Background: Lipid dysregulation is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and is attributed to numerous biological, psychosocial, and behavioral risk factors. Psychological stress has been examined as a predictor of lipid dysregulation; however, the role of coping with perceived racism, a stressor unique to the African American experience, has not been addressed. The current study sought to determine the impact of behavioral coping responses to perceived racism and perceived daily stress on lipid levels in African Americans.
Methods: The sample consisted of 122 African American participants who resided in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. Data were collected as part of an ongoing study entitled Stress and Psychoneuroimmunological Factors in Renal Health and Disease at Howard University Hospital.
Results: Through canonical analysis, distinct profiles of African American lipid function emerged with body mass index, age, and behavioral coping responses to perceived racism being associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), respectively. Results from linear regression analyses showed that greater endorsement of behavioral coping responses to perceived racism items predicted higher levels of LDL (B = .24, p < .05). This relationship was not mediated by pathophysiological mechanisms associated with the stress response system such as cortisol, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and IL-6.
Conclusion: The relationship between elevated levels of LDL and behavioral coping responses to perceived racism suggests that African Americans may be at increased risk for CVD due to the unique stress encountered by racism in our culture. Behavioral pathways used to counteract the negative effects of perceived discrimination may better explain this relationship. Further research is necessary to determine other biobehavioral and pathophysiological mechanisms that explain this relationship.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0027-9684(15)30385-0 | DOI Listing |
PLoS One
January 2025
Department of Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Introduction: Unmet oral health needs remain a significant issue among immigrant adolescents, often exacerbated by experiences of racial discrimination. This study aimed to examine the associations between perceived discrimination and oral health behaviours in adolescents with immigrant backgrounds and explore the potential moderating role of resilience on this association.
Methods: Ethical approval for this cross-sectional study was obtained from the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board.
J Youth Adolesc
January 2025
Department of Psychology, Fordham University, 441 East Fordham Road, Dealy Hall, Bronx, NY, USA.
Young women of color frequently face discrimination, reflecting the intersecting societal influences of sexism and racism. Although friendships play a significant role in women's lives, there is a lack of research on the role of friendships in navigating exposure to gendered racial discrimination (in-person and social media) and associated mental health. This study investigated the extent to which the content of friendship conversations (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Med
December 2025
Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Background: Despite high COVID-19 vaccine coverage in Canada, vaccine acceptance and preferred delivery among newcomers, racialized persons, and those who primarily speak minority languages are not well understood. This national study explores COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, access to vaccines, and delivery preferences among ethnoculturally diverse population groups.
Methods: We conducted two national cross-sectional surveys during the pandemic (Dec 2020 and Oct-Nov 2021).
Sleep Med Rev
December 2024
Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle, Denton, TX, 76203, USA.
Immigrants face unique challenges and stressors before leaving their country of origin and upon arrival to their host country, all of which may impair their sleep health. We synthesized the literature on pre-and-post migration factors predicting sleep outcomes among foreign-born Latin American immigrants to the United States. Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched three electronic databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAustralia is world renowned when it comes to its successful response to HIV prevention, but their HIV epidemiological trend has shifted towards the increase of new HIV diagnoses among migrants. This paper reveals a neglected determinant of migrants' health within Australian HIV care, and that is: racism. To provoke a debate on the saliency of racism, I used autoethnographic case study to analyse my encounter with racism in Australian HIV care.
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