Everyday Discrimination and Sleep Among Migrant and Non-migrant Filipinos: Longitudinal Analyses from the Health of Philippine Emigrants Study (HoPES)

This study aimed to (1) identify differences in sleep patterns between Filipino migrants and non-migrants across 2 years and (2) explore the impact of discrimination trajectories on sleep trajectories. The Health of Philippine Emigrants Study (HoPES) consisted of a migrant (n = 832) and non-migrant cohort (n = 805), with baseline data collected in the Philippines. Both cohorts were followed longitudinally, with the non-migrants followed in the Philippines and the migrant cohort followed to the United States. Sleep duration, quality, and difficulty were assessed with the National Institutes of Health Patient-Reported Outcomes Information System (PROMIS) inventory, and discrimination was measured with an adapted version of the Everyday Discrimination scale. Migrants reported a faster decline in sleep duration (− 12 min a year) but higher sleep quality than non-migrants over 2 years. Migrants who reported high initial levels of everyday discrimination also reported faster declines in sleep duration and a slower decline in sleep difficulty. Further, migrants who reported stable (versus declining) levels of discrimination over 2 years reported a faster decline in sleep quality. These results speak to the complexity of immigrant health patterns and long-term associations between discrimination and sleep processes.