Department of Psychology, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W. University Ave, El Paso, TX, 79968, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Kastle Hall 115, Lexington, KY, 40506, USA.
Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 6;14(1):26964. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-76795-y.
Racial discrimination is conceptualized as an acute and chronic stressor. Like other acute stressors, lab-based studies demonstrate acute effects of discrimination-related stressors on stress-related cardiovascular outcomes, including total cardiac output, blood pressure, and indices of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity. Critically, it is important to understand how individual and social factors buffer the experience of race-related acute stress. The current study extends existing work by measuring cardiovascular indices of stress during conversations about racial/ethnic discrimination and examines the moderating role of social support. Latine/Hispanic participants (N = 97) talked about personal discrimination experiences with either a close other or a research assistant they had never previously met. Participants in both conditions exhibited cardiovascular reactivity indicative of stress during the conversation. Additionally, patterns of reactivity reflected a more adaptive stress response and recovery profile when participants talked about discriminatory experiences with a close other relative to a stranger (less parasympathetic withdrawal during the stressor and more parasympathetic rebound during recovery). These patterns are consistent with a stress buffering account of social support, which suggests social bonds and community-level support are critical to consider in interventions to mitigate the harms of experiencing discrimination and prevent chronic health disparities.
种族歧视被概念化为一种急性和慢性的应激源。与其他急性应激源一样，实验室研究表明，与歧视相关的应激源对与应激相关的心血管结果有急性影响，包括总心输出量、血压和交感神经与副交感神经系统活动的指标。至关重要的是，要了解个体和社会因素如何缓冲与种族相关的急性应激的体验。本研究通过测量与种族/族裔歧视相关的谈话期间的心血管应激指数，扩展了现有工作，并检验了社会支持的调节作用。拉丁裔/西班牙裔参与者（N=97）与亲密他人或他们从未见过的研究助理谈论个人歧视经历。在两种情况下，参与者在谈话过程中都表现出心血管反应性，表明存在应激。此外，当参与者与亲密他人而不是陌生人谈论歧视经历时，反应模式反映了更适应的应激反应和恢复特征（在应激源期间副交感神经撤回较少，在恢复期间副交感神经反弹更多）。这些模式与社会支持的应激缓冲理论一致，该理论表明，社会联系和社区层面的支持对于干预措施至关重要，这些干预措施旨在减轻经历歧视的危害，并预防慢性健康差异。
