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Vicarious Racial Discrimination and Sleep Health Among Latina/o/x/Hispanic First-Year College Students: Distinctions
G Alice Woolverton1,2, Youchuan Zhang3, Xiaoping Yu3
1Department of Pediatrics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. gwoolverton@mgb.org.
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
|June 18, 2026
Summary
Vicarious racial discrimination (VRD) is linked to poor sleep outcomes in Hispanic/Latinx college students. Ethnic-racial identity exploration can worsen these sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction.
Area of Science:
- Sleep Health Research
- Racial Discrimination Studies
- Ethnic-Racial Identity
Background:
- Hispanic/Latinx college students face sleep health disparities.
- Vicarious racial discrimination (VRD) and direct racial/ethnic discrimination (DRED) are prevalent.
- Research on VRD and sleep in this population is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- Examine associations between VRD and sleep outcomes.
- Control for DRED's influence on sleep.
- Investigate ethnic-racial identity (ERI) as a moderator.
Main Methods:
- Study included 145 first-year Hispanic/Latinx students.
- Collected data on VRD, DRED, sleep disturbances, daytime dysfunction, sleep duration, and ERI.
- Utilized data from a university in the northeastern U.S.
Main Results:
- VRD correlated with more sleep disturbances, daytime dysfunction, and less sleep duration.
- After controlling for DRED, VRD still linked to sleep disturbances.
- ERI exploration intensified the negative effects of VRD on sleep and daytime function.
Conclusions:
- VRD is a distinct factor contributing to sleep disparities in Hispanic/Latinx students.
- VRD may lead to rumination, impacting sleep quality and duration.
- ERI exploration can heighten racial salience, exacerbating VRD's effects on sleep.
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