Tiffany Yip - US grants

This National Science Foundation Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Minority Post-Doctoral Fellowship Starter Grant provides start-up infrastructural support for the Post-Doctoral Fellow once he/she receives a tenure-track position within one year of finishing the NSF post-doc. There are two primary objectives of this proposal for the National Science Foundation Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Minority Post-Doctoral Fellowship Starter Grant. The first objective is to provide continued support for research funded as part of the PostDoctoral Research Fellowship (SES-0409492). The specific aims of this study are: 1). to experimentally manipulate ethnic identity salience in a laboratory setting, 2). to examine how salience is associated with psychological mood, 3). to examine how the valence of the setting (i.e., negative, positive) influences the association between salience and mood, and 4). to explore how stable ethnic identity might influence these associations. Preliminary analyses of the African American sample at the University of Michigan indicate that the experimental manipulation results in different levels of ethnic identity salience across the experimental and control conditions. The experimental method of this study makes it the first to demonstrate a causal association between context and salience, whereas previous daily diary and experience sampling studies allowed only for correlational observations. These data suggest that reading newspaper articles about the negative experiences of African Americans affirms the worldview of African Americans who already think that others view their group negatively. Data collection at the University of Michigan and Fordham will reveal whether there are differences in experiences of ethnic identity salience between Midwestern and Northeastern samples of Asian and African Americans. The second objective is to launch a longitudinal study of Asian and African American high school students in the New York Metropolitan area. Scholars have discussed adolescence as a particularly critical period for identity development; for youths of color, this identity may include an identity based on ethnic or racial group membership. As such, it seems especially important to make longitudinal observations of identity change over time. Therefore, this proposal will describe support for the first year of a 4-year longitudinal project. The specific aims of this study are: 1). to track the variability of ethnic identity salience among Asian and African American adolescents in naturalistic settings, 2). to evaluate how this variability is related to changes in stable ethnic identity, and 3). To explore the association between ethnic identity and psychological functioning as dynamic and stable aspects of the self. Although research provides increasing support for the variability of ethnic identity salience across days and situations, the long-term implications of this salience are unclear. As such, this study will examine how situation and daily level experiences of ethnic identity salience influence the development of stable ethnic identity over time. That is, how does the salience of ethnic identity in everyday contexts influence the development of a stable identity over time? Since this proposal is grounded in a multidimensional model of ethnic and racial identity it seeks to address how the various dimensions of identity may be differentially related to everyday experiences. The data intensive nature of the proposed studies is designed to provide rich and detailed information about the daily lives of adolescents from two minority groups. Combining cutting-edge methods such as daily diaries, experience sampling, and experimental techniques with traditional survey methods will provide a more comprehensive understanding of how ethnic identity operates in daily life. While the literature on ethnic identity has seen a surge in the past few decades, very little of this research addresses the dynamic nature of that identity. Therefore this study will contribute to the existing literature by providing additional support for the dynamism of ethnic identity. Moreover, to date, research on racial and ethnic identity has been largely based on the experiences of African Americans; therefore this study will contribute to the literature by including both Asian and African American youths. The study also makes a case that it is invaluable to conduct research on multiple groups in order to identify universal processes as well as those that are unique to minority groups in the United States. This study seeks to establish a link between the daily lived experiences of ethnic minority youth and their development of a sense of self. It will allow the Fellow to extend her work on Asian Americans to the study of African American adolescents. Finally, this grant will support research spanning adolescence to young adulthood providing information on a particularly important developmental period for identity development.

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of the proposed research is to examine the role of ethnic identity in the everyday lives of African, Asian and Latino American youths. Adolescence is a development period of identity search and construction; and for minority youth, this identity may be particularly complex given the meaning and significance that United States society places on ethnicity. While many theorists have discussed the fluidity of ethnic identity, there is surprisingly little empirical support and even less longitudinal research. Incorporating developmental and social psychological theories, we take a person by situation approach to our study by examining the fluidity of ethnic identity as youths move through their natural environments and settings. As such, the proposed research examines the impact of context, at a global and immediate level, on the fluidity of ethnic identity salience. Since youths bring certain personal characteristics (e.g., stable ethnic identity) into each setting it is also important to examine the unique experiences of ethnic identity salience for the same individual across different contexts as well as for different individuals in the same contexts. To this end, we employ a combination of experience sampling, daily diary and survey methods to measure ethnic identity at more than on level. As well, the literature on ethnic identity suggests that it is related to how youths feel about themselves; therefore, this study will examine how the fluidity of ethnic identity salience is associated with the fluidity of psychological feelings across days and situations. Finally, we will examine these associations over a three-year period in order to examine how everyday experiences impact the development and maintenance of stable ethnic identity over time. Developmental theorists have suggested that it is youths repeated experience in settings that culminate over time to influence the development and maintenance of more stable traits; we will test this theory by examining ethnic identity. We believe that this project is of particular relevance to understanding the everyday experiences of minority youth in the United States and how these experiences shape their psychological adjustment (e.g., depression, anxiety) and feelings of self-worth (e.g., self-esteem) over time. By including African, Asian and Latino American youth, we will be able to examine differences between youths in each of these groups as well as commonalities they share as minorities. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]

The ethnic and racial demography of the U.S. population has changed tremendously. The U.S. Census reports that a majority of children in the United States are now racial/ethnic minorities. By 2043, the general American population is projected to include an ethnic minority-majority. Accordingly, research on ethnic/racial identity has taken on critical significance. Ethnic/racial identity is a central aspect of the development of ethnic minority youth, especially during adolescence and young adulthood, and promotes positive outcomes among youth who have been exposed to racial discrimination and other stressors. In some cases, a strong ethnic/racial identity can buffer youth from negative life events. One important issue for consideration is the unique experiences of each ethnic/racial group versus commonalities across groups. There has also been limited research on how biological, family, school, neighborhood and societal contexts shape the development and content of ethnic/racial identity over time. For example, how does ethnic/racial identity develop differently for a Hispanic adolescent in the Southwest compared to the Midwest or the Northeast?
The workshop will address the following three goals: (a) to examine and discuss research on how contexts influence ethnic/racial identity over time, (b) to identify how biological, family, school, neighborhood and societal contexts influence the development and content of ethnic/racial identity, and (c) to identity ways that prevailing theories of ethnic/racial identity fail to account for the effects of context on ethnic/racial identity. The workshop participants are an interdisciplinary group including Psychology, Sociology, Education, Political Science, Public Health and Genomics scholars. The workgroup represents diversity in developmental period studied (i.e., childhood, adolescence, emerging adulthood, and young adulthood), racial/ethnic population studied (i.e., African American, Latino, Asian American and Native American), and methodological approach. The workgroup members are also ethnically diverse themselves. The workshop will result in new collaborations and significant new insights into understanding minority youth development.

Sleep is essential for health, daily functioning, and development. Yet, nearly 80% of 9th- and 97% of 12th-grade adolescents are chronically sleep-deprived. The adverse effects of sleep disturbance are especially pronounced for racial/ethnic minorities who consistently report poorer sleep hygiene. Hence, sleep can be added to a long list of areas in which racial/ethnic minorities suffer from disparities. Sleep disturbance may be a major cause of health and academic disparities among racial/ethnic minority adolescents. Sleep disturbance, health, and academic outcomes are also correlated with experiences of racial/ethnic discrimination, particularly among African American and Hispanic/Latino youth. This study explores whether sleep disturbance influences the relationships among racial discrimination, health and academic outcomes in this high-risk population.

Are youth with greater sleep disturbance more likely to exhibit a negative impact of discrimination on health and achievement? This 4-year study will follow adolescents through high school to understand the ways that social and sleep-related factors influence the associations among racial/ethnic discrimination, health and academic outcomes. By collecting daily reports of discrimination, actigraphy (wristband monitor) measures of sleep, tri-annual reports of health and academic outcomes, and an index of school racial/ethnic diversity, the study investigates: (a) the effects of racial/ethnic discrimination on health and academic outcomes, (b) if sleep disturbance explains the link between racial discrimination and health and academic outcomes, (c) whether having a positive racial/ethnic identity influences how racial discrimination is related to sleep disturbance, and (d) how school ethnic/racial diversity is related to health and academic outcomes. Today, ethnic minorities already comprise 53% of Americans under age 18 and this number is projected to grow. The fact that historically minority groups are experiencing numerical majority status has the potential to redefine race relations. This study explores whether sleep may help protect minority adolescents against the negative effects of racial discrimination and stress.

