Mechanisms and Consequences of Sleep Disparities in the U.S. (R01/R21)

Program Description

NIMHD promotes research to understand the underlying social, cultural, environmental, or biological factors that contribute to sleep deficiencies among minority and populations experiencing health disparities and to understand how sleep deficiencies may lead to disparities in health outcomes.

In the United States, 30% to 40% of adults and 40% to 70% of adolescents report sleep deficiencies annually. Racial/ethnic minorities and low socioeconomic status populations have the highest prevalence of sleep deficiency. Racial/ethnic minorities are also more likely than Whites to have persistent, severe, and underdiagnosed sleep disorders. Yet the underlying factors and the mechanisms contributing to disparities in healthy sleep are not well understood.

This initiative supports multidisciplinary research to understand the interplay of multiple factors and mechanisms that explain sleep disparities and their health consequences. Successful projects will examine etiology of disparities in sleep deficiencies through a socioecological framework using multi-level determinants, including individual, family/household, community, built environment, and health care factors.

Research topics of specific interest in populations experiencing health disparities include, but are not limited to, understanding the impact of sleep deficiencies across the life course; investigating how sleep deficiencies influence risk of chronic disease prevalence, morbidity, and mortality; understanding how sleep attitudes, behaviors, and practices contribute to sleep deficiencies; investigating the mechanisms through which sociocultural and environmental determinants of health contribute to disparities in circadian rhythm disruption; understanding whether and how discrimination contributes to sleep disparities; investigating the role of protective and resilience factors for healthy sleep; examining the identification, diagnosis, and treatment/management of sleep deficiencies; and investigating patient, clinician, and system/policy-level factors that predict outcomes for sleep deficiencies.

NIH Guide No.: PAR-17-234, PAR-17-235

View the list of grantees in NIH RePORTER.

Page updated Jan. 12, 2024