Daily Associations Between Ethnic and Racial Discrimination and Sleep Among Mexican-Origin Adolescents

Ethnic and racial discrimination stress is a key social determinant of sleep health, yet its day-to-day influence on Mexican-origin adolescents remains underexplored. This study focused on Mexican-origin adolescents and examined the negative effects of daily ethnic and racial discrimination stress on sleep.

The analytic sample included 256 Mexican-origin adolescents (48.8% female, 49.7% male, 1.56% non-binary; mean age = 13.50; SD = 1.11; range = 12-16 years old) residing in a suburban area in the United States Midwest. Using multi-level models that disentangle between- and within-person effects, this study assessed daily ethnic and racial discrimination stress and self-reported same-night sleep using a 21-day daily report method. Daily sleep indicators included nighttime duration, onset latency, and quality.

On days when adolescents reported higher levels of discrimination stress, they also reported longer sleep onset latency. At the between-person level, youth who reported higher levels of discrimination stress reported poorer sleep quality. Possible reciprocal dynamics between stress and sleep were tested. Results showed that at the within-person level, sleep behaviors were not associated with next-day racial discrimination. At the between-person level, adolescents who reported higher sleep quality or longer sleep duration the prior night also reported lower levels of next-day discrimination, suggesting that sleep disturbances may be associated with stress experiences.

This study highlights the importance of targeted support for Mexican-origin adolescents' sleep health especially on days when they experience ethnic and racial discrimination.