Adolescents are chronically sleep-deprived with 97% of 12th graders getting insufficient sleep. Unfortunately, sleep is one of several areas of health where ethnic minorities suffer disparities. Sleep has profound influences on adolescent socioemotional and physical health and development. Moreover, research finds that sleep and health share a link to racial/ethnic discrimination. Integrating these areas of research, the proposed study is the first to explore the associations between discrimination, sleep, and health in a unified and longitudinal approach. The study explores sleep disturbance as an explanatory physiological mechanism through which racial/ethnic discrimination leads to compromised health in the short and longer term. The 2-year study includes Asian/Asian American (A/AA) adolescents starting in the 9th grade. Despite reporting rates of discrimination comparable to, and even higher than, other minorities A/AA youth have been neglected in the research on discrimination. Taking a biopsychosocial approach, the study explores the biological (i.e., sleep), psychological (i.e., racial/ethnic identity), social (i.e., racial/ethnic discrimination) pathways to adolescent health. Through the innovative combination of sleep actigraphy, daily surveys, and tri-annual reports of health, the study will make significant contributions to the science of social-biomedical influences on development. This unique methodological approach affords the ability to explore concurrent (i.e., daily-level) as well as longitudinal (i.e., year-over-year) analyses, providing a cutting-edge approach to exploring the temporal linkages in the development of disparities. The proposed study is guided by the following study aims: · Aim 1: To explore the unique daily-level effects of racial/ethnic discrimination on sleep disturbance and health, adjusting for the effects of general stress. · Aim 2: To investigate the hypothesis that daily-level sleep disturbance partially mediates the negative effect of daily racial/ethnic discrimination on health. · Aim 3: To investigate the hypothesis that racial/ethnic identity moderates the effect of daily level racial/ethnic discrimination on sleep disturbance. · Aim 4: To investigate the short- and longer-term effects of daily racial/ethnic discrimination and sleep disturbance on health over time. The proposed study adds a sample of A/AA adolescents to an on-going study of discrimination and sleep among African American and Latino youth. Consistent with ecosocial theory's construct of embodiment, the study will contribute to the science of health disparities by identifying the physiological pathway through which the social experiences of discrimination result in health disparities. The study relates to the NIH's mission by exploring the biopsychosocial mechanisms underlying the development of health disparities.

Project Summary Ethnic/racial minorities (ERMs) are more likely to suffer from short sleep duration and poor sleep quality relative to Whites. Sociodemographic and environmental stressors disproportionately impact ERMs and have been implicated in the development and maintenance of race-related sleep disparities. The transition to college is an especially important time to investigate sleep since young adults encounter a unique configuration of sociodemographic and environmental stressors linked to sleep. No longer tethered to early high school start times, college students report later and more irregular bedtimes. College students also sleep less and more poorly than adults, suggesting a developmental peak in sleep disturbances among young adults. Focusing on two sleep-vulnerable groups ? ERMs and college students - this 5-year longitudinal study investigates race-related sleep disparities in a diverse sample of college students during and after the transition to college; and how race-related sleep disparities forecast downstream health and academic outcomes through students? senior year. The study also investigates the risk and protective effects of ethnic/racial identity as a dynamic and changing moderator during this period. The innovative and novel combination of daily diaries and sleep actigraphy, biannual surveys, and annual assessments of inflammatory biomarkers, telomere length and anthropometric measures offers an unparalleled opportunity to investigate the daily and longer-term mechanisms, pathways, and consequences of race-related sleep disparities in a large sample of ERM and White college students. A key innovation of the study is the intersectional inclusion of ERM, socioeconomic, 1st-generation college, resident and commuter diversity. The three specific aims of the study are informed by strong preliminary data (R21MD011388), scientific premise, and the race-based disparities in stress and sleep in context model. The proposed study: 1. Determines the daily and longer-term impact of sociodemographic and environmental stress on race- related sleep disparities (duration, quality, regularity) during the college transition and the next four years 2. Identifies race-related sleep disparities as an explanatory pathway for sociodemographic and environmental stress to impact health, academic and physiologic biomarker (inflammation and telomere length) outcomes 3. Investigates ethnic/racial identity as a dynamic moderator of the daily and longer-term effects of stress on sleep, and of sleep on outcomes Together, these aims advance developmental and health equity science, investigating how sociodemographic and environmental stress contribute to race-related sleep disparities among diverse college students to forecast daily and longer-term health and academics over time.