Sleep and discrimination among undergraduate students: A descriptive study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although racial and ethnic health disparities are recognized social and health issues, few studies have explored associations between sleep problems and everyday discrimination. Additionally, to date, there is little, if any, social work literature on associations of sleep and discrimination. Thus, this study explored sleep and discrimination among behavioral and health sciences students at a southeastern, public university. Students (N = 519) completed the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Sleep Scale and Everyday Discrimination Scale. A bivariate correlation analysis revealed a moderate relationship between experiences of discrimination and sleep as reported in the MOS-Sleep Problems Index II (r = .27, p < .001). Further, social work majors (n = 126) had a statistically significant difference in mean scores for sleep outcomes (M = 50.06, SD = 1.62) compared to other College of Behavioral and Health Sciences (CBHS) majors. More than 25% of Social Work majors reported MOS Sleep Problems Index II scores >60 and in general had more sleep issues than other CBHS majors. This result indicated that social worker majors had more reported sleep problems. The present study highlighted a need to address sleep as an integral part of professional self-care. Adequate sleep can contribute to health, academic performance, and effective social work practice.