# Sleep as a Mechanism and Moderator in the Development of Health Disparities

> **NIH NIH R01** · AUBURN UNIVERSITY AT AUBURN · 2023 · $742,463

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Sleep deprivation in American youth and young adults is a major public health problem and can impair mental
and physical health, cognitive functioning and stress response systems. Significant gaps in this research
include scarce investigations of long- term developmental trajectories of adaptation and maladaptation
associated with sleep disturbances in the context of socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities. Identifying
mechanisms that explain SES and racial disparities in sleep and broader health outcomes, as well as factors
that prevent or protect against broader health disparities are high scientific priorities (Healthy People 2030).
The proposed study addresses these gaps and advances parent grant discoveries. The design builds on a
well-characterized two-wave study with adolescents (16-19 years; n=300) and involves two additional waves
with young adults (~ 21-24 years; target n=300); analyses will also capitalize on existing data for a subsample
(n=199) who participated during childhood (9,10,11 years). The sample consists of young adults from semi-
rural Alabama; 54% women; high representation of Black participants (39%) and socioeconomic adversity.
This sample is unique, underrepresented in the literature, and ideal for testing the research questions.
Strengths of the design include the large and diverse sample, high retention rates, breadth and rigor of
measurement across important outcome domains, a four-wave design spanning adolescence and young
adulthood, a large subsample with three additional waves in childhood, and analyses of long-term trajectories
of mental and physical health, cognitive functioning and autonomic nervous system activity. Towards scientific
rigor and reproducibility, well-established procedures, questionnaires, hardware and software will be used.
Sleep is examined objectively with actigraphy and subjectively. Comparable long-term investigations of health
disparities utilizing objectively-assessed sleep and developmental trajectories of multiple health domains in
such a sample do not exist. The study will advance understanding of the long-term effects of sleep across
development in the context of socioeconomic and racial health disparities by identifying the role of sleep in
transmitting risk or functioning as a vulnerability or protective factor. Study goals are consistent with the
strategic goals and high-priority research areas of the 2021 NIH Sleep Research Plan including advancing
understanding of sleep’s contributions to health disparities in socioeconomically disadvantaged and
minoritized groups. Findings will help identify individuals at greatest risk for negative health outcomes and
identify behavioral and ecological targets for prevention and intervention.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10587380
- **Project number:** 2R01HL136752-05
- **Recipient organization:** AUBURN UNIVERSITY AT AUBURN
- **Principal Investigator:** Mona M El-Sheikh
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $742,463
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2027-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10587380

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10587380, Sleep as a Mechanism and Moderator in the Development of Health Disparities (2R01HL136752-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10587380. Licensed CC0.

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