Anticipating Racism is Associated with Poorer Sleep Among Adults Racialized as Black

Racism has deleterious effects on sleep. Higher interpersonal discrimination is associated with lower sleep duration and poorer sleep quality (i.e., poor sleep) in adults who are racialized as Black, but this association is understudied across the age range of the adult lifespan. Here, we hypothesized higher racism-related vigilance is associated with poorer sleep quality and lower sleep duration in women and men.

We used a subsample of the Offspring Study of Racial and Ethnic Disparities of Alzheimer's Disease, a community-based cohort study. In adults across the lifespan racialized as Black (n = 258, 62% women, mean age = 56, SD = 11, range: 27-89), we measured the frequency of racism-related vigilance with a questionnaire on a scale from (1) at least once a week to (6) never. We measured sleep duration and sleep quality with a modified version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and evaluated associations between vigilance and sleep with linear regression models.

Higher racism-related vigilance was associated with poorer sleep quality. We observed associations between higher vigilance and lower sleep duration across the full sample, and these associations were similar among women and men.

Anticipatory experiences of racism are associated with poorer sleep quality. Specifically, the threat of racist experiences is associated with poorer sleep quality in women and men. Future research and policies should aim to reduce racism-related vigilance by intervening on negative environments that trigger vigilance responses to improve sleep quality in adults racialized as Black.