Diagnosing Discrimination: Stress from Perceived Racism and the Mental and Physical Health Effects*

Abstract

Differences in health between racial groups in the United States are significant and persistent. Many studies have documented these differences as a result of a variety of different social factors. An emerging emphasis is the impact of racism in its various forms on physical and mental health. Social stress theory conceptualizes racism as a social stresssor which can produce negative health consequences for racial minorities. This study uses binary logit and negative binomial regression models of four items from the 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to test social stress theory and examine the relationship between stress symptoms from perceived racism and overall health (N = 32,585). The effect of race on the experience of emotional and physical stress symptoms from racism is substantial. Furthermore, experiencing both emotional and physical stress from perceived racist treatment is an important factor in predicting the number of poor mental and physical health days, indicating that the experience of stress from perceived racism is related to overall poorer health.

Understanding how discrimination can affect health

“…According to social stress theory, perceived discrimination is a type of stressor that, like other psychosocial stressors, is adversely related to a broad range of physical and mental health outcomes. 12,13 A recent study, for example, documented that self-reported experiences of discrimination are associated with neural functioning in ways that mirror patterns observed for other psychosocial stressors (eg, greater spontaneous amygdala activity and greater connectivity between the amygdala and other regions of the brain including the thalamus). 14 The lower panel of Figure 1 delineates how discriminatory incidents of which the individual is aware can trigger appraisal and affective reactions that can be experienced as stressful life exposures, and they have a cascade of negative effects on health.…”

“…The focus here is on a subset of incidents of individual discrimination that is perceived by the individual. According to social stress theory, perceived discrimination is a type of stressor that, like other psychosocial stressors, is adversely related to a broad range of physical and mental health outcomes . A recent study, for example, documented that self‐reported experiences of discrimination are associated with neural functioning in ways that mirror patterns observed for other psychosocial stressors (eg, greater spontaneous amygdala activity and greater connectivity between the amygdala and other regions of the brain including the thalamus) .…”

Racially Charged Legislation and Latino Health Disparities: The Case of Arizona's S.B. 1070

“…In this study, we focus on the changing racial climate of Arizona and the increasingly hostile attitudes towards undocumented immigrants, which may be sources of both event and chronic stress for Latinos in the state. Several previous studies have used the social stress framework to analyze the impact of stress on minority health in the United States (Davis 2000;Noh and Avison 1996;Taylor and Turner 2002;Anderson 2013).…”

Compounding Health Risks and Increased Vulnerability to SARS-CoV-2 for Racial and Ethnic Minorities and Low Socioeconomic Status Individuals in the United States

“…Perceived discrimination and experienced racism have been linked to higher incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and respiratory problems 90 , all of which could compound disease from SARS-CoV-2. Further, recurrent experiences of discrimination generate negative, stress-related physiological and psychological responses, which can significantly impact health 91,92 , like by increasing the risk for heart disease, diabetes, and infection, as seen in Blacks 93 . Exposure to social stressors and environmental adversity, which has been linked to elevated risk of cardiovascular disease and other comorbidities for Blacks 94 , creates higher allostatic loading (or "weathering") for Blacks than NHWs, even when adjusting for SES 95 .…”