Abstract
Abstract Introduction Racial and ethnic minorities face a higher prevalence of maternal mental health conditions (e.g. postpartum depression and anxiety), compared to their White counterparts. Yet, studies have shown White women are more likely to get a diagnosis and treatment for postpartum depression compared to Black or Latina women. Lack of emotional and social support are known to be linked with poor health outcomes that are also associated with sleep. Yet, little is known about the direct relationship between emotional support and sleep health, especially among perinatal women of color. Methods This work utilized data from Nurturing Moms, a pilot study investigating the effect of a virtual reality program on maternal stress among expectant (0-36 weeks gestation) and postpartum (up to 12 months after birth) women of color. Participants (n=46) completed baseline surveys that captured psychological, emotional, behavioral, and sleep data. These surveys included Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) measures of Emotional Support and Sleep Disturbance, among others. For the current study, we hypothesized that emotional support will be associated with sleep disturbance outcomes. Multilinear regression was performed using SPSS to determine if emotional support predicted sleep disturbance. Results Twenty-three expectant (29.3±4.8 years) and twenty-three post-partum (31.6±5.1 years) women completed online baseline surveys. Emotional support was found to be significantly associated with sleep disturbance in the expectant moms cohort [F(4,18) = 4.68, p=0.009] and in the post-partum mothers cohort [F(4,18) = 5.73, p=0.004]. The regression analysis indicates that lower emotional support predicted greater sleep disturbance (β1= -0.525) among expectant mothers and (β1= -0.388) among post-partum mothers, albeit a greater magnitude was observed among expectant mothers. Conclusion Emotional support was found to be strongly associated with sleep disturbance in a cohort of pregnant and post-partum women of color. With recent efforts geared toward addressing the maternal health crisis, this study highlights the importance of focusing on racial-ethnic minorities when investigating the impact of support on sleep health. Further studies exploring the relationship between emotional support and sleep among perinatal women of color are needed to implement interventions that will target maternal mental health in the United States. Support (if any) K01HL135452, R01HL152453, R01HL142066, R01HL095799, R01AG072644, RO1MD004113, R01AG067523, R01AG075007