Sleep Disparities and Psychosocial Stressors in Diverse Populations

Sleep disparities emerge from the interplay of social, economic and environmental factors that differentially affect population groups. Marginalised communities frequently experience shorter and more fragmented sleep, irregular circadian timing and higher rates of sleep disorders, driven in part by psychosocial stressors such as socioeconomic hardship, discrimination, neighbourhood disadvantage and work schedule instability. These stressors activate physiological stress systems, elevate allostatic load and disrupt sleep–wake regulation, thereby compounding risks for cardiometabolic disease, cognitive decline and mental health disturbances. Intersectional influences of race, ethnicity, gender and culture shape both exposure to stressors and coping strategies, resulting in varied sleep health profiles across and within diverse groups. Understanding the multidimensional causes of sleep disparities is essential for designing culturally informed, multilevel interventions that promote sleep equity, improve population health and reduce the burden of chronic disease globally.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have elucidated ancestral and demographic influences on sleep and circadian characteristics that may underlie vulnerability to misaligned sleep schedules. One investigation assessed young adults of differing racial backgrounds at high or low risk for mood disorder, combining objective actigraphy, salivary melatonin profiles and self‐reported sleep diaries. It revealed that Black participants exhibited shorter total sleep time, lower sleep efficiency and delayed melatonin onset relative to White participants, independent of clinical risk, highlighting innate and social contributions to sleep health. Another experimental study compared phase shifts of the internal clock following large advances or delays in sleep–wake timing, simulating jet lag and night‐shift conditions. It demonstrated that individuals of African ancestry experienced smaller phase delays and advances than those of European ancestry, linked to shorter intrinsic circadian period. These findings underscore the role of inherited circadian traits in responses to environmental demands and may inform personalised strategies for shift workers and travellers in ethnically diverse settings.

Sleep Disparities and Psychosocial Stressors in Diverse Populations publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in sleep disparities and psychosocial stressors in diverse populations across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Circadian rhythm: The internal biological clock that regulates daily cycles of sleep and wakefulness in response to light and social cues.

Sleep latency: The interval between “lights out” and the onset of sleep, used as an indicator of sleep initiation difficulties.

Psychosocial stressors: External demands arising from social, economic or interpersonal contexts that tax an individual’s adaptive capacity and affect sleep regulation.

Allostatic load: The cumulative physiological wear and tear resulting from chronic activation of stress response systems, often linked to disturbed sleep.

References

1. Mid-life sleep is associated with cognitive performance later in life in aging American Indians: data from the Strong Heart Study. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience (2024).
2. Photovoice for leveraging traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine amongst black adults to improve sleep health and overall health. Frontiers in Public Health (2024).
3. A workshop report on the causes and consequences of sleep health disparities. Sleep (2020).
4. Circadian rhythm phase shifts and endogenous free-running circadian period differ between African-Americans and European-Americans. Scientific Reports (2015).
5. Sex and race influence objective and self-report sleep and circadian measures in emerging adults independently of risk for bipolar spectrum disorder. Scientific Reports (2020).