Journal
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES
Volume 70, Issue 2, Pages 298-314Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/josi.12061
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Funding
- NHLBI NIH HHS [T32 HL007560] Funding Source: Medline
- NIA NIH HHS [U01 AG012554, U01 AG012535, U01 AG012531, U01 AG012553, U01 AG012505, U01 AG012539, U01 AG012495, U01 AG012546] Funding Source: Medline
- NINR NIH HHS [U01 NR004061] Funding Source: Medline
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Self-reported discrimination has emerged as a predictor of negative psychological and physical health outcomes across racial/ethnic groups. The goals of this study was to determine whether C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation and risk factor for future cardiovascular disease (CVD) was independently predicted by everyday discrimination or whether race or body mass index (BMI) modified this association over a 7-year period among 2,490 women from racially diverse backgrounds. At baseline, the 10-item Williams' measure of everyday discrimination was administered. Generalized estimating equations were used to assess these associations. Descriptive results showed that Black and Chinese women reported greater discrimination than White, Japanese, and Hispanic women, while Black and Hispanic women had the highest levels of CRP over the 7-year period. There was no main effect of everyday discrimination (B = .003, SE = .005, p = .58) and this association did not differ as a function of race (p > .05). The everyday discrimination x BMI interaction term significantly predicted higher CRP levels over time in the full sample of women (p = .03). Specifically, in nonobese women (BMI less than 30), higher perceived everyday discrimination was associated with higher CRP levels over the 7-year period. These findings were independent of demographic, negative affect, biomedical, and behavioral factors. The results demonstrate that greater everyday discrimination is associated with increased inflammation over time in nonobese women. These findings highlight the implications of interpersonal sources of social stress for long-term physical health via their impact on intermediary biological pathways, specifically inflammation. Greater emphasis on such linkages is warranted as we work towards ameliorating health disparities exacerbated by individual-level factors.
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