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Background. Accumulating evidence supports leukocyte telomere length (LTL) as a biological marker of cellular aging. Poor sleep is a risk factor for age-related disease; however, the extent to which sleep accounts for variation in LTL is unknown. Methods. The present study examined associations of self-reported sleep duration, onset latency, and subjective quality with LTL in a community-dwelling sample of 245 healthy women in midlife (aged 49-66 years). Results. While sleep duration and onset latency were unrelated to LTL, women reporting poorer sleep quality displayed shorter LTL (r = 0.14, P = 0.03), independent of age, BMI, race, and income (b = 55.48, SE = 27.43, P = 0.04). When analyses were restricted to participants for whom sleep patterns were chronic, poorer sleep quality predicted shorter LTL independent of covariates and perceived psychological stress. Conclusions. This study provides the first evidence that poor sleep quality explains significant variation in LTL, a marker of cellular aging. Copyright © 2011 Aric A. Prather et al.

Health emerges from coordinated psychobiological processes powered by mitochondrial energy transformation. But how do mitochondria regulate the multisystem responses that shape resilience and disease risk across the lifespan? The Mitochondrial Stress, Brain Imaging, and Epigenetics (MiSBIE) study was established to address this question and determine how mitochondria influence the interconnected neuroendocrine, immune, metabolic, cardiovascular, cognitive, and emotional systems among individuals spanning the spectrum of mitochondrial energy transformation capacity, including participants with rare mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lesions causing mitochondrial diseases (MitoDs). This interdisciplinary effort is expected to generate new insights into the pathophysiology of MitoDs, provide a foundation to develop novel biomarkers of human health, and integrate our fragmented knowledge of bioenergetic, brain-body, and mind-mitochondria processes relevant to medicine and public health., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors have no competing interests to declare., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Previous cross-sectional studies have shown that more (vs. less) sexually active individuals tend to be mentally and physically healthier, but little is known about the proximal mechanisms underlying such associations., Method: We analyzed two experience sampling data sets ( N = 8,452, 66,181 observations; 72% male, age M = 46.42, 76% White) to examine changes in sleep, cardiovascular responses, and affect in the morning following sex, putative processes implicated in long-term mental and physical health benefits of sex., Results: Consistent with previous findings, our results showed significant between-person associations, suggesting more positive daily health outcomes for more sexually active individuals. Further, we found significant within-person associations suggesting that when people reported having (vs. not having) sex the previous night, they experienced better sleep quality, fewer sleep disturbances and shorter wake after sleep onset, lower blood pressure, less stress, more positive affect, and better coping in the morning. None of these associations were moderated by gender or relationship status., Conclusions: Our findings provide novel evidence suggesting short-term psychological and physiological benefits of sex, which may accrue to create better health over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Eating in response to stress can become habitual and have long-term consequences for weight gain, but little research has explored what may help break stress-eating cycles. We examined daily social resources as potential protective factors against daily stress eating and eventual weight gain., Method: In Study 1 ( N = 1,264), we assessed stress-eating tendencies, body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) at baseline, receipt of emotional support over 8 days (9,649 reports), and tracked BMI/WHR after about 10 years. We examined the average likelihood of receiving emotional support as a moderator of the link between stress eating and BMI/WHR at the follow-up. In Study 2 ( N = 536; 10,288 reports), we assessed stress-eating status and BMI at baseline, social responsiveness (feeling that others are caring), and stress-eating behavior over 24 days and tracked BMI a year later. We examined if social responsiveness moderates stress-eaters' daily stress-eating behaviors and changes in BMI., Results: In Study 1, stress eating predicted increases in BMI and WHR at the 10-year follow-up but not among individuals who were more (vs. less) likely to receive emotional support in daily life. In Study 2, stress eaters tended to report more daily stress-eating behaviors compared to nonstress eaters, but such tendency was attenuated on days they perceived high (vs. low) levels of social responsiveness. Stress eating did not predict BMI at the 1-year follow-up., Conclusions: These observational findings suggest that social resources in daily lives may have long-term benefits for stress eaters, potentially by reducing their everyday stress eating. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Chronic stress lead to dysregulation of metabolic hormones, creating risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Based on previous work suggesting the potential for sexual activity to relieve psychological stress and reduce stress-related neuroendocrine activity, the present research explored sexual activity as a protective factor. We focused on chronic stress in the form of caregiving stress, comparing premenopausal mothers of a child with an autism spectrum disorder vs. a neurotypical child, in relation to metabolic hormones - insulin (and insulin resistance as assessed by HOMA), leptin, and ghrelin. Then, we explored the moderating role of sexual activity. Our results showed that high-stress mothers showed higher levels of insulin, insulin resistance, and lower levels of ghrelin compared to low-stress mothers. However, sexual activity modulated these associations such that among mothers who were sexually active (as coded from their daily diaries), no significant differences in these outcomes were observed between groups. This buffering effect of sexual activity was distinguishable from the buffering effect of physical activity and independent of global relationship satisfaction. Together, our findings provide novel evidence supporting the potential protective effects of sexual activity from chronic stress-related metabolic disease risk., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin condition, affects approximately 3.0% of the US population, with patients often experiencing significant sleep disturbances. These disturbances include a higher prevalence of conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, and insomnia. Given the additional risks for cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and depression linked to both poor sleep and psoriasis, addressing sleep issues in this patient group is critical., Methods: The study utilized National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data, focusing on individuals aged ≥ 20 years who provided information on psoriasis status and sleep. Multistage stratified survey methodology was applied, with multivariable logistic regression models used to examine the association between psoriasis and sleep issues, adjusting for factors such as age, gender, and health history., Results: Psoriasis diagnosis was significantly associated with trouble sleeping (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.88; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.44-2.45). There was no significant association between psoriasis and sleep quantity. Older age, female gender, and a history of sleep disorders were predictors of trouble sleeping among psoriasis patients., Conclusions: Psoriasis is significantly associated with sleep disturbances, independent of sleep duration. This underscores the need for clinical screening focusing on sleep quality rather than quantity in psoriasis patients to effectively identify and treat sleep-related comorbidities. Further research using objective sleep measures is warranted to guide clinical management and improve patient quality of life., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Although vaccines are largely effective and safe, there is variability in post-vaccination experience regarding antibody response, side effects, and affective outcomes. Vaccine mindsets, specific beliefs about the vaccine, may be associated with post-vaccination experience. This is important since mindsets are malleable and may help decrease vaccine hesitancy and improve post-vaccination experience., Methods: In a prospective study, we measured overall positive vaccine mindset and specific mindsets regarding efficacy, body response, and side effects. We tested whether vaccine mindsets before vaccination predicted neutralizing antibody response, side effects, vaccine-related stress, and affective outcomes (general stress, sadness, and happiness). Antibody response was assessed one month and six months after participants completed a SARS-CoV-2 vaccination series. Side effect experience and affective reactions were assessed daily on the vaccination day and the subsequent five days., Results: There was no significant association between the aggregate vaccine mindset score and neutralizing antibody response; however, people with a more positive vaccine mindset reported fewer side effects, less same-day vaccine-related anxiety, and improved affective outcomes after vaccination. In secondary analyses, when specific mindsets were explored, the mindset that vaccine side effects are a sign of treatment efficacy predicted higher antibodies, but not side effects experience and vaccine-related anxiety. Vaccine efficacy and body-response mindsets predicted fewer side effects, vaccine-related anxiety, and improved affective outcomes after vaccination., Conclusion: These findings underscore the potential of vaccine mindsets in enhancing the overall post-vaccination experience and, in some cases, increasing antibody response., Competing Interests: There are no conflict of interest among all authors.

Background: Concern about side effects is a common reason for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy., Objective: To determine whether short-term side effects of SARS-CoV-2 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccination are associated with subsequent neutralizing antibody (nAB) response., Design: Prospective cohort study., Setting: San Francisco Bay Area., Participants: Adults who had not been vaccinated against or exposed to SARS-CoV-2, who then received 2 doses of either BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273., Measurements: Serum nAB titer at 1 month and 6 months after the second vaccine dose. Daily symptom surveys and objective biometric measurements at each dose., Results: 363 participants were included in symptom-related analyses (65.6% female; mean age, 52.4 years [SD, 11.9]), and 147 were included in biometric-related analyses (66.0% female; mean age, 58.8 years [SD, 5.3]). Chills, tiredness, feeling unwell, and headache after the second dose were each associated with 1.4 to 1.6 fold higher nAB at 1 and 6 months after vaccination. Symptom count and vaccination-induced change in skin temperature and heart rate were all positively associated with nAB across both follow-up time points. Each 1 °C increase in skin temperature after dose 2 was associated with 1.8 fold higher nAB 1 month later and 3.1 fold higher nAB 6 months later., Limitations: The study was conducted in 2021 in people receiving the primary vaccine series, making generalizability to people with prior SARS-CoV-2 vaccination or exposure unclear. Whether the observed associations would also apply for neutralizing activity against non-ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strains is also unknown., Conclusion: Convergent self-report and objective biometric findings indicate that short-term systemic side effects of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination are associated with greater long-lasting nAB responses. This may be relevant in addressing negative attitudes toward vaccine side effects, which are a barrier to vaccine uptake., Primary Funding Source: National Institute on Aging., Competing Interests: Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M23-2956.

Introduction: The prevalence of poor sleep quality and sleep apnea differs by race and ethnicity and may contribute to racial disparities in cognitive aging. We investigated whether sleep quality and sleep apnea risk were associated with cognitive function and decline and whether the associations differed by race/ethnicity., Methods: Participants from the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE; N = 1690; mean age: 75.7 years) study, a cohort of Asian, Black, Latino, and White participants, completed a modified Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index assessing subjective sleep quality, latency, duration, disturbances, sleep medication use, and daytime dysfunction. Sleep apnea risk was measured by questions about snoring, tiredness, and whether apnea was observed. Executive function and verbal episodic memory were assessed at three time points over an average of 2.7 years with the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scale. We fit linear mixed-effect models and stratified analyses by race/ethnicity., Results: Higher sleep apnea risk was associated with faster declines in verbal episodic memory ( β ^ sleep apnea = -0.02, 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.04, -0.001) but not in executive function. Poorer sleep quality was associated with lower levels of and faster decline in executive function but not in verbal episodic memory. Race/ethnicity modified these associations: compared to estimated effects among White participants, poorer global sleep quality ( β ^ sleep*time = -0.02, 95% CI, -0.02, -0.01) was associated with larger effects on decline in executive function among Black participants. Estimated effects of some individual sleep quality components were also modified by race/ethnicity; for example, sleep medication use was associated with faster declines in executive function ( β ^ sleep*time = -0.05, 95% CI, -0.07, -0.03) and verbal episodic memory β ^ sleep*time = -0.04, 95% CI, -0.07, -0.02) among Black participants compared to White participants., Discussion: Observational evidence indicates sleep quality is a promising target for addressing racial/ethnic disparities in cognitive aging, especially among Black older adults., Highlights: Sleep apnea risk was associated with faster declines in verbal episodic memory but not executive function among all participants.Global sleep quality was associated with lower levels of and faster decline in executive function but not verbal episodic memory among all participants.Black older adults were particularly susceptible to the estimated adverse cognitive impacts of global sleep quality, particularly the use of sleep medication., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Author disclosures are available in the supporting information., (© 2024 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.)

