Perceptions of Falling Behind "Most White People": Within-Group Status Comparisons Predict Fewer Positive Emotions and Worse Health Over Time Among White (but Not Black) Americans.

Despite the persistence of anti-Black racism, White Americans report feeling worse off than Black Americans. We suggest that some White Americans may report low well-being despite high group-level status because of perceptions that they are falling behind their in-group. Using census-based quota sampling, we measured status comparisons and health among Black (N = 452, Wave 1) and White (N = 439, Wave 1) American adults over a period of 6 to 7 weeks. We found that Black and White Americans tended to make status comparisons within their own racial groups and that most Black participants felt better off than their racial group, whereas most White participants felt worse off than their racial group. Moreover, we found that White Americans' perceptions of falling behind "most White people" predicted fewer positive emotions at a subsequent time, which predicted worse sleep quality and depressive symptoms in the future. Subjective within-group status did not have the same consequences among Black participants.

Sleepiness Moderates the Associations between Personality and Financial Risk Tolerance and Spending Habits among College Students.

OBJECTIVES: Personality and sleep characteristics are related to financial attitudes and behaviors. However, to our knowledge no study has examined how personality and sleep may be conjointly associated with these financial outcomes. The present study examined sleepiness as a moderator of the associations between college students' personality traits and financial risk tolerance and spending habits. METHODS: Undergraduates (N = 177, 77% women, 78% White) self-reported their personality traits and sleepiness using well-established questionnaires. Financial attitudes and behaviors were assessed via students' self-reported responses to a set of scenarios assessing risk tolerance as well as their spending habits over the prior two weeks. RESULTS: Multiple regression analyses were run. Across five significant two-way interactions, high levels of sleepiness exacerbated risk for greater financial risk tolerance and higher spending among those characterized by high open-mindedness and low neuroticism, whereas low sleepiness increased protection for lower risk tolerance and less spending among those high in agreeableness and conscientiousness. CONCLUSIONS: Sleepiness may act as both a vulnerability and protective factor in relations between personality and financial attitudes and behaviors. Improvements in sleepiness, which is modifiable via intervention, may have significant implications for individuals' financial well-being.

Beliefs That White People Are Poor, Above and Beyond Beliefs That Black People Are Poor, Predict White (But Not Black) Americans' Attitudes Toward Welfare Recipients and Policy.

In past work, White Americans' beliefs about Black poverty have predicted lower perceived work ethic of the poor, and, thus, less welfare support. In this article, we examine whether beliefs about White poverty predict more positive attributions about the poor among three representative samples of White Americans. Study 1 reveals that White (but not Black) Americans' White-poor beliefs predict increased perceptions that welfare recipients are hardworking, which predict more welfare support. Study 2 demonstrates that the link between White Americans' White-poor beliefs and the humanization of welfare recipients is stronger among White Americans who feel intergroup status threat (i.e., those who hold racial zero-sum beliefs). Study 3 replicates and extends Study 2 by using an experimental approach. Together, these data suggest that White Americans' White-poor beliefs function to humanize welfare recipients as a means to justify policies that could help the ingroup, preserving the racial status quo.

Associations between parental involvement at bedtime and young children's evening cortisol and nighttime sleep.

Parents are theorized to play an important role in helping young children to downregulate arousal to achieve sufficient and good-quality sleep. To my knowledge, however, the links between parenting and children's physiological arousal at bedtime and subsequent nighttime sleep have not been empirically tested. The present study examined 3- to 6-year-old children's evening cortisol levels as a pathway linking parental involvement at bedtime to children's nighttime sleep duration and quality. Fifty-one children (53% male, 47% female; 80% White, 18% Biracial, 2% Black) and their families participated. Parental involvement (presence, contact, quiet activities) was assessed by raters from video recordings of one night of bedtime. Children's evening cortisol levels were measured from saliva samples taken at bedtime by parents across three nights. Children's nighttime sleep (minutes, efficiency) was determined from an actigraph worn the same three nights. Path analyses controlling for child and family demographics provided support for three significant indirect effects: lower child evening cortisol acted as a pathway linking greater parental presence at bedtime to more child nighttime sleep minutes and higher sleep efficiency, and lower child evening cortisol also linked greater parental contact at bedtime to higher sleep efficiency. Among this low-risk sample, the findings suggest that encouraging parental involvement in young children's bedtime routine may promote healthy sleep by way of reduced child physiological arousal.

Bedtime parenting practices and sensitivity are associated with young children's sleep.

