Community Violence Concerns and Adolescent Sleep: Physiological Regulation and Race As Moderators

Prior work has demonstrated that greater community violence concerns are associated with poor sleep quality among adolescents. However, these effects may not be uniform across all youth. The present study examined the role of individual difference variables, physiological regulation and race, as moderators of risk in the relation between adolescents' community violence concerns and their sleep. Adolescents (N = 219; 55.3% female; 69.9% White/European American, 30.1% Black/African American) participated in the study when they were 18 years old (M = 17.7 years, SD = 1.0). Physiological regulation was assessed via respiratory sinus arrhythmia, a measure of parasympathetic regulation, at rest and in response to a stressor. Adolescents wore actigraphs for 7 nights to assess their sleep duration and quality, and reported on their community violence concerns via a well-validated questionnaire. Results demonstrated a consistent pattern of interactions, such that African American adolescents who showed less adaptive patterns of regulating physiological arousal experienced shorter sleep duration and poorer sleep quality in the context of greater community violence concerns. Community violence concerns were not associated with sleep for White adolescents. The findings may suggest that race-related stressors exacerbate risk for poor sleep among African American adolescents who experience more community violence concerns and have more difficulty regulating physiological arousal. Coping strategies for managing stress and arousal may be helpful for improving sleep for some youth.