IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v298y2022ics0277953622001721.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Associations between multiple indicators of discrimination and allostatic load among middle-aged adults

Author

Listed:
  • Lawrence, Jourdyn A.
  • Kawachi, Ichiro
  • White, Kellee
  • Bassett, Mary T.
  • Williams, David R.

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to examine associations between multiple measures of discrimination (i.e., everyday, lifetime, and appraised burden) and components of allostatic load (AL). We drew on pooled cross-sectional data from the Biomarker Project of the Midlife in the United States study (n = 2118). Ages ranged from 25 to 84 years and included mostly Black (n = 389) and white (n = 1598) adults. Quasi-Poisson models were fit to estimate prevalence ratios for each discrimination measure and high-risk quartiles across seven physiological systems (i.e., sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system; HPA axis; inflammation; cardiovascular; metabolic glucose; and metabolic lipids) and overall AL scores. In fully adjusted models, everyday discrimination was associated with elevated lipids (aPR: 1.07; 95% CI 1.01, 1.13). Lifetime experiences of discrimination were associated with lower sympathetic nervous system (aPR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.98) and greater cardiovascular risk scores (aPR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.34) among those reporting three or more experiences, as well as increased inflammation (aPR: 1.13; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.25; aPR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.14, 1.43), metabolic glucose (aPR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.19, 1.54; aPR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.68), and metabolic lipids (aPR: 1.13; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.24; aPR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.15, 1.43) scores for those reporting one to two and three or more experiences. Appraised burden yielded nuanced associations with metabolic glucose and parasympathetic nervous system scores. Everyday and lifetime measures were also associated with higher overall AL, though burden of discrimination was only associated with AL among those reporting “a little” burden. While AL summary scores provide insight into the cumulative impacts of discrimination on health, there appear to be distinct physiologic pathways through which varying forms of discrimination contribute to AL and, ultimately, to poorer health. These unique pathways may be useful in identifying potential points of intervention to mitigate the impacts of discrimination on health inequities.

