Working Around the Clock: The Association between Shift Work, Sleep Health, and Depressive Symptoms among Midlife Adults.

Shift work is an integral part of living in a 24-hour society. However, shift work can disrupt circadian rhythms, negatively impacting health. Guided by the Stress Process Model (SPM), this study examines the association between shift work and depressive symptoms and investigates whether sleep health (duration, quality, and latency) mediates this relationship among midlife adults. Utilizing data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort (N = 6,372), findings show that working evening, night, and irregular shifts is associated with increased depressive symptoms. The results also show that part of the association between shift work and depressive symptoms among night and irregular shift workers, is indirect, operating through short sleep during the week and on the weekend. Although shift work can negatively affect mental health, getting more restorative sleep may mitigate part of the harmful mental health consequences of non-standard work schedules.

How Social Roles Affect Sleep Health during Midlife.

This study draws on role theory and the life course perspective to examine how sleep health (duration, quality, and latency) is shaped by social role accumulation (number of roles), role repertoires (role combinations), and role contexts among middle-aged adults. We also examine how the relationships between social roles and sleep health are gendered. We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Cohort (N = 7,628). Results show that role accumulation is associated with less sleep and decreased insomnia symptoms, and that role repertoires also impact sleep (e.g., parenthood leads to diminished sleep quantity and quality). There is also evidence that contextual factors related to employment history, marital quality, and parenthood affect sleep health. Furthermore, results reveal that several of the relationships between social roles and sleep are gendered. Taken together, findings demonstrate the utility of examining links between multiple dimensions of social roles and sleep health.

Work-Related Stress, Psychosocial Resources, and Insomnia Symptoms Among Older Black Workers.

Objectives: To examine the association between work-related stress (job lock and job stress appraisal) and insomnia symptoms among older Black workers, as well as the extent to which psychosocial resources (mastery, social support, and religious involvement) mediate or moderate this association. Methods: This study uses Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis and data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) on Black workers aged 51 and older (N = 924). Results: Job lock due to financial reasons and job stress appraisal are associated with increased insomnia symptoms among older Black workers. Religious attendance buffers the harmful effects of financial job lock on sleep quality, while religiosity exacerbates the effects of job stress on insomnia symptoms. Discussion: Taken together, findings underscore the utility of the Stress Process Model for understanding diverse stress and sleep experiences in later life. Furthermore, findings have the potential to inform efficacious policies for reducing work-related stress and mitigating its harmful consequences.

Race-gender variation in the relationship between arrest history and poor health from adolescence to adulthood.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to examine how criminal justice involvement, specifically arrests, shapes health by race-gender status and age for Black, Latinx, and White men and women from adolescence to adulthood. METHOD: Data were from sixteen waves (1997-2013) of data of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (N = 7,674). Respondents were 12-16 years during the first wave of the survey. Multivariate logistic regression with interactions were used to determine how age and race-gender status shape the association between poor health and arrests over time. RESULTS: With the exception of Black men, arrest history is positively associated with the probability of poor health and this relationship strengthens with age. Arrests have the least detrimental impact on the health of Black men. For those without an arrest history, the probability of poor health also increases with age, but with a less steep incline over time than those who have been arrested. Overall, women who have been arrested, regardless of race, have the worst health prospects. CONCLUSIONS: A history of arrest is important for health from adolescence to adulthood and varies by race-gender status and age. Those without arrests in their backgrounds enjoy better health at both younger and older ages. For those who experience arrest, they generally report poorer health from adolescence into adulthood. One exception is Black men for whom those with an arrest history report the lowest probability of poor health, compared to Black women, Latinx men, Latinx women, White men, and White women.

The Association between Multiple Chronic Conditions and Depressive Symptoms: Intersectional Distinctions by Race, Nativity, and Gender.

Using random coefficient growth curve analysis, this study utilizes 12 waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study (1994-2016; person-waves = 145,177) to examine the association between multiple chronic conditions (MCC) and depressive symptoms among older adults. Applying cumulative disadvantage and intersectionality theories, we also test whether the association between MCC and depressive symptoms differs by race, nativity, and gender. Findings reveal that MCC prevalence is highest among U.S.-born black women, whereas depressive symptoms are highest among foreign-born Hispanic women. Compared to men, MCC has a stronger effect on women's depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the MCC-depressive symptoms association is strongest for foreign-born Hispanic women. Despite an increase in MCC in the transition from midlife to late life, all race-nativity-gender groups experience a decline in depressive symptoms as they age. The decline in depressive symptoms is steepest for U.S.-born black and foreign-born Hispanic women. Study implications are discussed.

Depression and African Americans in the First Decade of Midlife: The Consequences of Social Roles and Gender.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined gender differences in how three social roles - marriage, parenthood, and employment - impact depressive symptoms and clinically significant depression for African Americans in the first decade of midlife, from 40 to 50 years old. Specifically, we sought to understand the associations between roles configurations (e.g., married parent versus employed only) and depressed mood as well as diagnosable depression. METHOD: The data for this study were extracted from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort (NLSY79). Constituting a representative sample of non-institutionalized Americans, NLSY respondents were interviewed each year from 1979 to 1994 and biennially thereafter. Our study included 2372 African Americans. We used ordinary least squares regression to estimate depressive symptoms and logistic regression to model the probability of clinically significant depression. RESULTS: African American men who were married/cohabiting only, employed only, or married/cohabiting, employed parents experienced lower levels of depressed mood, compared to African American women. Holding none of the roles under consideration in this study resulted in higher levels of depressive symptoms for African American women than for African American men. For diagnosable depression, the role combinations of married/cohabiting, employed and married/cohabiting, employed parent resulted in a lower probability of depression for African American men, compared to their female counterparts. Regardless of gender, role configurations that included employment produced the lowest levels of depressive symptoms and the lowest likelihood of clinically significant depression. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the pattern of findings showed that role configurations are important in shaping mental health for both African American men and women. Multiple role combinations that included employment make individuals less vulnerable to depressive symptoms and clinically significant depression. Having no roles (e.g., unmarried, unemployed, non-parent) was more problematic for the well-being of African American women compared to African American men, but not as detrimental to African American mental health as prior studies focused on other racial and ethnic groups have suggested.

Is the Black-White Mental Health Paradox Consistent Across Gender and Psychiatric Disorders?

This study assessed whether the black-white mental health epidemiologic paradox (i.e., blacks' lower or similar rates of mental disorder relative to whites) extends across 12 lifetime and past-year psychiatric disorders and whether it varies with gender. We used data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication and the National Survey of American Life, 2001-2003 (n = 4,584 black and 6,668 non-Hispanic white persons). Results showed overwhelming evidence of the paradox across lifetime and past-year disorders for women and men. In addition, blacks' mental health advantage over whites widened after adjusting for socioeconomic factors. There was one exception: Black women experienced higher risk of lifetime posttraumatic stress disorder compared with white women. These findings provide strong evidence for the "black-white mental health paradox"; however, additional research is needed to understand black women's heightened risk for posttraumatic stress disorder.