Latent Profiles of Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Severity and Sleep Health Among South Asian Americans

Limited research has examined the post-trauma psychological and sleep health of South Asians residing in the U.S. To expand this line of research, we used latent profile analysis to examine: (1) the number and nature of distinct subgroups based on endorsed posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and sleep disturbances, and (2) how these subgroups were related to internalized stigma and mental health help-seeking attitudes. Our sample included 259 South Asians recruited from Amazon’s MTurk (Mage=34.23 years, 54% male, 63% U.S.-born citizens). Latent profile analyses indicated a 4-profile model. Profile 1 (34.36%) exhibited low PTSS severity and sleep disturbances, Profile 2 (32.28%) showed moderate levels of PTSS severity and sleep disturbances, Profile 3 (19.69%) had low PTSS severity but moderate sleep problems, and Profile 4 (13.13%) demonstrated high levels of both. Internalized stigma, but not mental health help-seeking attitudes significantly predicted profile membership. South Asians in Profiles 2, 3, and 4 were 1.38, 1.63, and 1.17 times more likely, respectively, to report higher internalized stigma compared to Profile 1. Results indicated that South Asian adults with more severe comorbid PTSS and sleep problems experience more internalized stigma, which is important to target and consider in PTSD and sleep treatments for this community.