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This chapter is a primer on sleep epidemiology—the methods of assessment on how sleep is measured (e.g., self-report [such as the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale] vs. with use of objective tools such as actigraphy); validity of sleep measurements; the different dimensions of sleep health and disorders that are of interest (e.g., sleep duration, sleep quality, sleep fragmentation, insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, social jetlag, snoring, narcolepsy, etc.); general sleep biology and physiology; and why sleep matters (i.e., the epidemiologic consequences of poor sleep health, e.g., connection to other health behaviors and health outcomes such as drug use; sexual risk behaviors; depression; dietary behaviors such as sugar-sweetened beverage consumption; cardiometabolic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and hypertension; and cancer outcomes such as breast cancer).

This chapter is a meta-commentary on the field of neighborhood health research. Neighborhood research has hitherto focused on a variety of health behaviors and outcomes—such as diet, smoking, drinking, physical activity—but not so much sleep. This chapter focuses on the neighborhood social and physical context (e.g., neighborhood safety, neighborhood stigma, neighborhood noise, neighborhood light, and neighborhood crowding) and how it can impact sleep health and sleep disorders across populations and geographies. In addition to discussing a range of neighborhood exposures, the chapter discusses the designs of studies as well general methodological issues in the neighborhood health field. The chapter also provides a discussion of neighborhood-level interventions that can be utilized in the sleep field. Lastly, this chapter highlights the advancement of neighborhood research extending to sleep health.

This chapter focuses on the developmental issues that impact sleep during infancy and childhood and link to adult sleep. For example, it examines differences in sleep across childhood as well as the relationship of pediatric and adult sleep health and specific issues such as mother–child bedsharing. The chapter discusses the social determinants of sleep for children—for example, increasing screen time and social media involvement, impact of bedtime routines, the mismatch of school hours to the biology of sleep in teenagers (e.g., highlighting that a reason that high schools start at 8 AM in the United States is so that parents can drop them off before they take off on their long commutes to work).

This chapter focuses on racial/ethnic disparities in sleep, including Black–White differences in sleep health using data from nationally representative data sets. It also examines reasons for racial/ethnic disparities in sleep, including measurement artifact, biological/genetic differences, and the social and economic influences that influence sleep health in racial and ethnic minorities. Some of the factors that may contribute to racial/ethnic differences in sleep health include genetic, biological, physiological, psychological, behavioral, cultural, and environmental differences across these populations The chapter draws upon intersectionality theory, a framework that acknowledges how multiple social categories (e.g., race, ethnicity, employment, socioeconomic status) intersect with macro-level phenomena and reflect multiple interlocking systems of privilege that present real consequences for sleep and health.

This chapter focuses on how socioeconomic status (SES) can influence sleep health. The chapter overviews traditional SES factors, which include education, income, and employment. Beyond this, the chapter discusses other (less studied) SES factors such as financial hardship and subjective social status among various populations. Socioeconomic sleep disparities in the context of racial/ethnic sleep disparities are considered, and a social ecological model of sleep is discussed, which includes (a) individual-level socioeconomic drivers, which are embedded within (b) social-level socioeconomic drivers, which themselves are embedded within (c) societal-level socioeconomic drivers. The chapter concludes with thoughts for future directions in research.

This chapter highlights sleep among immigrant populations across geographies. Given that the focus of much sleep research on immigrant populations focuses on U.S. populations, that is particularly highlighted. A focus of this chapter is on the measurement of immigration and acculturation and links between sleep and stressors common in immigrant populations. Acculturation is defined and related to immigrant health, as is acculturative stress. Studies of acculturation and sleep explored include studies of adult Hispanic/Latino immigrants, adult Asian immigrants, adult immigrants from multiple origins, adolescents, adolescent Hispanic/Latino immigrants, and adolescent immigrants from multiple origins. Studies of acculturative stress and sleep are also discussed. The chapter finishes with limitations and future directions.

The chapter provides an overview of sleep epidemiology from a social perspective, including the ways social epidemiology can contribute to an improved understand of sleep health across populations. Beyond the topics discussed rigorously in the ensuing chapters (e.g., sleep in pregnancy, sleep among sexual and gender minorities, discrimination, stress and sleep, and neighborhoods and sleep), this chapter briefly discusses other emerging areas of sleep epidemiology such as gender and sleep, and social networks and sleep. It also describes the motivation and rationale for this book and guides the reader through the structure of the rest of the book.

Drowsiness and poor sleep health in individuals have population-wide health and safety impacts which societies often feel compelled to address as a matter of law and public policy. Governments, multinational organizations, and non-governmental regulatory bodies worldwide have adopted legal and policy interventions to address the impacts of drowsiness and poor sleep health in the individuals and populations they serve. This chapter introduces some examples of such interventions developed for the general motoring public, workers in safety-critical jobs or occupations requiring unusual work hours or extended duration duty, and adolescent pupils. Directions for future research and intervention are also discussed, such as a ‘breathalyzer for drowsiness’.