Previous research has utilized naturalistic observations of parent-child interactions at bedtime to identify constellations of specific parenting behaviors and qualities that predict better infant nighttime sleep. Little work, however, has naturalistically examined associations between aspects of bedtime parenting and nighttime sleep among young children. The present study assessed observed parenting practices and sensitivity in the context of bedtime as predictors of 3-6-year-olds' sleep. Participants were 51 children (53% boys; 80% White, 18% biracial, 2% Black) and their families. Trained raters coded video recordings of bedtime for parenting practices (parental presence, contact, quiet activities; children's technology use) and sensitivity. Children's nighttime sleep (minutes, efficiency) was assessed across seven nights using actigraphy. Partial correlation analyses controlling for child and family demographics showed that more quiet activities, greater parenting sensitivity, and less child technology use at bedtime were associated with longer and more efficient sleep. There were also several significant interactions. Longer parental presence and contact at bedtime were associated with better sleep (minutes, efficiency) for children who experienced high but not low parenting sensitivity. Lower child technology use in combination with higher parental presence was also associated with longer and more efficient child sleep. The findings illuminate aspects of the bedtime context that may promote emotional security and reduce physiological and cognitive arousal in young children. These naturalistic observations may readily translate into intervention programming targeting improvement in young children's sleep. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Sleep disturbances moderate the association between effortful control and executive functioning in early childhood.

Executive functioning, composed of higher-order cognitive skills, rapidly develops in early childhood and is foundational for school readiness and school-age academic achievement. Identifying constellations of factors that are related to the development of executive functioning may inform interventions that prepare children for academic success. This study examined sleep disturbances as a moderator of the association between effortful control, defined as temperament-based self-regulation, and executive functioning among young children. Multiple regressions controlling for child gender and age and caregiver education tested the study research question. Participants were 54 children (Mage = 4.25 years, SD = 0.98; 56% male, 85% White) and their primary caregivers. Caregivers reported on children's effortful control and sleep disturbances via questionnaire, and executive functioning was objectively measured using two well-validated assessment tools. Results showed that high effortful control was associated with better performance on both executive functioning tasks for children with few sleep disturbances. Effortful control was not related to executive functioning in the context of high levels of sleep disturbances. Thus, children whose caregivers observed them to have a temperamental predisposition for higher self-regulation as well as fewer sleep disturbances had the highest executive functioning, suggesting that better-quality sleep may enhance the association between high effortful control and children's executive functioning. Self-regulation and sleep both are responsive to intervention and may be useful targets to improve executive functioning and in turn academic preparedness and success.

Longitudinal associations between adolescents' sleep and adjustment: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia as a moderator.

Sleep and autonomic nervous system functioning are important bioregulatory systems. Poor sleep and low baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a measure of parasympathetic nervous system activity, are associated with externalizing behaviors and depressive symptoms in youth. Rarely, however, have measures of these systems been examined conjointly. The present study examined baseline RSA (RSA-B) as a moderator of longitudinal relations between adolescent sleep and adjustment. Participants were 256 adolescents (52% girls, 66% White/European American, 34% Black/African American) from small towns and surrounding rural communities in the southeastern United States. Sleep (minutes, efficiency, variability in minutes and efficiency) was assessed at age 15 via actigraphs across seven nights. RSA-B was derived from electrocardiogram data collected at rest. Adolescents self-reported externalizing problems and depressive symptoms at ages 15 and 17. Controlling for age 15 adjustment, findings generally demonstrated that sleep predicted age 17 adjustment particularly at higher (rather than lower) levels of RSA-B, such that adolescents with good sleep (more minutes and lower variability) and high RSA-B were at lowest risk for maladjustment. The results highlight the value of examining multiple bioregulatory processes conjointly and suggest that promoting good sleep habits and regulation of physiological arousal should support adolescent adjustment.

Bidirectional Relations Between Sleep and Emotional Distress in College Students: Loneliness as a Moderator.

