The Impact of Cognitive Styles and Depressive Symptoms on the Relation Between Perceived Everyday Discrimination and Blood Pressure in Adolescents

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) disproportionately impact individuals from minority groups, which might be partially explained by the impact of perceived everyday discrimination (PED) on depression and elevated blood pressure (BP), which are both risk factors for CVD. In the current study, it was proposed that PED's impact on depressive symptoms would be mediated by cognitive style (CS; i.e., an individual's stable pattern of inferences about negative events), while the association between PED and systolic BP (SBP) would be mediated by both CS and depressive symptoms. A sample of 40 adolescents (33% female) aged 13 to 15 (M = 14.15, SD = .53) who identified as Black (47.5%), White (47.5%), and Mixed Race (5%) had their BP measured and completed self-report measures of PED, CS, and depressive symptomology. Findings supported the relation between PED and depressive symptoms and revealed that CS mediated the relation between PED and SBP. Results indicate that CS is the underlying mechanism linking PED to elevated SBP, which has implications for promoting the physical and psychological well-being of adolescents and for addressing CVD risk factors before cardiovascular illnesses develop.