Racism and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in a Community Sample

• DOI: 10.1097/psy.0b013e31815ff3bd
• Publication Date: 2007-12-25T01:34:58Z
• Authors: Elizabeth Brondolo; Daniel J. Libby; Ellen-ge Denton; Shola Thompson; Danielle L. Beatty; Joseph Schwartz; Monica Sweeney; Jonathan N. Tobin; Andrea Cassells; Thomas G. Pickering; William Gerin
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Black People; Blood Pressure; Stress; Cohort Studies; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Risk Factors; Cardiovascular Disease; Humans; 10. No inequality; ambulatory blood pressure; racism; ecological momentary assessment; Hispanic or Latino; Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; Middle Aged; Circadian Rhythm; 3. Good health; Cardiovascular Diseases; Hypertension; Female; Prejudice; Stress, Psychological; discrimination

Racism has been identified as a psychosocial stressor that may contribute to disparities in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease. The goal of the present article was to investigate the relationship of perceived racism to ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) in a sample of American-born Blacks and Latinos.Participants included English-speaking Black or Latino(a) adults between the ages of 24 and 65. They completed daily mood diaries and measures of perceived racism, socioeconomic status, and hostility. Participants were outfitted with ABP monitors; 357 provided data on waking hours only, and 245 provided data on both waking and nocturnal ABP.Perceived racism was positively associated with nocturnal ABP even when controlling for personality factors and socioeconomic status.The results suggest that racism may influence cardiovascular disease risk through its effects on nocturnal BP recovery.