Mental health symptoms are of increasing concern among college students in the United States and are often associated with insufficient sleep. However, the predictive relations between sleep and mental health are not well understood. The present study examined the daily, bidirectional associations between multiple sleep variables (subjective rating of morning restedness, objective measurement of nighttime sleep minutes) and college students' feelings of emotional distress. Self-reported loneliness was assessed as a moderator of these bidirectional relations. Participants were 101 undergraduate students (80% women) attending a liberal arts college in the northeastern United States. Students wore an actigraph to monitor nighttime sleep minutes across four weeknights (Monday-Thursday). They self-reported loneliness on the first day of the study and completed daily electronic assessments regarding restedness and emotional distress (worry, stress) each day for the remainder of the week. Multilevel modeling analyses demonstrated that greater restedness was predictive of less worry and stress that day. Further, the associations between better sleep (more rested, more nighttime sleep minutes) and less distress were stronger for less lonely students. In contrast, none of the distress indices were directly predictive of next-day restedness or nighttime sleep minutes, though one significant interaction demonstrated that the association between less worry and feeling more rested the next day was stronger for students who reported low compared to high loneliness. Together, the results point to sleep as a stronger influence on emotional distress than the reverse pathway and may suggest that social connection facilitates the positive influence of good sleep on student mental health.

Racial disparities in adolescent sleep duration: Physical activity as a protective factor.

Objectives: Short sleep duration compromises adolescents' functioning across many domains, yet risk for short sleep is not evenly distributed among youth in the United States. Significant Black-White disparities in sleep duration have been observed, with Black/African American youth on average sleeping fewer minutes per night than their White/European American peers. However, not all Black adolescents have short sleep, and identification of moderators of effects, including protective and vulnerability factors in the association between race/ethnicity and sleep duration, is warranted. We examined whether engagement in physical activity attenuates the gap in sleep duration between Black and White teenagers. Method: A sample of 246 adolescents (Mage = 15.79 years; 32.9% Black, 67.1% White) reported on their physical activity and participated in 1 week of at-home actigraphic sleep assessment, which was used to derive sleep duration (minutes scored as asleep from sleep onset to wake time). Results: At higher levels of physical activity, relatively long sleep duration was observed for all youth regardless of their race/ethnicity. However, at lower levels of physical activity, an association emerged between race and sleep minutes, illustrating that youth most at risk for shorter sleep were Black adolescents with lower physical activity. Conclusions: Findings suggest that for Black adolescents, physical activity is a protective factor against short sleep duration and, conversely, low physical activity is a vulnerability factor. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The policy implications of feeling relatively low versus high status within a privileged group.

Research suggests that White Americans oppose welfare due to between-group processes: Many White Americans envision welfare recipients to be lazy, undeserving, and Black, and these perceptions predict reduced welfare support. In the present work, we consider the role of within-group processes that result from complementary beliefs that White people, as a group, are wealthy. Using a nationally representative sample of White and Black Americans (Study 1) and two large samples of White Americans (Study 2 and Study 3; N = 2,000), we find that many White Americans feel relatively lower status than their racial group. Furthermore, these perceived within-group status disparities are associated with reduced stereotyping of welfare recipients as lazy, which mediates greater policy support. Finally, we demonstrate that leading White Americans to take ownership of their racial privilege can increase perceptions of within-group status. And these shifts in within-group status have downstream consequences for attitudes toward welfare recipients and policies (replicating our previous two studies). We conclude that consideration of both between-group and within-group processes may provide a fuller understanding of how group-level privilege shapes White Americans' support (or lack thereof) for hierarchy-attenuating policy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Sleep and development in adolescence in the context of socioeconomic disadvantage.

INTRODUCTION: Sleep problems are associated with negative developmental outcomes in youth, and identification of vulnerability and protective factors is needed to explicate for whom and under which conditions adolescents may be most at risk. Towards this end, we examined socio-economic status (SES) as a moderator of associations between multiple sleep parameters and adolescents' socio-emotional adjustment and cognitive functioning. METHODS: Participants were 272 adolescents (M age = 17.3 years; 49% girls) and their parents, residing in the Southeastern U.S.A. The sample was socioeconomically diverse and included 41% Black/African American and 59% White/European American youth. Using a cross-sectional design, adolescents' sleep was assessed with actigraphy (total sleep minutes; efficiency indicated by % of time asleep from sleep onset to wake time) and self-reports of sleep quality (sleep-wake problems). Mothers reported on youths' internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and cognitive functioning was assessed with a standardized test battery. RESULTS: Moderation effects were found and illustrated that, for youth from families with lower SES, shorter and less efficient sleep and subjective sleep problems were associated with higher levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms as well as lower cognitive performance. Conversely, longer and better-quality sleep protected against socio-emotional and cognitive difficulties otherwise observed for socioeconomically disadvantaged youth. Fewer relations between sleep and adjustment emerged for adolescents from families with higher SES. CONCLUSIONS: Results reinforce a growing literature indicating that the relation between sleep and adjustment is stronger for youth from families with lower SES, who may especially benefit from better sleep.