Disproportionate exposure to adverse neighborhood conditions and greater discrimination may contribute to health disparities among African Americans (AAs). We examined whether adverse neighborhood conditions, alone or in conjunction with discrimination, associate with shorter leukocyte telomere length among a predominantly AA cohort. The sample included 200 residents from two low-income neighborhoods (96% AA; mean age = 67 years). Perceived neighborhood conditions and discrimination were surveyed in 2018, and objective neighborhood conditions (total crime rate, neighborhood walkability, ambient air pollution (PM 2.5 , black carbon)) were collected in 2017/2018. Relative telomere length (T/S; ratio of telomeric DNA to a single-gene copy) was assessed from blood samples. Linear regression models estimated the main effects of each neighborhood condition and discrimination and their interactions on the T/S ratio. Less walkable neighborhoods were associated with shorter telomeres. Higher air pollution (PM 2.5 ) was associated with shorter telomeres among those experiencing greater discrimination. Findings highlight the importance of understanding the intersecting influences of historic and contemporary sources of systemic racism and how they contribute to accelerated aging among adults., (© 2023. This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.)

Background: The largest poverty alleviation program in the US is the earned income tax credit (EITC), providing $60 billion to over 25 million families annually. While research has shown positive impacts of EITC receipt in pregnancy, there is little evidence on whether the timing of receipt may lead to differences in pregnancy outcomes. We used a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences design, taking advantage of EITC tax disbursement each spring to examine whether trimester of receipt was associated with perinatal outcomes., Methods: We conducted a difference-in-differences analysis of California linked birth certificate and hospital discharge records. The sample was drawn from the linked CA birth certificate and discharge records from 2007-2012 (N = 2,740,707). To predict eligibility, we created a probabilistic algorithm in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and applied it to the CA data. Primary outcome measures included preterm birth, small-for-gestational age (SGA), gestational diabetes, and gestational hypertension/preeclampsia., Results: Eligibility for EITC receipt during the third trimester was associated with a lower risk of preterm birth compared with preconception. Eligibility for receipt in the preconception period resulted in improved gestational hypertension and SGA., Conclusion: This analysis offers a novel method to impute EITC eligibility using a probabilistic algorithm in a data set with richer sociodemographic information relative to the clinical and administrative data sets from which outcomes are drawn. These results could be used to determine the optimal intervention time point for future income supplementation policies. Future work should examine frequent income supplementation such as the minimum wage or basic income programs., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Daily stressors are associated with cognitive decline and increased risk of heart disease, depression, and other debilitating chronic illnesses in midlife adults. Daily stressors tend to occur at home or at work and are more frequent in urban versus rural settings. Conversely, spending time in natural environments such as parks or forests, or even viewing nature-themed images in a lab setting, is associated with lower levels of perceived stress and is hypothesized to be a strong stress "buffer," reducing perceived stress even after leaving the natural setting. However, many studies of daily stress have not captured environmental contexts and relied on end-of-day recall instead of in-the-moment data capture. With new technology, these limitations can be addressed to enhance knowledge of the daily stress experience., Objective: We propose to use our novel custom-built Stress Reports in Variable Environments (STRIVE) ecological momentary assessment mobile phone app to measure the experience of daily stress of midlife adults in free-living conditions. Using our app to capture data in real time will allow us to determine (1) where and when daily stress occurs for midlife adults, (2) whether midlife adults' daily stressors are linked to certain elements of the built and natural environment, and (3) how ecological momentary assessment measurement of daily stress is similar to and different from a modified version of the popular Daily Inventory of Stressful Events measurement tool that captures end-of-day stress reports (used in the Midlife in the United States [MIDUS] survey)., Methods: We will enroll a total of 150 midlife adults living in greater Indianapolis, Indiana, in this study on a rolling basis for 3-week periods. As those in underrepresented minority groups and low-income areas have previously been found to experience greater levels of stress, we will use stratified sampling to ensure that half of our study sample is composed of underrepresented minorities (eg, Black, American Indian, Hispanic, or Native Pacific Islanders) and approximately one-third of our sample falls within low-, middle-, and high-income brackets., Results: This project is funded by the National Institute on Aging from December 2022 to November 2024. Participant enrollment began in August 2023 and is expected to finish in July 2024. Data will be spatiotemporally analyzed to determine where and when stress occurs for midlife adults. Pictures of stressful environments will be qualitatively analyzed to determine the common elements of stressful environments. Data collected by the STRIVE app will be compared with retrospective Daily Inventory of Stressful Events data., Conclusions: Completing this study will expand our understanding of midlife adults' experience of stress in free-living conditions and pave the way for data-driven individual and community-based intervention designs to promote health and well-being in midlife adults., International Registered Report Identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/51845., (©Evan J Jordan, Patrick C Shih, Erik J Nelson, Stephen J Carter, Mario Schootman, Aric A Prather, Xing Yao, Chasie D Peters, Canaan S E Perry. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 05.10.2023.)

Objective: This study examined the within- and between-person associations of acute and chronic stress with blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) using an app-based research platform., Methods: We examined data from 31,964 adults (aged 18-90 years) in an app-based ecological momentary assessment study that used a research-validated optic sensor to measure BP., Results: Within-person associations revealed that moments with (versus without) acute stress exposure were associated with higher systolic (SBP; b = 1.54) and diastolic BP (DBP; b = 0.79) and HR ( b = 1.53; p values < .001). During moments with acute stress exposure, higher acute stress severity than usual was associated with higher SBP ( b = 0.26), DBP ( b = 0.09), and HR ( b = 0.40; p values < .05). During moments without acute stress, higher background stress severity than usual was associated with higher BP and HR (SBP: b = 0.87, DBP: b = 0.51, HR: b = 0.69; p values < .001). Between-person associations showed that individuals with more frequent reports of acute stress exposure or higher chronic stress severity had higher SBP, DBP, and HR ( p values < .05). Between-person chronic stress severity moderated within-person physiological responses to stress such that individuals with higher chronic stress severity had higher average BP and HR levels but showed smaller responses to momentary stress., Conclusions: Technological advancements with optic sensors allow for large-scale physiological data collection, which provides a better understanding of how stressors of different timescales and severity contribute to momentary BP and HR in daily life., (Copyright © 2023 by the American Psychosomatic Society.)

