Briana N Brownlow1, Effua E Sosoo2, Risa N Long3, Lori S Hoggard4, Tanisha I Burford5, LaBarron K Hill6,7,8. 1. Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA. 2. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. 3. Department of Family Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA. 4. Department of Psychology, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA. 5. Department of Psychology, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC, USA. 6. Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3119, Durham, NC, 27710, USA. labarron.hill@duke.edu. 7. Center for Biobehavioral Health Disparities Research, Duke University-Social Science Research Institute, Durham, NC, USA. labarron.hill@duke.edu. 8. Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3119, Durham, NC, 27710, USA. labarron.hill@duke.edu.
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Greater racial discrimination is associated with poorer mental health among Black Americans; yet, there remains an incomplete understanding of sex differences in exposure to racial discrimination, and further, of how sex differences in coping with racial discrimination may heighten or diminish risk for poorer mental health. RECENT FINDINGS: Black men may experience greater exposure to both structural and communal forms of racial discrimination, whereas Black women may face both a wider range of potential sources, as well as encounter greater variability in the subjective experience of racial discrimination. For both Black women and men, racial discrimination may be similarly associated with maladaptive coping strategies (i.e., emotional eating, rumination) that also are linked to poorer mental health; however, emerging findings suggest that mindfulness may partially buffer these deleterious effects. Overall, the recent literature reveals mixed findings with respect to sex differences in the experience and negative mental health impact of racial discrimination. Despite this heterogeneity, evidence documents sex differences in the settings, type, and qualitative experience of racial discrimination among Black Americans. Additionally, growing evidence indicating that racial discrimination is associated with physiological markers of stress reactivity and psychopathology risk further bolsters its characterization as a unique form of chronic stress among Black Americans and other minority groups in the USA.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Greater racial discrimination is associated with poorer mental health among Black Americans; yet, there remains an incomplete understanding of sex differences in exposure to racial discrimination, and further, of how sex differences in coping with racial discrimination may heighten or diminish risk for poorer mental health. RECENT FINDINGS: Black men may experience greater exposure to both structural and communal forms of racial discrimination, whereas Black women may face both a wider range of potential sources, as well as encounter greater variability in the subjective experience of racial discrimination. For both Black women and men, racial discrimination may be similarly associated with maladaptive coping strategies (i.e., emotional eating, rumination) that also are linked to poorer mental health; however, emerging findings suggest that mindfulness may partially buffer these deleterious effects. Overall, the recent literature reveals mixed findings with respect to sex differences in the experience and negative mental health impact of racial discrimination. Despite this heterogeneity, evidence documents sex differences in the settings, type, and qualitative experience of racial discrimination among Black Americans. Additionally, growing evidence indicating that racial discrimination is associated with physiological markers of stress reactivity and psychopathology risk further bolsters its characterization as a unique form of chronic stress among Black Americans and other minority groups in the USA.
Entities:
Keywords:
Biomarkers; Black Americans; Emotion regulation; Mental health; Racial discrimination; Sex differences
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