Williams DeWayne P, Joseph Nicholas, Hill LaBarron K, Sollers John J, Vasey Michael W, Way Baldwin M, Koenig Julian, Thayer Julian F
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University , Columbus , OH , USA.
Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center , Durham , NC , USA.
Ethn Health. 2019 Nov;24(8):909-926. doi: 10.1080/13557858.2017.1378803. Epub 2017 Sep 19.
Black Americans (BAs) are at an elevated risk for morbidity and mortality in comparison to White Americans (WAs). Racial stressors are a common occurrence in American culture and is theorized to contribute to these disparities. When race-focused, stereotype threat (ST) is considered to be a factor that is detrimental to health in BAs; however few studies have directly investigated the impact of a ST manipulation on physiological function. Furthermore, it is proposed that racial stressors such as ST may have prolonged effects when more likely to perseverate (e.g. rumination) over the stressor and thus, those with greater trait perseveration may be more affected by ST. We sought to explore the impact of ST and trait perseveration on changes in vagus nerve activity - an indication of adaptive psychological and physiological well-being - as indexed by vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV). Forty-three (24 females, mean age of 20, standard deviation of 3 years) apparently healthy BA individuals were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions in which they received either implicit (subtle), explicit (blatant), or no ST priming (control condition), prior to completing a cognitive task. Resting vmHRV was assessed both at baseline (pre-task) and recovery (post-task). BAs in the explicit ST condition exhibited the greatest decrease in vmHRV in comparison to the control group from pre- to post-task. BAs with moderate to high levels of trait perseveration showed the greatest decrease in vmHRV from pre- to post-task in comparison to those with lower levels of trait perseveration and BAs in the control group. These data suggest that racial ST, especially when explicit and coupled with trait perseveration, can decrease vagal activity, as indexed by decreased vmHRV, which when experienced frequently can have significant consequences for health and longevity in BAs.
与美国白人（WAs）相比，美国黑人（BAs）的发病和死亡风险更高。种族压力源在美国文化中很常见，理论上认为这是导致这些差异的原因。当关注种族时，刻板印象威胁（ST）被认为是对美国黑人健康有害的一个因素；然而，很少有研究直接调查ST操纵对生理功能的影响。此外，有人提出，像ST这样的种族压力源在更有可能对压力源持续思索（例如反复思考）时可能会产生长期影响，因此，具有更强特质性持续思索的人可能更容易受到ST的影响。我们试图探讨ST和特质性持续思索对迷走神经活动变化的影响——迷走神经活动是适应性心理和生理幸福感的一个指标——通过迷走神经介导的心率变异性（vmHRV）来衡量。43名（24名女性，平均年龄20岁，标准差3岁）表面健康的美国黑人个体被随机分配到三个实验条件之一，在完成一项认知任务之前，他们分别接受隐性（微妙的）、显性（公然的）或无ST启动（对照条件）。在基线（任务前）和恢复（任务后）阶段都评估了静息vmHRV。与对照组相比，显性ST条件下的美国黑人在任务前到任务后vmHRV下降最大。与特质性持续思索水平较低的美国黑人以及对照组相比，特质性持续思索水平中等至高的美国黑人在任务前到任务后vmHRV下降最大。这些数据表明，种族ST，尤其是当它是显性的且与特质性持续思索相结合时，会降低迷走神经活动，如通过降低的vmHRV所示，当频繁经历时，这可能会对美国黑人的健康和寿命产生重大影响。
