Background: African Americans (AAs) report a higher frequency of certain stressors over their lifetime which may impact biological processes that can impair sleep. For this reason, goal-striving stress (GSS), the difference between aspiration and achievement, weighted by disappointment, may contribute to poor sleep quality and suboptimal sleep duration among AAs.
Methods: We completed a cross-sectional analysis using exam 1 data (2000-2004) from the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) (n=4943). GSS was self-reported and categorized in tertiles of low, moderate, and high. Participants self-reported the number of hours they slept each night and rated their sleep quality as (1) very poor to (5) excellent. Sleep duration categories included the following: short sleep (≤6 hours), normal sleep (7-8 hours) and long sleep (≥ 9 hours). Sleep quality was categorized as high (good/very good/excellent) and low (fair/poor). Relative risk ratios (RRRs 95% confidence intervals-CI) were estimated for sleep duration and sleep quality categories by GSS using logistic regression.
Results: After full adjustment, there were no significant associations between GSS and sleep duration categories. However, participants who reported high (versus low) GSS had a 20% greater risk (1.20 95% CI: 1.01, 1.43) of low (versus high) sleep quality in the fully adjusted model.
Conclusion: The stress due to the deficit between goal aspiration and achievement was associated with poor sleep quality. Future investigations should examine the association of changes in GSS with changes in sleep duration and sleep quality.
Keywords: African Americans; Goal-striving stress; Jackson Heart Study; Psychosocial stress; Sleep duration; Sleep quality.
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