Neighborhood and Individual Level Socioeconomic Variation in Perceptions of Racial Discrimination

In approaching the study of racial discrimination and health, the neighborhood and individual-level antecedents of perceived discrimination need further exploration. We investigated the relationship between neighborhood and individual-level socioeconomic position (SEP), neighborhood racial composition, and perceived racial discrimination in a cohort of African-American and White women age 40-79 from Connecticut, USA. Design. The logistic regression analysis included 1249 women (39% African- American and 61% White). Neighborhood-level SEP and racial composition were determined using 1990 census tract information. Individual-level SEP indicators included income, education, and occupation. Perceived racial discrimination was measured as lifetime experience in seven situations. Results. For African-American women, living in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods was associated with fewer reports of racial discrimination (odds ratio (OR) 0.44; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.26, 0.75), with results attenuated after adjustment for individual-level SEP (OR 0.54, CI: 0.29, 1.03), and additional adjustment for neighborhood racial composition (OR 0.70, CI: 0.30, 1.63). African-American women with 12 years of education or less were less likely to report racial discrimination, compared with women with more than 12 years of education (OR 0.57, CI: 0.33, 0.98 (12 years); OR 0.51, CI: 0.26, 0.99 (less than 12 years)) in the fully adjusted model. For White women, neither neighborhood-level SEP nor individual-level SEP was associated with perceived racial discrimination. Conclusion. Individual and neighborhood-level SEP may be important in understanding how racial discrimination is perceived, reported, processed, and how it may influence health. In order to fully assess the role of racism in future studies, inclusion of additional dimensions of discrimination may be warranted

Interpersonal discrimination and depressive symptomatology: examination of several personality-related characteristics as potential confounders in a racial/ethnic heterogeneous adult sample

Background Research suggests that reports of interpersonal discrimination result in poor mental health. Because personality characteristics may either confound or mediate the link between these reports and mental health, there is a need to disentangle its role in order to better understand the nature of discrimination-mental health association. We examined whether hostility, anger repression and expression, pessimism, optimism, and self-esteem served as confounders in the association between perceived interpersonal discrimination and CESD-based depressive symptoms in a race/ethnic heterogeneous probability-based sample of community-dwelling adults. Methods We employed a series of ordinary least squares regression analyses to examine the potential confounding effect of hostility, anger repression and expression, pessimism, optimism, and self-esteem between interpersonal discrimination and depressive symptoms. Results Hostility, anger repression, pessimism and self-esteem were significant as possible confounders of the relationship between interpersonal discrimination and depressive symptoms, together accounting for approximately 38% of the total association (beta: 0.1892, p \u3c 0.001). However, interpersonal discrimination remained a positive predictor of depressive symptoms (beta: 0.1176, p \u3c 0.001). Conclusion As one of the first empirical attempts to examine the potential confounding role of personality characteristics in the association between reports of interpersonal discrimination and mental health, our results suggest that personality-related characteristics may serve as potential confounders. Nevertheless, our results also suggest that, net of these characteristics, reports of interpersonal discrimination are associated with poor mental health

Psychosocial factors and coronary calcium in adults without clinical cardiovascular disease

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61519/2/Diez Roux 2006, Psychosocial factors and Coronary Calcium in adults without clinical cardiovascular disease.pd

Cumulative effects of bullying and racial discrimination on adolescent health in Australia

This study examined how cumulative exposure to racial discrimination and bullying victimization influences the health of Australian adolescents (n=2802) aged 10-11 years (19.3% visible ethnic minorities (non-White, non-Indigenous); 2.6% Indigenous) using data from 3 waves (2010-2014) of the nationally representative Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Cumulative exposure to racial discrimination and bullying victimization had incremental negative effects on socioemotional difficulties. Higher accumulated exposure to both stressors across time was associated with increased BMI z-scores, and risk of overweight/obesity. Studies that examine exposure to single risk factors such as bullying victimization or racial discrimination at 1 time point only are likely to miss key determinants of health for adolescents from stigmatized racial/ethnic backgrounds and under-estimate their stressor burden

Socially-assigned race, healthcare discrimination and preventive healthcare services.