Suggested Citation

  • Lawrence, Jourdyn A. & Kawachi, Ichiro & White, Kellee & Bassett, Mary T. & Williams, David R., 2022. "Associations between multiple indicators of discrimination and allostatic load among middle-aged adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:298:y:2022:i:c:s0277953622001721
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114866
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953622001721
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114866?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Williams, D.R. & Neighbors, H.W. & Jackson, J.S., 2003. "Racial/ethnic discrimination and health: Findings from community studies," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(2), pages 200-208.
    2. Williams, David R. & Gonzalez, Hector M. & Williams, Stacey & Mohammed, Selina A. & Moomal, Hashim & Stein, Dan J., 2008. "Perceived discrimination, race and health in South Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 441-452, August.
    3. Bauer, Greta R., 2014. "Incorporating intersectionality theory into population health research methodology: Challenges and the potential to advance health equity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 10-17.
    4. Krieger, N., 2012. "Methods for the scientific study of discrimination and health: An ecosocial approach," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(5), pages 936-945.
    5. Yin Paradies & Jehonathan Ben & Nida Denson & Amanuel Elias & Naomi Priest & Alex Pieterse & Arpana Gupta & Margaret Kelaher & Gilbert Gee, 2015. "Racism as a Determinant of Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-48, September.
    6. Sims, M. & Diez-Roux, A.V. & Dudley, A. & Gebreab, S. & Wyatt, S.B. & Bruce, M.A. & James, S.A. & Robinson, J.C. & Williams, D.R. & Taylor, H.A., 2012. "Perceived discrimination and hypertension among African Americans in the Jackson Heart Study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(S2), pages 258-265.
    7. Gruenewald, Tara L. & Karlamangla, Arun S. & Hu, Perry & Stein-Merkin, Sharon & Crandall, Carolyn & Koretz, Brandon & Seeman, Teresa E., 2012. "History of socioeconomic disadvantage and allostatic load in later life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 75-83.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Touma, Fatima & Hummer, Robert A., 2022. "Race/ethnicity, immigrant generation, and physiological dysregulation among U.S. adults entering midlife," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Scheim, Ayden I. & Bauer, Greta R., 2019. "The Intersectional Discrimination Index: Development and validation of measures of self-reported enacted and anticipated discrimination for intercategorical analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 225-235.
    2. Gilbert, Paul A. & Zemore, Sarah E., 2016. "Discrimination and drinking: A systematic review of the evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 178-194.
    3. Lukachko, Alicia & Hatzenbuehler, Mark L. & Keyes, Katherine M., 2014. "Structural racism and myocardial infarction in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 42-50.
    4. Dušan Drbohlav & Dagmar Dzúrová, 2017. "Social Hazards as Manifested Workplace Discrimination and Health (Vietnamese and Ukrainian Female and Male Migrants in Czechia)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-16, October.
    5. Farah N. Mawani & Patricia O’Campo & Peter Smith, 2022. "Opportunity Costs: Underemployment and Mental Health Inequities Between Immigrant and Canadian-Born Labour Force Participants: A Cross-Sectional Study," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1443-1470, September.
    6. Harnois, Catherine E. & Bastos, João L. & Campbell, Mary E. & Keith, Verna M., 2019. "Measuring perceived mistreatment across diverse social groups: An evaluation of the Everyday Discrimination Scale," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 298-306.
    7. Neblett, Enrique W., 2023. "Racism measurement and influences, variations on scientific racism, and a vision," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    8. Barr, Ashley B. & Simons, Ronald L. & Beach, Steven R.H. & Simons, Leslie Gordon, 2022. "Racial discrimination and health among two generations of African American couples," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    9. Yang, Tse-Chuan & Chen, I-Chien & Choi, Seung-won & Kurtulus, Aysenur, 2019. "Linking perceived discrimination during adolescence to health during mid-adulthood: Self-esteem and risk-behavior mechanisms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 434-443.
    10. Raj, Anita & Chatterji, Sangeeta & Johns, Nicole E. & Yore, Jennifer & Dey, Arnab K. & Williams, David R., 2023. "The associations of everyday and major discrimination exposure with violence and poor mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    11. Myles D. Moody, 2022. "Vicarious Experiences of Major Discrimination and the Life Satisfaction of Black and White Adults from a Community Sample," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2725-2743, August.
    12. Moody, Myles D. & Browning, Wesley R. & Hossain, Monir & Clay, Olivio J., 2023. "Vicarious experiences of major discrimination, anxiety symptoms, and mental health care utilization among Black Adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    13. Bethany G. Everett & Jarron Saint Onge & Stefanie Mollborn, 2016. "Effects of Minority Status and Perceived Discrimination on Mental Health," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(4), pages 445-469, August.
    14. Sonik, Rajan Anthony & Creedon, Timothy B. & Progovac, Ana Maria & Carson, Nicholas & Delman, Jonathan & Delman, Deborah & Lê Cook, Benjamin, 2020. "Depression treatment preferences by race/ethnicity and gender and associations between past healthcare discrimination experiences and present preferences in a nationally representative sample," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    15. Korous, Kevin M. & Causadias, José M. & Casper, Deborah M., 2017. "Racial discrimination and cortisol output: A meta-analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 90-100.
    16. Bauer, Greta R. & Scheim, Ayden I., 2019. "Methods for analytic intercategorical intersectionality in quantitative research: Discrimination as a mediator of health inequalities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 236-245.
    17. Sun, Shufang & Crooks, Natasha & Kemnitz, Rebecca & Westergaard, Ryan P., 2018. "Re-entry experiences of Black men living with HIV/AIDS after release from prison: Intersectionality and implications for care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 78-86.
    18. Nancy Krieger & Pamela D Waterman & Anna Kosheleva & Jarvis T Chen & Kevin W Smith & Dana R Carney & Gary G Bennett & David R Williams & Gisele Thornhill & Elmer R Freeman, 2013. "Racial Discrimination & Cardiovascular Disease Risk: My Body My Story Study of 1005 US-Born Black and White Community Health Center Participants (US)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-15, October.
    19. Eli K. Michaels & Alexis N. Reeves & Marilyn D. Thomas & Melisa M. Price & Rebecca E. Hasson & David H. Chae & Amani M. Allen, 2019. "Everyday Racial Discrimination and Hypertension among Midlife African American Women: Disentangling the Role of Active Coping Dispositions versus Active Coping Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-18, November.
    20. Calzada, Esther J. & Kim, Yeonwoo & O'Gara, Jaimie L., 2019. "Skin color as a predictor of mental health in young Latinx children," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1-1.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:298:y:2022:i:c:s0277953622001721. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.