BACKGROUND: The experience of race-related stressors is associated with physiological stress responses. However, much is unknown still about the complex relationship between how race-related stressors are perceived and experienced and potential moderators such as strength of racial identity. PURPOSE: This research examines the impact of a real-life stressor and strength of race identity on physiological responses to a social evaluative threat induced in the laboratory. METHODS:Salivary cortisol measures were collected throughout a stressor protocol. African-American participants were also randomized to one of two conditions designed to promote either racial identification or student identification, before the experimental task. Unexpectedly, a highly publicized real-life racial stressor, the Duke Lacrosse (LaX) scandal, occurred during the course of the data collection. This allowed for pre-post LaX comparisons to be made on cortisol levels. RESULTS: These comparisons showed that across both priming conditions, participants post-LaX had highly elevated cortisol levels that were nonresponsive to the experimental stress task, while their pre-LaX counterparts had lower cortisol levels that exhibited a normal stress response pattern. Furthermore, this effect of LaX was significantly moderated by gender, with women having lower mean cortisol levels pre-LaX but significantly greater cortisol levels than all other groups post-LaX. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that recent exposure to race-related stress can have a sustained impact on physiological stress responses for African Americans.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: The experience of race-related stressors is associated with physiological stress responses. However, much is unknown still about the complex relationship between how race-related stressors are perceived and experienced and potential moderators such as strength of racial identity. PURPOSE: This research examines the impact of a real-life stressor and strength of race identity on physiological responses to a social evaluative threat induced in the laboratory. METHODS: Salivary cortisol measures were collected throughout a stressor protocol. African-American participants were also randomized to one of two conditions designed to promote either racial identification or student identification, before the experimental task. Unexpectedly, a highly publicized real-life racial stressor, the Duke Lacrosse (LaX) scandal, occurred during the course of the data collection. This allowed for pre-post LaX comparisons to be made on cortisol levels. RESULTS: These comparisons showed that across both priming conditions, participants post-LaX had highly elevated cortisol levels that were nonresponsive to the experimental stress task, while their pre-LaX counterparts had lower cortisol levels that exhibited a normal stress response pattern. Furthermore, this effect of LaX was significantly moderated by gender, with women having lower mean cortisol levels pre-LaX but significantly greater cortisol levels than all other groups post-LaX. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that recent exposure to race-related stress can have a sustained impact on physiological stress responses for African Americans.
Authors: Angelina Majeno; Guido G Urizar; May Ling D Halim; Selena T Nguyen-Rodriguez; Araceli Gonzalez Journal: Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol Date: 2020-06-18
Authors: Traci N Bethea; Eric S Zhou; Eva S Schernhammer; Nelsy Castro-Webb; Yvette C Cozier; Lynn Rosenberg Journal: Sleep Date: 2020-01-13 Impact factor: 5.849
Authors: Sarah L Szanton; Joseph M Rifkind; Joy G Mohanty; Edgar R Miller; Roland J Thorpe; Eneka Nagababu; Elissa S Epel; Alan B Zonderman; Michele K Evans Journal: Int J Behav Med Date: 2012-12