Racial Differences in Sleep Outcomes in the First Two Years of College

Area of Science:

• Sleep science
• Health disparities
• Adolescent and young adult health

Background:

• College students face unique challenges impacting sleep.
• Ethnic and racial disparities in sleep are understudied during the critical transition to higher education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the longitudinal trajectories of sleep disparities across ethnic and racial groups during the first two years of college.
• To examine changes in multiple sleep dimensions including duration, bedtime, risetime, and efficiency.

Main Methods:

• Utilized wrist actigraphy to objectively measure sleep patterns in a diverse cohort of 451 first-year college students.
• Collected sleep data for two weeks each semester over four semesters.
• Analyzed sleep dimensions across Asian, Black, Latinx, multiracial, and White students.

Main Results:

• Significant ethnic and racial disparities in sleep dimensions emerged and persisted over the first two years of college.
• White students showed the most sleep improvement, with increased sleep duration and stable sleep efficiency.
• Black and Latinx students had later wake times; White and multiracial students had earlier bedtimes; Asian students had no significant changes in bedtime or wake time.
• All racial and ethnic minority groups experienced a decline in sleep efficiency.

Conclusions:

• Persisting ethnic and racial disparities in sleep duration, timing, and efficiency are evident among diverse college students.
• Findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to address sleep inequities in vulnerable student populations.
• Objective sleep measures reveal differential sleep health trajectories based on race and ethnicity in emerging adults.