Everyday discrimination and physical health: Exploring mental health processes

Goals of this study were to examine the mental health processes whereby everyday discrimination is associated with physical health outcomes. Data are drawn from a community health survey conducted with 1299 US adults in a low-resource urban area. Frequency of everyday discrimination was associated with overall self-rated health, use of the emergency department, and one or more chronic diseases via stress and depressive symptoms operating in serial mediation. Associations were consistent across members of different racial/ethnic groups and were observed even after controlling for indicators of stressors associated with structural discrimination, including perceived neighborhood unsafety, food insecurity, and financial stress.

Source: Journal of Health Psychology - September 22, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Earnshaw, V. A., Rosenthal, L., Carroll-Scott, A., Santilli, A., Gilstad-Hayden, K., Ickovics, J. R. Tags: Articles Source Type: research