Preliminary Evidence for the Sequentially Mediated Effect of Racism-Related Stress on Pain Sensitivity Through Sleep Disturbance and Corticolimbic Opioid Receptor Function.

ABSTRACT: Sleep disturbance predicts worse pain outcomes. Because sleep disturbance inequitably impacts Black adults - with racism as the upstream cause - understanding how racism-related stress impacts pain through sleep might help minimize racialized pain inequities. This preliminary study examined sequential mediation of the effect of racism-related stress on experimental pain through sleep disturbance and corticolimbic μOR function in pain-free non-Hispanic Black (NHB) and White (NHW) adults. Participants completed questionnaires, actigraphy, positron emission tomography, and sensory testing. We reproduced findings showing greater sleep disturbance and pain sensitivity among NHB participants; greater sleep disturbance (r = .35) and lower pain tolerance (r=-.37) were significantly associated with

SUBMITTER: Letzen JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10863672 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature