Differential effects of perceived discrimination on the diurnal cortisol rhythm of African Americans and Whites
Section snippets
Differential effects of perceived discrimination on the diurnal cortisol rhythm of African Americans and Whites
In recent years, the role of discrimination as a potential mechanism for explaining mental and physical health outcomes in racial health disparities has received increased attention. While discrimination has been consistently linked to negative mental health outcomes, results for associations between discrimination and physical health have been much less consistent (Paradies, 2006, Williams et al., 2003). Furthermore, few studies have considered the possibility of a unique association between
Data
The current study draws on data from the second wave of the National Survey of Midlife in the United States (MIDUS II) and the National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE II) (Almeida et al., 2009a, Almeida et al., 2009b). Phone interviews and self-administered questionnaires for MIDUS II were conducted in 2004–2006. A random sub-sample of MIDUS II respondents were then recruited into the NSDE II. These individuals were asked to complete nightly telephone interviews as well as provide four
Results
Means and standard deviations for study variables are shown in Table 1 for African Americans and Whites. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to test for differences on continuous variables between groups. As expected, perceived discrimination was higher among African Americans than Whites, t(148) = 6.58, p < .001. Additionally, in line with previous research (Cohen et al., 2006), cortisol levels were lower at waking, t(148) = −2.36, p = .019, and higher at bedtime, t(148) = 4.36, p < .001, for
Discussion
To the best of our knowledge this study is the first to demonstrate an association between perceived discrimination and the diurnal cortisol rhythm, as well as the first to demonstrate that this association may be different for African Americans than for Whites. In particular, the results suggest that higher levels of perceived discrimination are associated with a flatter (less healthy) diurnal slope for Whites, but a steeper (more healthy) diurnal slope for African Americans. These findings
Role of the funding source
Support for this research was provided by the National Institute on Aging Grants RC2 AG036780-01. The MIDUS (Midlife in the United States) study data collection was supported by the National Institute on Aging Grants P01 AG020166 and R01 AG019239.
Conflicts of interest
All authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Dr. Anthony Ong and Dr. Anthony Burrow for helpful comments on earlier versions of this analysis, and Ms. Adrienne Meltzer, who assisted with preparation and proof-reading of the manuscript.
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