Adkins-Jackson Paris B, Tejera César Higgins, Cotton-Samuel Dejania, Foster Carla L, Brown Lauren L, Watson Kenjus T, Ford Tiffany N, Bragg Tahlia, Wondimu Betselot B, Manly Jennifer J
Departments of Epidemiology and Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2025 Jan;364:117537. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117537. Epub 2024 Nov 22.
Childhood structural racism may lead to poorer health and longevity for individuals racialized as Black. Racism-related stress cumulatively taxes the body resulting in worsening biological and cognitive health. This study examines the association between state-level exposure to historical lynchings (adverse childhood racism for modern older adults), with C-reactive protein (CRP, a marker of systemic inflammation), and global cognitive performance (modified TICS). We linked the percentage of lynchings of people racialized as Black at the state-level between 1882 and 1968 from the Archives at Tuskegee Institute with repeated CRP and cognitive test scores at baseline (2006/2008), year 4 (2010/2012), and year 8 (2014/2016) for a national sample of older adults in the Health and Retirement Study (N = 10,500, aged >50). In multivariable generalized estimating equation models, we compared participants (by racialized group) living in states with high lynching proportions (>50th percentile) on changes in CRP and cognitive test scores adjusting for demographics, health conditions, and behaviors. Mean age was 69 (SD = 9.9) and most participants were cisgender women (59%). On average participants racialized as non-LatinX Black living in states with high lynching proportions experienced 18.5% (95% CI 3%, 36%) higher CRP levels and -0.92 (95% CI -1.34, -0.50) lower cognitive test scores than participants racialized as non-LatinX Black that lived in states with lower lynching proportions. As artist Marvin Gaye sang in Flyin' High (in the Friendly Sky), "Rest of the folks are tired and weary," which describes how adverse childhood racism is associated with inflammation and dementia risk for people racialized as Black.
童年时期的结构性种族主义可能导致被归为黑人种族的个体健康状况更差、寿命更短。与种族主义相关的压力会逐渐给身体带来负担，导致生物和认知健康状况恶化。本研究考察了州一级历史上私刑处决事件暴露情况（现代老年人童年时期的不良种族主义经历）与C反应蛋白（CRP，一种全身炎症标志物）以及整体认知表现（改良的电话智力状态检查表）之间的关联。我们将塔斯基吉学院档案馆提供的1882年至1968年州一级被归为黑人种族的人群私刑处决比例，与健康与退休研究中全国老年人群样本（N = 10500，年龄>50岁）在基线（2006/2008年）、第4年（2010/2012年）和第8年（2014/2016年）的重复CRP和认知测试分数进行了关联。在多变量广义估计方程模型中，我们比较了居住在私刑比例高（>第50百分位数）的州的参与者（按种族化群体）在CRP和认知测试分数变化方面的情况，并对人口统计学、健康状况和行为进行了调整。平均年龄为69岁（标准差 = 9.9），大多数参与者为顺性别女性（59%）。平均而言，居住在私刑比例高的州的非拉丁裔黑人种族化参与者，其CRP水平比居住在私刑比例低的州的非拉丁裔黑人种族化参与者高18.5%（95%置信区间3%，36%），认知测试分数低0.92（95%置信区间 -1.34，-0.50）。正如艺术家马文·盖伊在《在友好天空中高飞》中所唱：“其他人都疲惫不堪”，这描述了童年时期的不良种族主义如何与被归为黑人种族的人群的炎症和痴呆风险相关联。
