Examination of Neighborhood Disadvantage and Sleep in a Multi-Ethnic Cohort of Adolescents

Wendy M. Troxel, Regina A. Shih, Brett Ewing, Joan S. Tucker, Alvin Kristian Nugroho, Elizabeth J. D'Amico

ResearchPosted on rand.org Apr 11, 2017Published in: Health & Place, Volume 45, May 2017, Pages 39-45. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2017.03.002

Purpose

Neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage and lower individual-level socioeconomic status are associated with poorer sleep health in adults. However, few studies have examined the association between neighborhood-level disadvantage and sleep in adolescents, a population at high-risk for sleep disturbances.

Methods

The current study is the first to examine how objective (i.e. via census tract-level data) and subjective measures of neighborhood disadvantage are associated with sleep in a racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of 2493 youth [Non-Hispanic White (20%), Hispanic (46%), Asian (21%), and Multiracial/ Other (13%)].

Results

Findings indicated that greater perceived neighborhood-level social cohesion and lower neighborhood-level poverty were associated with better sleep outcomes in adolescents. However, there was some evidence that the magnitude of the associations differed according to family-level socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that subjective and objective neighborhood characteristics may affect the sleep health of older adolescents, with certain demographic subgroups being particularly vulnerable.

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Document Details

  • Copyright: 2017 Elsevier B.V
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • Availability: Non-RAND
  • Year: 2017
  • Pages: 7
  • Document Number: EP-67090

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