TITLE:
Racial Provocation Induces Cortisol Responses in African-Americans*
AUTHORS:
Ali A. Weinstein, Angela Termini, Joshua B. Kazman, Stacey A. Zeno, Preetha Abraham, Patricia A. Deuster
KEYWORDS:
Mental Stress; Racial Stressors; Ethnicity; Cardiovascular Disease
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Medical Psychology,
Vol.2 No.4,
October
21,
2013
ABSTRACT: Purpose: To examine salivary cortisol responses to a racially-charged stimulus in a group of African-American individuals. Methods: A nonrandom sample of 245 (age: 43.8 ± 11.1 years; 64% female) African-American individuals was recruited by advertisements. Specifically, salivary cortisol was assessed prior to and after being exposed to a racially-charged movie clip. In addition, the salivary cortisol was assessed inthe morning and evening of the day following exposure to the racially-charged movie clip. Results: A statistically significant increase in cortisol was found (P 0.005) in the whole sample. High cortisol responders (highest tertile) and low cortisol responders (lowest tertile) were compared. The high cortisol responders had an elevated cortisol level the following morning (P 0.05) that abated by the evening sample (P > 0.20). In addition, the high cortisol responders who were younger, had lower waist to hip ratios, and experienced less lifetime discrimination than the low cortisol responders (P’s 0.05). Conclusions: The findings of an increase in cortisol in response to a racial provocation may provide a potential explanatory factor for the increased rates of cardiovascular disease in African-American individuals.