Elsevier

Sleep Health

Volume 4, Issue 5, October 2018, Pages 405-412
Sleep Health

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

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2018.07.008Get rights and content

Abstract

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.

Section snippets

Current study

The current study examined sleepiness as a potential mechanism (mediator or intervening variable) in the associations among both race (EA and AA children) and SES and children's academic and cognitive outcomes. To our knowledge, no published study has examined sleepiness in this context. We hypothesized that AA and lower-SES children would report greater daytime sleepiness, which in turn would predict lower academic and cognitive performance. We assessed these associations longitudinally

Participants

Children were part of a longitudinal study of sleep, health, and adjustment across middle to late childhood (Auburn University Sleep Study). Data for the present investigation were drawn from 2 study waves 2 years apart. At the first wave, 282 children (52% boys) and their families were recruited from local elementary schools. Based on mothers' report, children did not have a diagnosis of a clinical sleep disorder. Children's mean age was 9.44 years (SD = .71) at the first assessment and

Preliminary analyses

Bivariate correlations, means, and standard deviations for main study variables and covariates are provided in Table 1. Values for all variables were within 4 SDs of the mean, and skewness statistics were all <±1.0. t tests revealed that, compared to EA children, AA children reported greater sleepiness and received lower academic functioning, BIA, and ARMT scores at age 9, in addition to lower BIA and ARMT scores at age 11. AA children were more likely than EA children to live at or below the

Discussion

The present study examined child sleepiness as a pathway of effects contributing to racial and socioeconomic disparities in academic and cognitive performance. AA and lower-SES children reported greater sleepiness at age 9, which predicted decreases in teacher-reported academic functioning, cognitive performance, and state standardized test scores from ages 9 to 11. Sleepiness functioned as a significant intervening variable but not a mediator in these pathways. When both race and SES were

Disclosures

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank our research laboratory staff, particularly Bridget Wingo, for data collection and preparation, as well as the children and parents who participated.

This study was supported by grant R01HL093246 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute awarded to Mona El-Sheikh. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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      Together, the literature suggests there is mixed evidence of SES moderation for sleep duration and cognitive/academic performance. Child-reported sleepiness has consistently been associated with poorer academic and cognitive performance (e.g., Philbrook, Shimizu, Buckhalt, & El-Sheikh, 2018), but the role of SES has been inconsistent in these associations. For example, a study conducted in the United States found that higher sleepiness predicted lower executive functioning performance in adolescents from families with lower parental education level (Anderson, Storfer-Isser, Taylor, Rosen, & Redline, 2009).

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