Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.
J Clin Psychol. 2020 Oct;76(10):1972-1983. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22974. Epub 2020 May 14.
Racial disparities in sleep may be consequential among college students given high rates of dysfunctional sleep among this population. The present study sought to investigate whether disparities in sleep explain existing mental health disparities.
Data included secondary analysis of a college risk behaviors and health study (n = 1242, mean age = 18.5). Race was dichotomized as White or Black, excluding all others, with participants completing measures of sleep at baseline and measures of depression and anxiety at follow-up 1 to 2 years later.
Compared to White students, Black students were more likely to report lower rates of depression and anxiety, but poorer sleep outcomes. Mediation analyses revealed that sleep partially mediated (suppressed) the association between race and depressive and anxiety symptoms.
Results indicate that disparities in sleep may play an important role in the association between race and mental health symptoms among college students. Future health disparity research would benefit from exploring the potentially bidirectional relationship between sleep and mental health symptoms among college students.
鉴于大学生群体中存在较高比例的睡眠功能障碍，种族差异可能对其睡眠产生重要影响。本研究旨在探讨睡眠差异是否可以解释现有的心理健康差异。
本研究的数据来自一项大学生风险行为和健康研究的二次分析（n=1242，平均年龄 18.5 岁）。将种族分为白人或黑人，不包括其他种族，参与者在基线时完成睡眠测量，在 1 至 2 年后的随访中完成抑郁和焦虑测量。
与白人学生相比，黑人学生报告抑郁和焦虑症状的比例较低，但睡眠质量较差。中介分析显示，睡眠在一定程度上（抑制了）解释了种族与抑郁和焦虑症状之间的关联。
研究结果表明，睡眠差异可能在大学生中种族与心理健康症状之间的关联中发挥重要作用。未来的健康差异研究将受益于探索大学生中睡眠与心理健康症状之间潜在的双向关系。
