The Moderating Role of Coping Strategies in the Relationship between Gendered Racial Microaggressions and Sleep Quality Among Asian American Women

Background and Purpose: Asian American women experience a unique form of discrimination that intersects both racial and gendered biases, often manifesting through gendered racial microaggressions (GRM). These microaggressions, such as stereotypes and marginalizing behaviors, can significantly impact mental health and disrupt sleep quality. While the relationships between GRM and mental health challenges are well-documented, the moderating role of coping strategies in these relationships remains underexplored. Coping mechanisms, such as resistance, internalization, and detachment, may influence how GRM affects mental health and sleep. This study examines how these coping strategies moderate the relationship between GRM and sleep quality, shedding light on the complexities of coping with racial and gendered discrimination.

Methods: Data were collected through an online survey of Asian American women in Minnesota. A total of 356 participants completed the survey between September and October 2024. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and gendered racial microaggressions (GRM) were measured using the GRM scale. Coping strategies for discrimination were measured using the Coping with Discrimination Scale (CDS), which includes five subscales: education/advocacy, internalization, drug and alcohol use, resistance, and detachment. Sociodemographic information was also collected. Five multivariate regression models were used to examine the relationship between GRM and sleep quality, each model including one CDS subscale as a moderator.

Results: All five models indicated a significant association between GRM and poor sleep quality. However, only two coping strategies—drug/alcohol use and resistance—exhibited significant moderating effects. Specifically, using drug and alcohol (B = 0.32, p = 0.043) and resistance (B = 0.43, p = 0.004) as coping mechanisms for discrimination amplified the negative impact of GRM on sleep quality. Furthermore, drug and alcohol use was directly associated with poorer sleep quality (B = 0.53, p = 0.002), whereas resistance did not show a direct association. These findings suggest that certain coping strategies may exacerbate the relationship between GRM and sleep quality rather than mitigate it.

Conclusions and Implications: This study highlights that certain coping strategies, such as coping through drug and alcohol use, exacerbate the negative effects of gendered racial microaggressions (GRM) on sleep quality among Asian American women. Specifically, coping through substance use worsens sleep quality and intensifies the relationship between GRM and sleep. Similarly, while resistance is generally considered an active and potentially positive coping strategy, it heightened the negative impact of GRM on sleep in this study. This suggests that the stress and emotional effort involved in resisting discrimination may contribute to poorer sleep quality. These findings underscore the importance of understanding the complexities of coping with discrimination, particularly the potential for both beneficial and harmful outcomes. Social work practice and interventions may benefit from promoting healthy coping strategies while recognizing the contexts in which active coping, such as resistance, may require additional support. Further research is needed to explore how different coping strategies influence the well-being of Asian American women and how they interact with experiences of racial and gendered discrimination.