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Gender Differences in Acculturative Stress and Habitual Sleep Duration in Korean American Immigrants

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Abstract

Korean American immigrants (KAIs) face diverse sociocultural stressors in the acculturation process. While stress is known to cause short sleep, little is known about how acculturative stress affects sleep differently for KAI men and women. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine gender differences in the association between diverse domains of acculturative stress and sleep duration among KAIs. Middle-aged KAIs were recruited in community settings and online. KAIs completed validated measures of acculturative stress (homesickness, social isolation, employment barriers, discrimination, civic disengagement, and family problems) and sleep duration. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed and stratified by gender. 343 KAIs participated (mean age = 41 ± 10 years, 47% female, 11% short sleepers [< 6 h]). After adjustment for covariates, higher homesickness (β = − 23.19, p < 0.05) and lower civic disengagement (β = 17.75, p < 0.05) were associated with shorter sleep duration in women, while higher isolation was associated with shorter sleep duration in men (β = − 13.73, p < 0.05). Discussion: Results suggest gender-specific associations between acculturative stress and sleep duration. Future research should take into account gender differences in the experience and effects of acculturative stress when developing interventions to improve sleep health in KAIs.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Delta Mu Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International and the Global Korean Nursing Foundation in USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, Vanderbilt University, 461 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN, 37240, USA

    Chorong Park

  2. Department of Population Health, School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Tanya M. Spruill, Mark J. Butler & Simona C. Kwon

  3. School of Nursing, Yale University, Orange, CT, 06477, USA

    Nancy S. Redeker & Robin Whittemore

  4. Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, New York, NY, 10010, USA

    Rida Gharzeddine

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  1. Chorong Park
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Correspondence to Chorong Park.

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Conflict of interest

Chorong Park, Tanya M. Spruill, Mark J. Butler, Simona C. Kwon, Nancy S. Redeker, Rida Gharzeddine, Robin Whittemore declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Park, C., Spruill, T.M., Butler, M.J. et al. Gender Differences in Acculturative Stress and Habitual Sleep Duration in Korean American Immigrants. J Immigrant Minority Health 22, 736–745 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-019-00926-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-019-00926-1

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