A Preliminary Study of the Relationship between Perceived Racism and Cardiovascular Reactivity and Recovery in Native Hawaiians

Bibliographic Data

ID7860596
AuthorsAndrea H Hermosura (0000-0002-9799-3509, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, corresponding author), Stephen N Hayne, Stephen N Haynes (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa), Joseph Keawe‘aimoku Kaholokula (0000-0001-5076-6141, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)
Year2018
Volume5
Issue5
Pages1142-1154
Publication date2018-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2196-8837 • E-ISSN: 2197-3792
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s40615-018-0463-4
PMID29512031
OpenAlexW2791182106
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited57

Native Hawaiians, compared to other ethnic groups in Hawai'i, have significantly higher mortality rates and die at a younger average age from cardiovascular disease (CVD). This may be partially explained by elevated cardiovascular responses to racial stressors. Our study examined the degree to which blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) reactivity and recovery, and ratings of subjective distress to racial stressors, differ as a function of Native Hawaiian college students' levels of perceived racism. This study had three phases. Phase 1 involved the development of a blatant and subtle racial stressor. Phase 2 involved assigning 132 students into high- or low-perceived racism groups based on scores on two perceived interpersonal racism measures. Phase 3 involved a psychophysiology laboratory experiment conducted with 35 of the 132 students. BP, HR, and subjective distress were measured during exposure to the blatant and subtle racial stressors. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) recovery following exposure to both stressors was significant for both groups. Although not significant, three trends were observed among the high-perceived racism group, which included: (1) greater reactivity to exposure to the subtle stressor than to the blatant stressor, (2) incomplete HR recovery following exposure to both stressors, and (3) incomplete SBP and diastolic blood pressure recovery following exposure to the subtle stressor. Participants also reported significantly greater subjective distress following exposure to the blatant than to the subtle stressor. Specific interventions, such as increased self-awareness of physiological responses to racial stressors, targeted at at-risk individuals are necessary to reduce a person's risk for CVD

Blood pressure · Distress · Environmental health · Native Hawaiians · Pacific islanders · Population · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Racism · Stressor · Clinical Psychology · Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control · Medicine · Psychology · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research · Stress Responses and Cortisol · Internal Medicine

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