Discrimination and sleep disturbance: How is substance use a mediator for sexual minority men?

Discrimination plays a role in sleep disturbance for sexual minority men (SMM). Coping with discrimination through substance use may impact this relationship. Therefore, the current study aims to understand how substance use may mediate the relationship between microaggressions and sleep. In 2020, SMM were recruited for an online survey. Participants responded to items about sleep disturbance, sexual orientation microaggressions, and recent substance use. Multivariate regressions investigated the association of microaggressions with sleep disturbance and if substance use mediates this relationship. Microaggressions were associated with both sleep disturbance and substance use. The final model was significant, and a Sobel test indicated that substance use partially mediates the relationship between microaggressions and sleep disturbance. These findings build evidence that increased substance use due to discrimination is contributing to increased sleep disturbance. Social workers should prioritize assessing experiences of discrimination to identify risk for substance use and sleep disturbance.