Race and ethnicity, typically defined as how individuals self-identify, are complex social constructs. Self-identified racial/ethnic minorities are less likely to receive preventive care and more likely to report healthcare discrimination than self-identified non-Hispanic whites. However, beyond self-identification, these outcomes may vary depending on whether racial/ethnic minorities are perceived by others as being minority or white; this perception is referred to as socially-assigned race.To examine the associations between socially-assigned race and healthcare discrimination and receipt of selected preventive services.Cross-sectional analysis of the 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System "Reactions to Race" module. Respondents from seven states and the District of Columbia were categorized into 3 groups, defined by a composite of self-identified race/socially-assigned race: Minority/Minority (M/M, n = 6,837), Minority/White (M/W, n = 929), and White/White (W/W, n = 25,913). Respondents were 18 years or older, with 61.7% under age 60; 51.8% of respondents were female. Measures included reported healthcare discrimination and receipt of vaccinations and cancer screenings.Racial/ethnic minorities who reported being socially-assigned as minority (M/M) were more likely to report healthcare discrimination compared with those who reported being socially-assigned as white (M/W) (8.9% vs. 5.0%, p = 0.002). Those reporting being socially-assigned as white (M/W and W/W) had similar rates for past-year influenza (73.1% vs. 74.3%) and pneumococcal (69.3% vs. 58.6%) vaccinations; however, rates were significantly lower among M/M respondents (56.2% and 47.6%, respectively, p-values<0.05). There were no significant differences between the M/M and M/W groups in the receipt of cancer screenings.Racial/ethnic minorities who reported being socially-assigned as white are more likely to receive preventive vaccinations and less likely to report healthcare discrimination compared with those who are socially-assigned as minority. Socially-assigned race/ethnicity is emerging as an important area for further research in understanding how race/ethnicity influences health outcomes

Perceived weight discrimination in the CARDIA study: differences by race, sex, and weight status

OBJECTIVE: To examine self-reported weight discrimination and differences based on race, sex, and BMI in a biracial cohort of community-based middle-aged adults. DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants (3,466, mean age = 50 years, mean BMI = 30 kg/m(2)) of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study who completed the 25-year examination of this epidemiological investigation in 2010-2011 were reported. The sample included normal weight, overweight, and obese participants. CARDIA participants are distributed into four race-sex groups, with about half being African-American and half White. Participants completed a self-reported measure of weight discrimination. RESULTS: Among overweight/obese participants, weight discrimination was lowest for White men (12.0%) and highest for White women (30.2%). The adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) for weight discrimination in those with class 2/3 obesity (BMI \u3e /= 35 kg/m(2)) versus the normal-weight was most pronounced: African American men, 4.59 (1.71-12.34); African American women, 7.82 (3.57-17.13); White men, 6.99 (2.27-21.49); and White women, 18.60 (8.97-38.54). Being overweight (BMI = 25-29.9 kg/m(2)) vs. normal weight was associated with increased discrimination in White women only: 2.10 (1.11-3.96). CONCLUSIONS: Novel evidence for a race-sex interaction on perceived weight discrimination, with White women more likely to report discrimination at all levels of overweight and obesity was provided. Pychosocial mechanisms responsible for these differences deserve exploration

Psychosocial factors and coronary calcium in the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55421/1/Diez Roux et al Psychosocial Factors and Coronary Calcium in Adults without Clinical Cardiovascular Disease 2006.pd

Logistic regression analysis of the association between racial/ethnic assignment group and health-related outcomes (Minority/Minority as reference group).

<p>OR  =  Odds Ratio; CI  =  Confidence Interval.</p><p>p = 0.05.</p>a<p>Regression Model adjusted for sex, health insurance status, marital status, education, employment status, income and age.</p>b<p>Regression Model adjusted for health insurance status, marital status, education, employment status, income and age.</p

Sample demographic characteristics of 2004 BRFSS Reactions to Race respondents.

<p>a Numbers may not sum to total n due to missing data.</p><p>b White/White is defined as self-identified White/socially-assigned as White.</p><p>c Minority/White is defined as self-identified Minority/socially-assigned as White.</p><p>d Minority/Minority is defined as self-identified Minority/socially-assigned as Minority.</p