Socioeconomic status and sleep in adolescence: The role of family chaos.

Low socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with poor sleep in youth, yet mechanisms underlying this association are not well-understood. The present study examined greater chaos as a mediator of associations between low SES and 2 indices of poor sleep. Two hundred fifty-two adolescents (53% girls; 66% White/European American, 34% Black/African American) participated in the 3-wave longitudinal study. The sample was socioeconomically diverse. At age 16, parents reported on 2 indices of SES: family income and perceived economic well-being. Adolescents reported on chaos within their family at age 17 and on 2 key sleep-wake processes-sleep quality and daytime sleepiness-at age 18. Family chaos functioned as a mediating or intervening variable in longitudinal associations between lower SES and both poorer sleep quality and greater daytime sleepiness. The findings suggest the potential utility of targeting family level processes that exemplify chaos, such as unpredictability, noise, and interruptions, to improve sleep among adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

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.

Dynamic patterns of marital conflict: Relations to trajectories of adolescent adjustment.

The deleterious effects of marital conflict on youth outcomes are well-documented in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. To date, longitudinal studies have focused on repeated measures of youths' outcomes and the temporal dynamics of marital conflict have largely been ignored. Marital conflict changes over time as contextual and relationship characteristics change, and these patterns of change may provide unique predictive power in accounting for differences in youth outcomes. This study provides a novel exploration of an old idea by focusing on dynamic patterns of marital conflict in predicting trajectories of adolescents' adjustment. All variables were measured at ages 16, 17, and 18 with 252 adolescents (53% female) enrolled in the longitudinal Family Stress and Youth Development Study. Latent growth curve models with latent variable interactions were used to determine whether marital conflict at age 16 (intercept), change over time in marital conflict (slope), and the intercept-slope interaction predicted change over time in adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms and levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms at age 18. Youth exposed to high and increasing levels of marital conflict reported high and stable levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms across adolescence. Adolescents exposed to low and decreasing levels of marital conflict had consistently fewer symptoms. Furthermore, exposure to initially low but increasing levels of marital conflict was associated with increases in problems across adolescence, which contrasted with findings for youth with initially high marital conflict exposure that decreased over time. Findings are discussed in relation to both conceptual and methodological advances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

What does a good night's sleep mean? Nonlinear relations between sleep and children's cognitive functioning and mental health.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: We attempted to identify the duration and quality of sleep associated with the optimal child outcomes in key developmental domains including cognitive functioning, academic performance, and mental health. In doing so, we examined nonlinear associations between the sleep and developmental variables. Based on racial/ethnic disparities in children's sleep, we assessed this variable as a moderator of examined relations. METHODS: Two hundred eighty-two children participated (Mage = 9.4 years, SD = .72; 52% boys; 65% white/European American, 35% black/African American). Sleep was examined with actigraphy for seven consecutive nights and with self-reports. Actigraphy-based sleep duration (minutes) and quality (efficiency), as well as self-reported sleep quality were derived. Children reported on their mental health and were administered cognitive performance tests. Mothers and teachers reported on children's mental health; teachers also reported on academic functioning. Schools provided academic achievement data. RESULTS: Sleep duration had an accelerating nonlinear negative association with externalizing behaviors. Nonlinear associations were also detected between both actigraphy-derived and subjective reports of sleep quality and multiple developmental domains including academic functioning and mental health and the best functioning corresponded with the highest levels of sleep quality. Emphasizing the importance of individual differences, several examined associations were moderated by race/ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep duration and quality emerged as nonlinear predictors of multiple domains of child development. Findings illustrate that the benefits of longer and better-quality sleep did not taper off and that assessments of nonlinear relations may enhance understanding of the nature of associations between sleep and child functioning.

Sleepiness as a pathway linking race and socioeconomic status with academic and cognitive outcomes in middle childhood.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined self-reported sleepiness as a pathway of effects underlying racial and socioeconomic disparities in children's academic and cognitive performance. DESIGN: The study design was longitudinal, and path modeling was used to test study hypotheses. SETTING: Data were collected from participants residing in semirural communities and small towns surrounding Auburn, AL. PARTICIPANTS: Children (N = 282; 52% boys) participated in the study when they were 9 (M = 9.44, SD = .71) and 11 (M = 11.33, SD = .69) years old. The sample was 65% White/European American and 35% Black/African American. The majority of the children (63%) were living at or below the poverty line. MEASUREMENTS: At age 9, children reported on their daytime sleepiness over the prior 2 weeks. At ages 9 and 11, children completed cognitive assessments in the laboratory, teachers reported on children's academic functioning, and schools provided state (Alabama) standardized test scores. RESULTS: African American children and children from lower socioeconomic status homes reported greater sleepiness. Greater sleepiness, in turn, predicted lower academic functioning, cognitive performance, and Alabama standardized test scores. Sleepiness was a significant intervening variable, but not a mediator, in these pathways. Race was a stronger predictor of sleepiness than socioeconomic status when both were entered in the same model. CONCLUSIONS: Results highlight sleepiness as a pathway of effects linking race and socioeconomic status to academic and cognitive outcomes. Psychoeducation targeting sleepiness for African American and lower-socioeconomic status children may be beneficial for boosting achievement.

