Peer and Family Effects on Urban, African-American Children's Sleep

描述(由申请人提供)：健康差距是一个重大的公共卫生问题。美国部分人口在睡眠数量和质量上存在差异，在整个生命过程中，经济上处于不利地位的有色人种普遍睡眠较差。这种差异是至关重要的，因为睡眠不足会导致健康状况变差，认知、情感和社会功能也会下降。我们来自俄亥俄州克利夫兰的数据表明，11-12岁的年龄范围是非洲裔美国儿童和白人儿童在睡眠时间和时间上出现显著差异的关键时期。根据我们的研究和其他调查，这种差距的原因可能与社会环境中的一系列因素有关。为了确定具体的社会因素，我们建议对56名11-12岁的城市非裔美国儿童进行以家庭为基础的横断面研究。这项研究将使用活动记录仪和一种新的手机传感器技术来调查两个社会因素在11-12岁非裔美国儿童睡眠时间和时间上的作用：(1)儿童同伴的影响；(2)儿童同伴的影响 家庭组织/结构的层次，反映在与睡眠有关的规则、日常生活和育儿实践中。这项研究的中心假设是，同龄人压力增加和家庭组织水平下降会导致睡眠时间延迟和睡眠持续时间缩短。此外，假设这两个因素都会通过影响家庭夜间活动来影响睡眠模式。从科学上讲，这项研究具有创新性，因为它针对的是 弱势非裔美国家庭，涉及对同辈影响和家庭组织的同时研究。在方法上，该项目具有创新性，因为它使用了Wockets身体活动测量系统，这是一种新型的手机传感器技术，可以收集更准确、实时的夜间活动和睡眠环境数据，帮助准确定位影响睡眠模式的特定因素和活动。这项研究的潜在影响很大。从方法论的角度来看，证明青少年可以有效地使用Wockets系统支持将其用作一种工具，以确定青年进行干预，为未来的干预收集数据，并在未来的干预中向青少年提供量身定制的生物反馈，以改善青少年的健康和功能。从公共卫生的角度来看，确定影响睡眠的社会因素势在必行，因为这些因素是改善睡眠的干预措施的潜在目标，避免睡眠不足和错位的负面后果，并最终有助于减少社会上的健康差距。 与公共健康相关：由于尚不清楚的原因，非裔美国人的睡眠通常比美国白人更差。这种差异很重要，因为睡眠不佳会导致健康状况变差。使用一种新的移动电话传感器技术，我们将研究城市11-12岁非裔美国人的睡眠如何受到他们的同龄人和家庭组织的影响，结果将找出帮助家庭改善青少年睡眠的方法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Health disparities are a major public health issue. Disparities in sleep quantity and quality occur among segments of the American population, with poorer sleep generally observed among economically disadvantaged persons of color throughout the life course. Such disparities are critically important because inadequate sleep leads to poorer health and cognitive, emotional, and social functioning. Our data from Cleveland, OH indicate that the age range of 11-12 years is a crucial period when substantial differences in sleep duration and timing emerge between African-American and White children. Based on our research and other investigations, the causes of this disparity likely involve a constellation of factors in the social environment. In order to identify specific social factors responsible, we propose to conduct a home-based, cross-sectional study of 56 urban African American children ages 11-12 years. The study will use actigraphy as well as a novel mobile phone-sensor technology to investigate the role of two social factors in the duration and timing of sleep in 11-12 year old African-American children: (1) the influence of child peers, and (2) the level of family organization/structure as reflected in the presence of sleep-related rules, daily routines, and parenting practices. The study's central hypothesis is that increased peer pressure and decreased level of family organization lead to delayed timing of sleep and decreased sleep duration. Moreover, both factors are hypothesized to influence sleep patterns by affecting family nighttime activity. Scientifically, the study is innovative because it targets early adolescents of disadvantaged African-American families, and involves simultaneous study of peer influence and family organization. Methodologically, the project is innovative because it uses the Wockets Physical Activity Measurement System, a novel mobile phone-sensor technology to collect more accurate, real-time data about nighttime activities and sleep environments, helping pinpoint specific factors and activities influencing sleep patterns. The study's potential impact is high. From a methodological standpoint, demonstrating that adolescents can effectively use the Wockets system supports its use as a tool to identify youth for interventions, collect data for future interventions, and provide tailored biofeedback to adolescents in future interventions to improve adolescent health and functioning. From a public health perspective, identifying social factors that influence sleep is imperative because these factors represent potential targets for interventions to improve sleep, avoid the negative consequences of insufficient, misaligned sleep, and, ultimately, help reduce health disparities in society. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: For reasons that are still unclear, the sleep of African Americans is generally worse than that of White Americans. This difference is important because poor sleep leads to poorer health. Using a new mobile phone- sensor technology, we will study how the sleep of urban 11-12 year-old African Americans is influenced by their peers and by family organization, and results will identify ways to help families to improve their adolescents' sleep.