The impact of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on early adolescent sleep disturbances for youth exposed to adverse childhood experiences

Background

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may increase the risk for adolescent sleep disturbances, though the impact of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES) remains unclear.

Objective

We sought to determine the direct and moderating impact of race, ethnicity, family SES, and community SES on sleep disturbances across early adolescence for ACE-exposed youth.

Participants and setting

This secondary analysis used longitudinal Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study® data (2016–2022) from youth who experienced ≥1 ACE by age 9–10 years.

Methods

Clinically significant sleep disturbances were identified from the annual parent-reported Sleep Disturbances Scale for Children. Parents reported youths' race, ethnicity, family SES, and community SES at baseline. Multilevel mixed effects logistic regression modeling examined the impact of race, ethnicity, and SES on sleep disturbances over four years among ACE-exposed youth. Adjusted odds ratios with 95 % confidence intervals are presented (adj. OR [95 % CI]).

Results

Among 6661 youth with ACE exposure, 2402 (36.1 %) had clinically significant sleep disturbances at baseline. Multiracial (versus White) youth were 27 % likelier to have clinically significant sleep disturbances over time (adj. OR 1.27 [95 % CI 1.01, 1.59]). Similar results were found for youth exposed to ≥2 family financial adversities (adj. OR 1.50 [95 % CI 1.19, 1.90]). There were no effects of community SES, nor interaction effects of race, ACEs, or SES on sleep disturbances.

Conclusion

While Multiracial youth may experience additional stressors which affect sleep disturbances, regularly assessing family environments and supporting all families to meet basic needs may positively impact adolescent sleep.