Stress, Coping, and Sleep Health Study

Starting soon

Conditions studied: Sleep

In brief

Background: Poor sleep is common among refugee groups worldwide. It can lead to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and premature death. It can also worsen mental health disorders. Researchers have studied the mental health issues among refugees from Bhutan in the United States. Now they want to understand more about how difficulty sleeping may relate to their other health outcomes. Objective: To learn how the social and environmental conditions Bhutanese refugees affect their sleep health and health outcomes. Eligibility: Refugees aged 18 years and older of Bhutanese-Nepali or Bhutanese American descent. The participants must live in central Ohio. Also needed are people aged 18 years and older who interact with Bhutanese refugees in this region. Design: Participants will participate in a focus group discussion. The group will have 8 to 10 participants. It will last 60 to 90 minutes. They will talk about their experiences as a refugee and their sleep health. Topics may include adjusting to a new culture; access to housing and health care; and experiences with differential treatment by members inside and outside of their group. The study team will audio record the discussion. They will not share the recording with anyone. Participants will complete a short questionnaire. They will answer questions about their age, sex, language preferences, and how long they have lived in the United States. Participants who are not refugees will take part in a virtual interview led by a member of the study team. Participants will share their experiences with adapting to a new culture, differential treatment, and other factors have affected refugees sleep. The interview will take about 1 hour.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07566481

Run by

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

People needed

70

Starts

2026-08-12

Expected to finish

2026-12-31

Last updated by the study team

2026-08-07

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 120. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may not qualify if…

• Individuals who are unable to communicate in either English or Nepali will be excluded from FGD. Since Nepali is the primary language spoken by most Bhutanese refugees before relocation, and English is the dominant language in the United States, participants are expected to have sufficient proficiency in at least one of these languages.
• Individuals who are unable to communicate in English will be excluded from KII. Given their leadership roles and interactions with the healthcare system, educational institutions, local government service providers, and nonprofit organizations in Ohio-where English is the primary language-participants are expected to have sufficient English proficiency. We will not exclude any participants that meet the inclusion criteria from participating in the study overall or in any of the study procedures.
• Children (individuals under 18) are excluded from this study because the knowledge sought is not relevant to this population. This study investigates the relationship between sleep quality and experiences of discrimination among Bhutanese-Nepali refugees in Ohio, as well as the coping mechanisms adults use to manage discrimination-related stress, particularly as it pertains to sleep.
• The constructs under investigation, including perceived discrimination, its psychosocial impact, and adaptive coping strategies, are anchored in the adult experience of resettlement and the stressors associated with adult social and occupational life. Children's experiences of discrimination, sleep patterns, and coping mechanisms differ substantially from those of adults in both nature and context, and findings from an adult sample would not be generalizable to a pediatric population. For these reasons, the inclusion of children would not yield scientifically meaningful data relevant to the study aims.

Where it is running

• Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio — Columbus, Ohio, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.