, participants reported WHIIRS of 4.96(SD=3.82). A one unit increase in perceiving social roles as rewarding was associated with a 0.07 unit decrease in WHIIRS (SE=0.01,p=0.003). A one unit increase in perceiving social roles as stressful was associated with a 0.13 increase in WHIIRS (SE=0.01,p 0.001). In synergistic effects models, ambivalent, stressful, and indifferent social roles were statistically significantly associated with greater WHIIRS than rewarding social roles. Conclusion Our findings suggest that reducing stress from social roles may improve insomnia symptoms among mid-life women. Tailoring evidence-based interventions, such as CBT-I, for mid-life women to address these stressors may be warranted. Future studies should leverage longitudinal designs to test the directionality of these associations. Support (if any)