Aging biomarkers may be related to each other through direct co-regulation and/or through being regulated by common processes associated with chronological aging or stress. Klotho is an aging regulator that acts as a circulating hormone with critical involvement in regulating insulin signaling, phosphate homeostasis, oxidative stress, and age-related inflammatory functioning. Both klotho and telomere length are biomarkers of biological aging and decrease with age; however, the relationship between them is not well understood. Here we test the association between klotho levels and the telomere length of specific sorted immune cells among a healthy sample of mothers caregiving for a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; i.e., experiencing higher caregiving stress) or a child without ASD, covarying age and body mass index, in order to understand if high stress associated with caregiving for a child with an ASD may be involved in any association between these aging biomarkers. In 178 caregiving women ( n = 90 high-stress mothers of children with ASD, n = 88 low-stress mothers of neurotypical children), we found that klotho levels were positively associated with telomere length in PBMCs (an effect driven by CD4+ and CD8+CD28- T cells) among high-stress mothers of children with an ASD but not among low-stress mothers of neurotypical children. There were no significant associations between klotho and telomerase activity in either group, across cell types assessed here. Our results suggest that klotho levels and telomere length may be associated through a coordinated downregulation of longevity factors occurring under higher stress caregiving conditions.

Background: Sleep can have consequential effects on people's health and well-being, and these effects may vary among younger and older adults., Purpose: The goal of the present study was to investigate how sleep relates to physiologic and stress responses in daily life across adulthood., Methods: We used an Ecological Momentary Assessment method in a large sample of participants (N = 4,359; Mage = 46.75, SD = 12.39; 69.30% male, 29.85% female) who completed morning sleep diaries, reported subjective stress, and recorded their heart rate and blood pressure for 21 days. Sleep was assessed with self-reports of duration, efficiency, and quality., Results: Using multilevel modeling, between-person analyses showed that sleep duration, efficiency, and quality were negatively related to morning heart rate and stress, such that people who slept longer, more efficiently, or better experienced lower heart rate and stress compared to those who slept shorter, less efficiently, or worse. Within-person analyses showed that sleep duration, efficiency, and quality predicted morning heart rate, blood pressure (though less consistently), and stress. That is, people experienced lower heart, blood pressure, and stress following nights when they slept longer, more efficiently, or better than they typically did. These within-person relationships were moderated by age, such that the effects of better and longer sleep on lower morning heart rate, blood pressure, and stress were stronger among younger than older adults., Conclusion: These findings suggest that daily variations in sleep show immediate associations with stress and physiologic responses, but these daily variations have a stronger relationship among younger compared to older adults., (© Society of Behavioral Medicine 2023. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

As concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic continue, it is critical to understand the impact of vaccination type on neutralizing antibody response durability as well as to identify individual difference factors related to decline in neutralization. This was a head-to-head comparison study following 498 healthy, community volunteers who received the BNT162b2 (n = 287), mRNA-1273 (n = 149), and Ad26.COV2.S (n = 62). Participants completed questionnaires and underwent blood draws prior to vaccination, 1 month, and 6 months after the vaccination series, and neutralizing antibody (nAB) titers at 1- and 6-months post vaccination were quantified using a high-throughput pseudovirus assay. Over 6 months of follow-up, nABs declined in recipients of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273, while nABs in recipients of Ad26.COV2.S showed a significant increase. At the 6-month time point, nABs to Ad26.COV2.S were significantly higher than nABs to BNT162b2 and equivalent to mRNA-1273. Irrespective of follow-up timing, being older was associated with lower nAB for participants who received BNT162b2 and Ad26.COV2.S but not for those who received mRNA-1273. A higher baseline BMI was associated with a lower nAB for Ad26.COV2.S recipients but not for recipients of other vaccines. Women and non-smokers showed higher nAB compared to men and current smokers, respectively. The durability of neutralizing antibody responses differed by vaccine type and several sociodemographic factors that predicted response. These findings may inform booster recommendations in the future., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Vaccination is a major strategy to control a viral pandemic. Simple behavioral interventions that might boost vaccine responses have yet to be identified. We conducted meta-analyses to summarize the evidence linking the amount of sleep obtained in the days surrounding vaccination to antibody response in healthy adults. Authors of the included studies provided the information needed to accurately estimate the pooled effect size (ES) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) and to examine sex differences. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 The association between self-reported short sleep (<6 h/night) and reduced vaccine response did not reach our pre-defined statistical significant criteria (total n = 504, ages 18-85; overall ES [95% CI] = 0.29 [-0.04, 0.63]). Objectively assessed short sleep was associated with a robust decrease in antibody response (total n = 304, ages 18-60; overall ES [95% CI] = 0.79 [0.40, 1.18]). In men, the pooled ES was large (overall ES [95% CI] = 0.93 [0.54, 1.33]), whereas it did not reach significance in women (overall ES [95% CI] = 0.42 [-0.49, 1.32]). These results provide evidence that insufficient sleep duration substantially decreases the response to anti-viral vaccination and suggests that achieving adequate amount of sleep during the days surrounding vaccination may enhance and prolong the humoral response. Large-scale well-controlled studies are urgently needed to define (1) the window of time around inoculation when optimizing sleep duration is most beneficial, (2) the causes of the sex disparity in the impact of sleep on the response, and (3) the amount of sleep needed to protect the response., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests No author has a conflict of interest directly related to the submitted work. Outside of the submitted work, C.B. report grants from Repha GmBH, A.A.P. is the recipient of an investigator-initiated research grant from Eisai Co. Ltd, a sponsor-initiated research grant from Big Health, Inc, and serves as a consultant for NeuroGeneces, E.V.C. is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Sleep Number Corporation (Minneapolis, MN), a consultant for Calibrate Health, Inc (Delaware) and the recipient of an investigator-initiated research grant on “Circadian Misalignment in Adrenal Insufficiency” from the Takeda Pharmaceutical Company., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Mindfulness meditation may improve well-being at work; however, effects