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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sleep
Sec. Sleep, Behavior and Mental Health
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frsle.2024.1403818
This article is part of the Research Topic Beyond Rest: Exploring the Bidirectional Relationship and Intersecting Pathways of Sleep and Physical Health View all 3 articles

Associations between Recession Hardships and Subjective and Objective Sleep Measures in the Midlife in the United States Study: Race and Gender Differences

Provisionally accepted
Aarti C. Bhat Aarti C. Bhat *Jose A. Diaz Jose A. Diaz Sun Ah Lee Sun Ah Lee David M. Almeida David M. Almeida Soomi Lee Soomi Lee
  • The Pennsylvania State University (PSU), University Park, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives: This study investigates the associations of retrospective reports of Recession hardships with 10-year changes in subjective and objective indicators of sleep, and whether these associations differ by race and gender.Methods: 501 adults (14.57% Black; 54.49% female) from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study reported on the subjective Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) across two waves (pre-Recession, collected 2004-2009; post-Recession, collected 2017-2022), as well as Recession hardships since 2008. A sub-sample of 201 adults (25.37% Black; 58.21% female) provided objective actigraphy-measured sleep data (total sleep time, sleep onset latency, sleep efficiency) across the two waves.Results: Descriptive analyses revealed Black participants had higher average Recession hardships, poorer post-Recession PSQI scores, and poorer post-Recession actigraphy sleep quantity and quality compared to white participants. Females had higher average Recession hardships compared to males; and reported poorer post-Recession PSQI, but had better objective post-Recession sleep quantity and quality compared to males. Regression models showed Recession hardships (across overall events, and sub-domains of financial and housing hardships) were associated with poorer PSQI and actigraphy-measured sleep efficiency following the Recession, adjusting for sociodemographic covariates, corresponding pre-Recession sleep variables, and pre-Recession chronic conditions. There was no evidence for significant moderation by race on sleep outcomes. However, gender moderation indicated associations between housing hardships and poorer actigraphy-measured sleep efficiency were more apparent for females than for males.Findings indicate that Recession hardships (particularly in financial and housing domains) may be manifested in poor sleep. Racial and gender groups may have differential exposure and sleep-related reactivity to Recession hardships.

    Keywords: Recession, stress, Sleep, social determinants of health, midlife, Actigraphy

    Received: 20 Mar 2024; Accepted: 10 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Bhat, Diaz, Lee, Almeida and Lee. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Aarti C. Bhat, The Pennsylvania State University (PSU), University Park, United States

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