- Religiosity/spirituality (R/S) was cross-sectionally associated with reduced nonrestorative sleep, but not with short sleep or insomnia symptoms.
- Protective associations for R/S (strength and comfort, prayer or meditation) occurred only among participants reporting low or no daily stress.
- Observed associations were limited to baseline cross-sectional analyses and were not sustained longitudinally in this cohort.
Sleep. 2026 Jun 11:zsag157. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsag157. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
STUDY OBJECTIVES: To investigate associations between religiosity/spirituality (R/S) and sleep and potential modification by stress among Black/African American (AA) women.
METHODS: Participants from the Study of Environment, Lifestyle, & Fibroids (2010-2018) reported importance of faith and R/S as a source of strength/comfort (ranging from ‘very’ to ‘not at all’) as well as frequency of prayer/meditation (ranging from ‘everyday,’ to ‘<once/month’) at baseline. There were repeated measures of daily stress (‘very high/moderate’ vs. ‘low/none’), short sleep duration (<7-hours), nonrestorative sleep (NRS, waking rested <4-days/week), and insomnia symptoms (difficulty falling/staying asleep). Adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) were estimated with Poisson regression with robust variance, and adjusted risk ratios were estimated by applying generalized estimating equations to models. R/S-by-stress terms were tested.
RESULTS: Among 1,693 Black/AA women (mean age±SD 29.2±3.4 years), 69.3% reported faith as important, 55.6% perceived R/S as a source of strength/comfort, 58.8% prayed/meditated daily, 43.8% reported high/moderate stress, and poor sleep was prevalent (short sleep:58.4%, NRS:62%, and insomnia symptoms:17.9%) at baseline. There were no associations with short sleep and insomnia symptoms. All three R/S measures were each cross-sectionally but not longitudinally associated with lower likelihood of NRS, however, associations differed by stress. R/S as source of strength/comfort and prayer/meditation showed protective associations with NRS prevalence at baseline only among participants with low versus high stress (e.g., prayer everyday vs. <once/month aPRhigh stress=1.07 [95% CI:0.91-1.26], aPRlow stress=0.76 [95% CI:0.63-0.91], pR/S*stress =0.03).
CONCLUSIONS: Higher R/S was associated with lower NRS prevalence, but protective associations were limited to participants with low/no stress.
PMID:42275091 | DOI:10.1093/sleep/zsag157
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