on food cravings and metabolic health are not well known. We tested effects of digital meditation, alone or in combination with a healthy eating program, on perceived stress, cravings, and adiposity. We randomized 161 participants with overweight and moderate stress to digital meditation ('MED,' n = 38), digital meditation + healthy eating ('MED+HE,' n = 40), active control ('HE,' n = 41), or waitlist control ('WL,' n = 42) for 8 weeks. Participants (n = 145; M(SD) BMI: 30.8 (5.4) kg/m2) completed baseline and 8-week measures of stress (Perceived Stress Scale), cravings (Food Acceptance and Awareness Questionnaire) and adiposity (sagittal diameter and BMI). ANCOVAs revealed that those randomized to MED or MED+HE (vs. HE or WL) showed decreases in perceived stress (F = 15.19, p < .001, η2 = .10) and sagittal diameter (F = 4.59, p = .03, η2 = .04), with no differences in cravings or BMI. Those high in binge eating who received MED or MED+HE showed decreases in sagittal diameter (p = .03). Those with greater adherence to MED or MED+HE had greater reductions in stress, cravings, and adiposity (ps < .05). A brief digital mindfulness-based program is a low-cost method for reducing perceptions of stress and improving abdominal fat distribution patterns among adults with overweight and moderate stress. Future work should seek to clarify mechanisms by which such interventions contribute to improvements in health. Trial registration: Clinical trial registration http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov: identifier NCT03945214., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Radin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Psychosocial factors are related to immune, viral, and vaccination outcomes. Yet, this knowledge has been poorly represented in public health initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic. This review provides an overview of biopsychosocial links relevant to COVID-19 outcomes by describing seminal evidence about these associations known prepandemic as well as contemporary research conducted during the pandemic. This focuses on the negative impact of the pandemic on psychosocial health and how this in turn has likely consequences for critically relevant viral and vaccination outcomes. We end by looking forward, highlighting the potential of psychosocial interventions that could be leveraged to support all people in navigating a postpandemic world and how a biopsychosocial approach to health could be incorporated into public health responses to future pandemics., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Objective: To evaluate whether sleep apnea or insomnia among pregnant people is associated with increased risk for adverse infant outcomes., Design: Retrospective cohort study SETTING: California PARTICIPANTS: The sample included singleton live births. Sleep apnea and insomnia were defined based on ICD-9 and -10 codes. A referent group was selected using exact propensity score matching on maternal characteristics, obstetric factors, and infant factors among individuals without a sleep disorder., Measurements: Adverse infant outcomes were obtained from birth certificate, hospital discharge, and death records (eg, Apgar scores, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay, infant death, long birth stay, etc.). Logistic regression was used to calculate odds of an adverse infant outcome by sleep disorder type., Results: Propensity-score matched controls were identified for 69.9% of the 3371 sleep apnea cases and 68.8% of the 3213 insomnia cases. Compared to the propensity-matched referent group, individuals with a diagnosis of sleep apnea (n = 2357) had infants who were more likely to have any adverse outcome, low 1-min Apgar scores, NICU stay, and an emergency room visit in the first year of life. Infants born to mothers with a diagnosis of insomnia (n = 2212) were at increased risk of few negative outcomes relative to the propensity matched referent group, with the exception of an emergency room visit., Conclusions: In unadjusted analyses, infants born to individuals with a diagnosis of sleep apnea or insomnia were at increased risk of several adverse outcomes. These were attenuated when using propensity score matching, suggesting these associations were driven by other comorbidities., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Growing longitudinal research has demonstrated that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) precedes and predicts the onset of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and a number of physiological (e.g., dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and autonomic nervous system, chronic systemic inflammation) and behavioral (e.g., physical inactivity, smoking, poor diet) factors might underlie this association. In this narrative review, we focus on sleep as a modifiable risk factor linking PTSD with CVD., Method: We summarize the evidence for sleep disturbance after trauma exposure and the potential cardiotoxic effects of poor sleep, with an emphasis on mechanisms. In addition, we review the literature that has examined sleep in the context of the PTSD-CVD risk relation., Results: Although sleep disturbance is a hallmark symptom of PTSD and a well-established risk factor for the development of CVD, the role of sleep in the association between PTSD and CVD has been largely unexamined in the extant literature. However, such work has the potential to improve our understanding of mechanisms of risk and inform intervention efforts to offset elevated CVD risk after trauma., Conclusions: We outline several recommendations for future research and behavioral medicine models in order to help define and address the role of sleep behavior in the development of CVD among trauma-exposed individuals with PTSD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Sleep is an important process that can influence and be influenced by daily events and emotions. We examined the bidirectional relationships between sleep, daily events, and emotions with a daily diary method completed by 181 mothers ( M age = 41.91, SD = 5.06). They answered morning and evening questionnaires for 1 week at three different points in time separated by nine months each, 21 days in total. Measures of sleep quality and emotional experiences each morning were assessed, and they reported on their best and worst experience of the day, peak emotional responses to these events, and affect in the evening. Sleep behavior, including total sleep time and sleep efficiency, was objectively quantified using wrist actigraphy. Multilevel modeling analyses showed that longer sleep duration and better subjective quality predicted greater positive emotions and lower negative emotions upon waking, and lower levels of peak perceived stressfulness, but not peak positivity ratings. Daily experiences did not predict sleep duration. Conversely, negative affect in the evening and greater peak perceived stressfulness during the day predicted worse sleep quality that night, whereas positive affect and positive events were not related to sleep. Although correlational, these findings suggest that good sleep can improve waking affect and help mitigate the impact of stressful experiences but does not amplify responses to the positive events of the day. In turn, daily perceived stress reactivity impairs sleep quality. These novel findings show stronger bidirectional relationships between sleep with daily stress, than sleep with daily positivity., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-022-00112-x., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2022, corrected publication 2022.)

Background: Epidemiological studies link psychological resources to better physical health. One reason may be that psychological resources are protective in stressful contexts. This study tested whether indeed psychological resources are protective against biological degradation for healthy mid-life women under the chronic stress of caring for a child with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis ("caregivers")., Methods: We tested whether five types of psychosocial resources (i.e., eudaimonic well-being, autonomy, purpose in life, self-acceptance, and mastery) were associated with biological indices of aging in a sample of mid-life women stratified by chronic stress; half were caregivers (n = 92) and half were mothers of neurotypical children (n = 91; controls). Selected stress and age related biological outcomes were insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), systemic inflammation (IL-6, CRP), and cellular aging (leukocyte telomere length). We tested whether each resource was associated with these biomarkers, and whether caregiving status and high parenting stress moderated that relationship., Results: All the psychological resources except mastery were significantly negatively associated with insulin resistance, while none were related to systemic inflammation or telomere length. The relationships between eudaimonic well-being and HOMA-IR, and self-acceptance and HOMA-IR, were moderated by parental stress; lower resources were associated with higher insulin resistance, but only for women reporting high parental stress. The well-known predictors of age and BMI accounted for 46% of variance in insulin resistance, and psychological resources accounted for an additional 13% of variance.  CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that higher eudaimonic well-being and greater self-acceptance may be protective for the metabolic health of mid-life women, and particularly in the context of high parenting stress. This has important implications given the rising rates of both parental stress and metabolic disease, and because psychological interventions can increase eudaimonic well-being and self-acceptance., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Sleep is intimately related to memory processes. The established view is that the transformation of experiences into long-term memories is linked to sleep-related CNS function. However, there is increasing evidence that the autonomic nervous system (ANS), long recognized to modulate cognition during waking, can impact memory processing during sleep. Here, we review human research that examines the role of autonomic activity and sleep in memory formation. We argue that autonomic activity during sleep may set the stage for the CNS dynamics associated with sleep and memory stability and integration. Further, we consider how the link between ANS activity and polysomnographic markers of sleep may help elucidate both healthy and pathological cognitive aging in humans., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Study Objectives: To evaluate the effects of digital cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (dCBT-I) delivered during pregnancy on subjective sleep outcomes, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms through 6 months postpartum., Methods: People up to 28 weeks gestation (N = 208) with insomnia were randomized to 6 weekly sessions of dCBT-I or standard care. We report follow-up data at 3 and 6 months postpartum. The primary outcome was insomnia symptom severity. Secondary sleep outcomes included global sleep quality and insomnia caseness. Mental health outcomes included depressive and anxiety symptom severity. We evaluated between-condition differences in change from baseline for each postpartum timepoint and categorical outcomes., Results: dCBT-I participants did not experience significantly greater improvements in insomnia symptom severity relative to standard care participants, but they did experience higher rates of insomnia remission and lower rates of insomnia caseness at 6 months postpartum. dCBT-I participants experienced greater improvements in depressive symptom severity from baseline to both postpartum timepoints, and in anxiety symptom severity from baseline to 3 months postpartum. The proportion of participants with probable major depression at 3 months postpartum was significantly higher among standard care (18%) than dCBT-I (4%, p = 0.006) participants; this between-condition difference was pronounced among the subset (n = 143) with minimal depressive symptoms at baseline (18% vs 0%)., Conclusion: dCBT-I use during pregnancy leads to enduring benefits for postpartum insomnia remission. Findings provide strong preliminary evidence that dCBT-I use during pregnancy may prevent postpartum depression and anxiety, which is notable when considering the high frequency and importance of these problems.Clinical Trials: ClinicalTrials.gov, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02805998, NCT02805998., (© Sleep Research Society 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Sleep Research Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective: Insufficient sleep and circadian disruption have been linked to immune system dysregulation. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between self-reported sleep duration and work schedule with reports of head and chest colds among adults 18 years and older in the United States., Methods: Associations between self-reported habitual sleep duration and work schedule (regular daytime, regular evening, regular nighttime, rotating, other) with reports head and chest colds in the past 2 weeks were examined using data from the 2010 and 2015 National Health Interview Survey. Adults who slept 7-8 hours or reported a regular daytime work schedule were considered the reference group. Multivariate logistic regressions, incorporating sampling weights, were computed adjusting for sociodemographic and health characteristics., Results: Analyses revealed in fully adjusted models that compared to 7- 8 hours sleepers, those sleeping 5 or fewer hours were 44% more likely to report a cold (odds ratio [OR] = 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.29-1.61) while those sleeping 9 or more hours were 20% more likely (OR = 1.20, 95% CI 1.06-1.36). Participants who reported a rotating work schedule were 20% more likely to report a cold (OR = 1.20, 95% CI 1.07-1.36) than those reporting a regular daytime work schedule., Conclusions: Short and long sleep duration, as well as a rotating shift work schedule, were associated with increased reports of head and chest colds in a nationally representative sample of US adults. Sleep and circadian function may serve as relevant targets to reduce susceptibility to infectious illness., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest related to this article., (Copyright © 2021 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Our understanding of the association between coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and preterm or early term birth among racially and ethnically diverse populations and people with chronic medical conditions is limited., Methods: We determined the association between COVID-19 and preterm (PTB) birth among live births documented