A study examines how perceived racism affects stress arousal in US college students. Racism-related stress is thought to influence health disparities in underrepresented groups. Jacob Cheadle, Bridget Goosby, and colleagues documented acute stress arousal in response to race-related stressors in 100 US college students from underrepresented groups at a predominantly White college. For 2 weeks during the 2016/2017 school year, participants wore wristbands with electrodermal activity sensors that tracked arousal of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) via minor changes in sweating. Participants kept a daily dairy in which they recorded activities that could affect arousal levels--such as eating or studying--and indicated when these activities took place; they also recorded if and when they felt negative emotions and experienced perceived racism. Latinx, African American, and African international students all experienced elevated SNS arousal and negative emotions in response to perceived racism. Rumination on racism was associated with increased negative emotions across all groups. Observed, indirect encounters with racism was associated with increased SNS arousal in Latinx and African international students. However, compared with their classmates, Black students who were child-refugee migrants were less likely to report negative emotions and racism-related stress. The findings suggest that racism may contribute to psychological and physical health inequities, according to the authors.
Article #19-22025: "Race and ethnic variation in college students' allostatic regulation of racism-related stress," by Jacob E. Cheadle et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Bridget Goosby, The University of Texas at Austin, TX; tel: 402-613-7512; e-mail: bgoosby@prc.utexas.edu
###
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences