Department of Human Development, Cornell University.
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University.
Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2017 Jan;23(1):27-35. doi: 10.1037/cdp0000087.
Increasing evidence suggests that chronic exposure to unfair treatment or day-to-day discrimination increases risk for poor health, but data on biological stress mechanisms are limited. This study examined chronic experiences of unfair treatment in relation to allostatic load (AL), a multisystem index of biological dysregulation.
Data are from a sample of 233 African-American adults (37-85 years; 64% women). Perceptions of everyday unfair treatment were measured by questionnaire. An AL index was computed as the sum of 7 separate physiological system risk indices (cardiovascular regulation, lipid, glucose, inflammation, sympathetic nervous system, parasympathetic nervous system, hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis).
Adjusting for sociodemographics, medication use, smoking status, alcohol consumption, depressive symptoms, lifetime discrimination, and global perceived stress, everyday mistreatment was associated with higher AL.
The results add to a growing literature on the effects of chronic bias and discrimination by demonstrating how such experiences are instantiated in downstream physiological systems. (PsycINFO Database Record
越来越多的证据表明，长期遭受不公平待遇或日常歧视会增加健康不良的风险，但有关生物应激机制的数据有限。本研究探讨了不公平待遇的慢性经历与全身适应负荷（AL）的关系，AL 是一种生物失调的多系统指数。
数据来自 233 名非裔美国成年人（37-85 岁；64%为女性）的样本。通过问卷测量日常不公平待遇的感知。AL 指数的计算方法是将 7 个独立的生理系统风险指数（心血管调节、脂质、葡萄糖、炎症、交感神经系统、副交感神经系统、下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴）相加。
调整社会人口统计学因素、用药情况、吸烟状况、饮酒量、抑郁症状、终身歧视和总体感知压力后，日常虐待与更高的 AL 相关。
这些结果通过证明这种经历如何在下游生理系统中体现，增加了关于慢性偏见和歧视影响的不断增长的文献。
