Neighborhood Stress Predicts Fear of Sleep Independently of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Chronic insufficient sleep is linked to a variety of adverse health outcomes, and African Americans have been found to have poorer sleep than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. African Americans disproportionately live in low-income disordered neighborhoods which increases their risk of trauma exposure and adversely affects their sleep. Fear of sleep is a construct linked to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We have reported a relationship between fear of sleep and insomnia in urban residing African Americans. Our objective is to report the relative contributions of neighborhood stress along with PTSD to fear of sleep. Methods The present study features a nonclinical sample of 117 African Americans (ages 18–35) who reside in DC. Results After controlling for gender, hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed that PTSD severity and perceptions of the neighborhood environment accounted for approximately 32% of the variance in sleep-related fears (∆R2 = .320, p < .001). Regression coefficients suggest that perceptions of the neighborhood (β = .360) predict sleep-related fears to a similar degree as PTSD severity (β = .368). Conclusion Results from this study have implications for interventions to help African Americans to cope with their neighborhood environments effect on their sleep.