Department of Psychology, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
J Natl Med Assoc. 2011 Jul;103(7):594-601. doi: 10.1016/s0027-9684(15)30385-0.
Lipid dysregulation is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and is attributed to numerous biological, psychosocial, and behavioral risk factors. Psychological stress has been examined as a predictor of lipid dysregulation; however, the role of coping with perceived racism, a stressor unique to the African American experience, has not been addressed. The current study sought to determine the impact of behavioral coping responses to perceived racism and perceived daily stress on lipid levels in African Americans.
The sample consisted of 122 African American participants who resided in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. Data were collected as part of an ongoing study entitled Stress and Psychoneuroimmunological Factors in Renal Health and Disease at Howard University Hospital.
Through canonical analysis, distinct profiles of African American lipid function emerged with body mass index, age, and behavioral coping responses to perceived racism being associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), respectively. Results from linear regression analyses showed that greater endorsement of behavioral coping responses to perceived racism items predicted higher levels of LDL (B = .24, p < .05). This relationship was not mediated by pathophysiological mechanisms associated with the stress response system such as cortisol, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and IL-6.
The relationship between elevated levels of LDL and behavioral coping responses to perceived racism suggests that African Americans may be at increased risk for CVD due to the unique stress encountered by racism in our culture. Behavioral pathways used to counteract the negative effects of perceived discrimination may better explain this relationship. Further research is necessary to determine other biobehavioral and pathophysiological mechanisms that explain this relationship.
脂质失调是心血管疾病（CVD）风险的主要因素，可归因于许多生物学、心理社会和行为危险因素。心理压力已被视为脂质失调的预测因素；然而，应对感知到的种族主义的作用，这是非洲裔美国人经历所特有的压力源，尚未得到解决。本研究旨在确定应对感知到的种族主义和感知到的日常压力的行为应对方式对非裔美国人脂质水平的影响。
该样本由 122 名居住在华盛顿特区大都市区的非裔美国参与者组成。数据是作为霍华德大学医院题为“压力和心理神经免疫学因素在肾脏健康和疾病中的作用”的正在进行的研究的一部分收集的。
通过典型分析，非裔美国人的脂质功能出现了不同的特征，体重指数、年龄和应对感知到的种族主义的行为应对方式分别与高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（HDL-C）、甘油三酯和低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（LDL-C）相关。线性回归分析的结果表明，对感知到的种族主义项目的行为应对方式的更多认可预测 LDL 水平更高（B=.24，p<.05）。这种关系不受与应激反应系统相关的病理生理机制的介导，如皮质醇、去甲肾上腺素、肾上腺素和 IL-6。
LDL 水平升高与应对感知到的种族主义的行为应对方式之间的关系表明，由于我们文化中种族主义带来的独特压力，非裔美国人可能面临更高的 CVD 风险。用于抵消感知歧视的负面影响的行为途径可能更好地解释这种关系。需要进一步研究以确定解释这种关系的其他生物行为和病理生理机制。
