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Abstract
New mothers often experience sleep disturbances during the postpartum period, with Black mothers disproportionately experiencing these difficulties. This dissertation project aimed to further understanding of factors contributing to sleep difficulties for new Black mothers in two complementary studies, both involving secondary analysis of the Sleep SAAF (Strong African American Families) randomized controlled trial. Study 1 investigated effects of the Sleep SAAF responsive parenting (RP) intervention versus a safety control intervention on self-reported maternal sleep difficulties at 8 and 16 weeks postpartum and on actigraph-measured maternal sleep at 8 weeks postpartum. Results indicated that RP mothers had 20 minutes longer average actigraph-measured total sleep time than controls at 8 weeks postpartum, after adjusting for age and other covariates likely to influence mothers’ sleep. Study 2 examined impacts of two racism-related contextual stressors—racial discrimination and financial strain—on postpartum maternal sleep, controlling for infant sleep and other variables expected to predict maternal sleep difficulties. Results showed that racial discrimination and financial strain both predicted mothers’ sleep above and beyond the effects of infant sleep (and above and beyond the effects of intervention). Together, these studies further understanding of factors predicting postpartum sleep in first-time Black mothers and can serve to inform future efforts to reduce racial inequities in sleep and overall health during the postpartum period.