by California Vital Statistics birth certificates between July 2020 and January 2021 (n=240,147). We used best obstetric estimate of gestational age to classify births as very preterm (VPTB, <32 weeks), PTB (< 37 weeks), early term (37 and 38 weeks), and term (39-44 weeks), as each confer independent risks to infant health and development. Separately, we calculated the joint effects of COVID-19 diagnosis, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity on PTB and VPTB., Findings: COVID-19 diagnoses on birth certificates increased for all racial/ethnic groups between July 2020 and January 2021 and were highest for American Indian/Alaska Native (12.9%), Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (11.4%), and Latinx (10.3%) birthing people. COVID-19 diagnosis was associated with an increased risk of VPTB (aRR 1.6, 95% CI [1.4, 1.9]), PTB (aRR 1.4, 95% CI [1.3, 1.4]), and early term birth (aRR 1.1, 95% CI [1.1, 1.2]). There was no effect modification of the overall association by race/ethnicity or insurance status. COVID-19 diagnosis was associated with elevated risk of PTB in people with hypertension, diabetes, and/or obesity., Interpretation: In a large population-based study, COVID-19 diagnosis increased the risk of VPTB, PTB, and early term birth, particularly among people with medical comorbidities. Considering increased circulation of COVID-19 variants, preventative measures, including vaccination, should be prioritized for birthing persons., Funding: UCSF-Kaiser Department of Research Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health Program (BIRCWH) National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) [K12 HD052163] and the California Preterm Birth Initiative, funded by Marc and Lynn Benioff., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Sleep disturbance has been consistently identified as an independent contributor to suicide risk. Inflammation has emerged as a potential mechanism linked to both sleep disturbance and suicide risk. This study tested associations between sleep duration, insomnia, and inflammation on suicidal ideation (SI) and history of a suicide attempt (SA)., Methods: Participants included 2329 adults with current or remitted depression and/or anxiety enrolled in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety. Sleep duration, insomnia, past week SI, and SA were assessed with self-report measures. Plasma levels of C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor- α were obtained., Results: Short sleep duration (⩽6 h) compared to normal sleep duration (7-9 h) was associated with reporting a prior SA, adjusting for covariates [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.68, 95% CI 1.13-2.51]. A higher likelihood of SI during the past week was observed for participants with long sleep duration (⩾10 h) compared to normal sleep duration (AOR 2.22, 95% CI 1.02-4.82), more insomnia symptoms (AOR 1.44, 95% CI 1.14-1.83), and higher IL-6 (AOR 1.31, 95% CI 1.02-1.68). Mediation analyses indicated that the association between long sleep duration and SI was partially explained by IL-6 (AOR 1.02, 95% CI 1.00-1.05)., Conclusions: These findings from a large sample of adults with depression and/or anxiety provide evidence that both short and long sleep duration, insomnia symptoms, and IL-6 are associated with the indicators of suicide risk. Furthermore, the association between long sleep duration and SI may operate through IL-6.

Background: Given associations linking early life adversity, pubertal timing, and biological aging, we examined the direct and indirect effects of early life trauma on adult biological aging (via age of menarche)., Methods: Participants were premenopausal women (N = 183). Path models evaluated whether early life trauma predicted early pubertal timing and thereby, adult epigenetic age acceleration (indexed via four epigenetic clocks: Horvath DNAm Age, Hannum DNAm Age, DNAm PhenoAge, and DNAm GrimAge). Secondary analyses explored the effects of type of trauma (abuse and neglect) and adult chronic stress status (caregiver of child with autism and non-caregiver)., Results: Early life trauma and earlier age at menarche independently predicted accelerated aging based on one of the four epigenetic clocks, DNAm GrimAge, though early life trauma was not associated with age of menarche. Childhood abuse, but not neglect, predicted faster epigenetic aging; results did not differ by chronic stress status., Conclusions: Early trauma and early menarche appear to exert independent effects on DNAm GrimAge, which has been shown to be the strongest epigenetic predictor of mortality risk. This study identifies a potential correlate or determinant of accelerated epigenetic aging-menarcheal age. Future research should address the limitations of this study by using racially diverse samples., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Obtaining healthy quantity and quality of sleep is a key to optimal mental and physical health, and cumulative evidence points to a role of sleep loss and sleep disturbances as a contributor to early disease onset and shortened survival. We propose that the molecular underpinnings that drive this risk are key drivers of the biological aging process, including altering metabolism, promoting damage, failure in repair and restoration machinery, leaving lasting impacts on cellular health, telomere loss, cellular senescence, and ultimately system failure. Our premise is that biological aging machinery is altered by sleep, and in the current short review we highlight the existing literature that links sleep with aging biology thought to drive age-related disease and shorten lifespan.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with premature mortality and is an independent risk factor for a broad range of diseases, especially those associated with aging, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. However, the pathophysiology underlying increased rates of somatic disease in MDD remains unknown. It has been proposed that MDD represents a state of accelerated cellular aging, and several measures of cellular aging have been developed in recent years. Among such metrics, estimators of biological age based on predictable age-related patterns of DNA methylation (DNAm), so-called 'epigenetic clocks', have shown particular promise for their ability to capture accelerated aging in psychiatric disease. The recently developed DNAm metric known as 'GrimAge' is unique in that it was trained on time-to-death data and has outperformed its predecessors in predicting both morbidity and mortality. Yet, GrimAge has not been investigated in MDD. Here we measured GrimAge in 49 somatically healthy unmedicated individuals with MDD and 60 age-matched healthy controls. We found that individuals with MDD exhibited significantly greater GrimAge relative to their chronological age ('AgeAccelGrim') compared to healthy controls (p = 0.001), with a median of 2 years of excess cellular aging. This difference remained significant after controlling for sex, current smoking status, and body-mass index (p = 0.015). These findings are consistent with prior suggestions of accelerated cellular aging in MDD, but are the first to demonstrate this with an epigenetic metric predictive of premature mortality.

Background: Childhood trauma (CT) increases the risk of adult depression. Buffering effects require an understanding of the underlying persistent risk pathways. This study examined whether daily psychological stress processes - how an individual interprets and affectively responds to minor everyday events - mediate the effect of CT on adult depressive symptoms., Methods: Middle-aged women (N = 183) reported CT at baseline and completed daily diaries of threat appraisals and negative evening affect for 7 days at baseline, 9, and 18 months. Depressive symptoms were measured across the 1.5-year period. Mediation was examined using multilevel structural equation modeling., Results: Reported CT predicted greater depressive symptoms over the 1.5-year time period (estimate = 0.27, s.e. = 0.07, 95% CI 0.15-0.38, p < 0.001). Daily threat appraisals and negative affect mediated the effect of reported CT on depressive symptoms (estimate = 0.34, s.e. = 0.08, 95% CI 0.22-0.46, p < 0.001). Daily threat appraisals explained more than half of this effect (estimate = 0.19, s.e. = 0.07, 95% CI 0.08-0.30, p = 0.004). Post hoc analyses in individuals who reported at least moderate severity of CT showed that lower threat appraisals buffered depressive symptoms. A similar pattern was found in individuals who reported no/low severity of CT., Conclusions: A reported history of CT acts as a latent vulnerability, exaggerating threat appraisals of everyday events, which trigger greater negative evening affect - processes that have important mental health consequences and may provide malleable intervention targets.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation has been associated with altered immune function, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear. Epigenetic processes, including DNA methylation, respond to the glucocorticoid end-products of the HPA axis (cortisol in humans) and could be involved in this neuroendocrine-immune crosstalk. Here we examined the extent to which variations in HPA axis regulation are associated with peripheral blood DNA (CpG) methylation changes in 57 chronically stressed caregivers and 67 control women. DNA methylation was determined with the Illumina 450k array for a panel of genes involved in HPA axis and immune function. HPA axis feedback was assessed with the low-dose dexamethasone suppression test (DST), measuring the extent to which cortisol secretion is suppressed by the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone. After multiple testing correction in the entire cohort, higher post-DST cortisol, reflecting blunted HPA axis negative feedback, but not baseline waking cortisol, was associated with lower DNA methylation at eight TNF and two FKBP5 CpG sites. Caregiver group status was associated with lower methylation at two IL6 CpG sites. Since associations were most robust with TNF methylation (32% of the 450k-covered sites), we further examined functionality of this epigenetic signature in cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells in 33 participants; intriguingly, lower TNF methylation resulted in higher ex vivo TNF mRNA following immune stimulation. Taken together, our findings link chronic stress and HPA axis regulation with epigenetic signatures at immune-related genes, thereby providing novel insights into how aberrant HPA axis function may contribute to heightened inflammation and disease risk., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Growing evidence suggests that sleep plays an important role in immunological memory, including antibody responses to vaccination. However, much of the prior research has been carried out in the laboratory limiting the generalizability of the findings. Furthermore, no study has sought to identify sensitive periods prior to or after vaccination where sleep may have a stronger influence on antibody responses., Methods: Eighty-three healthy young adults completed 13 days of sleep diaries and received the trivalent influenza vaccine on day 3 of the study. Measures of self-reported sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and subjective sleep quality were assessed on each day. Antibody levels to the influenza viral strains were quantified at baseline and 1 and 4 months following influenza vaccination., Results: Shorter sleep duration, averaged over the collection period, was associated with fewer antibodies to the A/New Caledonia viral strain 1 and 4 months later, independent of baseline antibodies, age, sex, and cohort year. Analyses focused on nightly sleep on the days preceding and after the vaccination revealed that shorter sleep duration on the two nights before the vaccination predicted fewer antibodies 1 and 4 months later. Measures of self-reported sleep efficiency and subjective quality were unrelated to antibody responses to the influenza vaccination., Conclusion: These findings provide further support for an association between sleep duration and antibody responses to the influenza vaccine and suggest that perhaps sleep on nights prior to vaccination are critical. If replicated, these findings may support sleep as a target for enhancing vaccination efficacy.

Objectives: Telomeres are the protective caps of chromosomes. They shorten with cell replication, age, and possibly environmental stimuli (eg, infection and stress). Short telomere length (TL) predicts subsequent worse health. Although venous whole blood (VWB) is most commonly used for TL measurement, other, more minimally invasive, sampling techniques are becoming increasingly common due to their field-friendliness, allowing for feasible measurement in low-resource contexts. We conducted statistical validation work for measuring TL in dried blood spots (DBS) and incorporated our results into a meta-analysis evaluating minimally invasive sampling techniques to measure TL., Methods: We isolated DNA extracts from DBS using a modified extraction protocol and tested how they endured different shipping conditions and long-term cryostorage. We then included our in-house DBS TL validation statistics (correlation values with VWB TL and age) in a series of meta-analyses of results from 24 other studies that published similar associations for values between TL measured in DBS, saliva, and buccal cells., Results: Our modified DBS extraction technique produced DNA yields that were roughly twice as large as previously recorded. Partially extracted DBS DNA was stable for 7 days at room temperature, and still provided reliable TL measurements, as determined by external validation statistics. In our meta-analysis, DBS TL had the highest external validity, followed by saliva, and then buccal cells-possibly reflecting similarities/differences in cellular composition vs VWB., Conclusions: DBS DNA is the best proxy for VWB from the three minimally-invasively specimen types evaluated and can be used to expand TL research to diverse settings and populations., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The transition to college is a stressful experience. For members of underrepresented minority groups, the usual stresses are frequently accompanied by ethnicity-based stressors, including discrimination. This longitudinal study extends prior work on discrimination by examining the prospective associations between anticipated and experienced ethnic/racial discrimination and sleep, a ubiquitous and basic biological need critical for optimal functioning. In a sample of 274 low-income/first-generation Latinx students, results from a cross-lagged panel model revealed that both the anticipation and experience of discrimination at the beginning of college uniquely predicted worsening sleep quality over the second half of freshmen year, controlling for relevant covariates. There was also some evidence for bidirectionality, with poor sleepers experiencing more discrimination. These findings add to the literature linking discrimination and sleep, both of which play large roles in mental, physical, social, and academic outcomes.