Marital conflict and trajectories of adolescent adjustment: The role of autonomic nervous system coordination.

The present study investigates how coordination between stress responsivity of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) moderates the prospective effects of marital conflict on internalizing and externalizing symptoms across adolescence. Although an important avenue for psychophysiological research concerns how PNS and SNS responses jointly influence adjustment in the context of stress, these processes have rarely been studied in adolescence or longitudinally. Participants were 252 youth (53% female, 66% European American, 34% African American) who participated in laboratory assessments when they were 16, 17, and 18 years old. PNS activity (measured via respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) and SNS activity (measured via skin conductance level [SCL]) were assessed during a resting baseline and in response to a laboratory-based challenge (star tracing). Parents and adolescents both reported on marital conflict and adolescents reported on their internalizing and externalizing symptoms. At higher levels of marital conflict, coactivation of PNS and SNS activity, characterized by increased RSA and increased SCL from baseline to challenge, predicted elevated internalizing symptoms and an increase in externalizing behavior across adolescence. Coinhibition, or decreased activity across both systems, also predicted an increase in internalizing symptoms over time. At lower levels of marital conflict, internalizing and externalizing symptoms were relatively low. Findings extend primarily cross-sectional work with younger children by demonstrating that coordination between the two branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) moderates the longitudinal effects of marital conflict on psychological and behavioral maladjustment among adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record

Neighborhood Economic Deprivation and Social Fragmentation: Associations With Children's Sleep.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: A growing body of work indicates that experiences of neighborhood disadvantage place children at risk for poor sleep. This study aimed to examine how both neighborhood economic deprivation (a measure of poverty) and social fragmentation (an index of instability) are associated with objective measures of the length and quality of children's sleep. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 210 children (54.3% boys) living predominantly in small towns and semirural communities in Alabama. On average children were 11.3 years old (SD = .63); 66.7% of the children were European American and 33.3% were African American. The sample was socioeconomically diverse with 67.9% of the participants living at or below the poverty line and 32.1% from lower-middle-class or middle-class families. METHODS: Indicators of neighborhood characteristics were derived from the 2012 American Community Survey and composited to create two variables representing neighborhood economic deprivation and social fragmentation. Child sleep period, actual sleep minutes, and efficiency were examined using actigraphy. RESULTS: Higher levels of neighborhood economic deprivation were associated with fewer sleep minutes and poorer sleep efficiency. More neighborhood social fragmentation was also linked with poorer sleep efficiency. Analyses controlled for demographic characteristics, child health, and family socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that living in economically and socially disadvantaged neighborhoods predicts risk for shorter and lower-quality sleep in children. Examination of community context in addition to family and individual characteristics may provide a more comprehensive understanding of the factors shaping child sleep.

Approaches to modeling the development of physiological stress responsivity.

Influential biopsychosocial theories have proposed that some developmental periods in the lifespan are potential pivot points or opportunities for recalibration of stress response systems. To date, however, there have been few longitudinal studies of physiological stress responsivity and no studies comparing change in physiological stress responsivity across developmental periods. Our goals were to (a) address conceptual and methodological issues in studying the development of physiological stress responsivity within and between individuals, and (b) provide an exemplar for evaluating development of responsivity to stress in the parasympathetic nervous system, comparing respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) responsivity from middle to late childhood with middle to late adolescence. We propose the use of latent growth modeling of stress responsivity that includes time-varying covariates to account for conceptual and methodological issues in the measurement of physiological stress responsivity. Such models allow researchers to address key aspects of developmental sensitivity including within-individual variability, mean level change over time, and between-individual variability over time. In an empirical example, we found significant between-individual variability over time in RSA responsivity to stress during middle to late childhood but not during middle to late adolescence, suggesting that childhood may be a period of greater developmental sensitivity at the between-individual level.