THE IMPACT OF racism and GAYRELATED STRESS ON physiological
arousal in african-american
and GAY MALE YOUTH
populations
PRESENTED BY:
JENNIFER LYNN DEFEO, PHD
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Idea Behind the Study
 What happens to the body’s physiology
when exposed to prejudice and/or
discriminatory events?
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Minority Stress

Distinguishable excess stress to which individuals from stigmatized social categories
are exposed as a result of their social position (Meyer, 1991)
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Armstead, et. al
 Conducted research exploring racism as a stressor
affecting blood pressure in African American college
students.
 Found that blood pressure was significantly higher for
the racist film clip compared to a neutral film clip.
 Found that those who characteristically internalized
anger had higher blood pressure responses than those
that did not.
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Racism as a Stressor
for African Americans
 Racism is defined as “beliefs, attitudes, institutional
arrangements, and acts that tend to denigrate
individuals or groups because of phenotypic
characteristics or ethnic group affiliation” (Clark,
Anderson, Clark & Williams, 1999, p. 805).
 Perceived racism is an individual’s “subjective
experience of prejudice or discrimination” (Clark et al.,
1999, p. 808).
 Coping styles will influence the effect of the stress of
perceived and actual racism.
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Biopsychosocial Effects
of Perceived Racism
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Racism as a stressor
 Biopsychosocial Effects:
 Racism perceived as stressful
 Coping responses to perceptions of racism
 Interventions and prevention of adverse effects
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Racism as a Stressor
 Psychological and Physiological Responses
 Psychological: paranoia, anger, frustration,
helplessness and hopelessness, fear, resentment
 Physiological: cardiovascular functioning,
neuroendocrine, immune
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Racism as a Stressor
 Effects of stress on health
 Facilitate depression
 Low birth weight
 Cardiac problems
 Upper respiratory infections
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Gay-related Stress
 Occurs when individuals are exposed to stressors that are based
upon their sexual orientation (Meyer, 1995).
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Rico
Glsen Statistics (2003)
 9 of 10 Gay Youth experience homophobic remarks in
school such as “fag” or “queer”
 2 of 10 youth report having heard antigay remarks from
school faculty, including teachers
 5 of 10 youth report the presence of school faculty when
experiencing prejudice from other students
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Physiological Measures

Diastolic Blood pressure

Systolic Blood Pressure

Heart Rate

LF/HF Ratio (Sympathovagal Dominance)
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Film Clips
 Neutral
- Fish swimming
 General Stress
-Tsunami
 Antigay Stress
-Military
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
results
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Diastolic Blood Pressure
- Blood
vessel pressure between heart beats (Resting)
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Systolic Blood Pressure
-The amount of pressure that is exerted on the blood vessels
while the heart is beating
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Heart Rate
-The number of heart beats per unit of time
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
LF/HF Sympathovagal
Dominance
-
LF= Low Frequency (Sympathetic Nervous System Output)
-
HF= High Frequency (Parasympathetic Nervous System Output)
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Theoretical
Implications
 Ewart & Jorgenson (2004)
-ANS force at chronic levels is a risk factor for
coronary heart disease and damage.
- If replicated is consistent with this theory.
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Clinical Implications
(2) Cognitive Behavioral Approaches
(A) School-Based Interventions
- Sagren & Rogers (2001) discuss the importance of cognitive-
behavioral and educational interventions in addressing and changing
the minds of students and staff from prejudice, fear, and stereotypical
thinking to accepting, understanding, and affirming sexual orientation.
Serves three functions: (Sagren & Rogers, 2001)
(1) positively affects the school environment and climate
(2) decreases school-related stress
(3) improves the protective factors, such as
support
and advocacy for gay youth.
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
Clinical implications
 Educate school staff on the specific needs of gay youth;
school-based mental health programs and school-based
clinicians can formulate interventions to improve
physical, social, and psychological functioning and
well-being of gay youth.
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto
The End
 THANK YOU AND HAVE A GREAT
REST OF YOUR TIME IN PUERTO
RICO!
October, 2012
San Juan, Puerto