PROVO -- Perceived racism may lead to depression and sleep problems in Utah's Hispanic community, according to a new study by a Brigham Young University researcher.

Previous studies have linked depression and sleep disorders, said BYU clinical psychologist Patrick Steffen, but his new study looks at racism, sleep disorders and depression together.

"We found that perceived racism impacts the quality of their sleep and that disturbed sleep is related to depression," Steffen told the Deseret Morning News in a copyright story.

The perceived racism causes depression because those affected have difficulty determining where they fit in with other people, said Monroe White, a clinical psychologist at the Mountainlands Community Health Clinic in Provo.

Steffen, an assistant professor of clinical psychology, is halfway through a $260,000, 4-year study funded by the American Heart Association. The association is interested in learning more about heart disease factors in Mexican immigrants.

Mexican immigrants, who generally experience low blood pressure and low rates of heart disease in their native country, are experiencing high blood pressure and increased rates of heart disease after immigration, Steffen said.

Although these increases can be attributed to a change in diet and physical activity once they immigrate, a 2003 study by Steffen showed perceived racism is also related to sustained increased blood pressure.

Steffen and BYU graduate student Matthew Bowden gave mental health evaluations to 168 Hispanic immigrants who had been in the United States for an average of five years.

Steffen said immigrants who have most recently arrived in the United States don't experience depression related to racism as often as immigrants who have lived here longer.

It isn't until after they start learning and understanding English that they perceive racism, he said.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B8.