Skip to main content

Developmental Histories of Perceived Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Diurnal Cortisol Profiles in Adulthood: A 20-year Prospective Study (WP-14-18)

Emma Adam, Jennifer Heissel, Katharine Zeiders, Jennifer Richeson, Emily Ross, Katherine Ehrlich, Dorainne Levy, Margaret Kemeny, Amanda Brodish, Oksana Malanchuk, Stephen Peck, Thomas Fuller-­Rowell, and Jacquelynne Eccles

Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination (PRD) has been found to predict alterations in cortisol diurnal rhythms in past research, but most research has focused on current perceptions of discrimination. The researchers investigate whether developmental histories of PRD matter for adult diurnal cortisol profiles. One-hundred and twenty (N=57 black, N=63 white) adults (Mage = 32.36 years; SD = .43) from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study (MADICS) provided saliva samples at waking, 30 minutes after waking, and at bedtime each day for 7 days. Adult diurnal cortisol measures were predicted from measures of PRD obtained over a 20-year period beginning when youth were in 7th grade (approximately age 12). Specifically, greater average PRD across the 20-year period predicted flatter diurnal cortisol slopes for both black and white participants. For blacks only, greater average PRD predicted lower waking cortisol and lower total cortisol across the day, a profile considered indicative of chronic stress. The effects of PRD on lower average cortisol across the day for blacks were driven by PRD experiences in adolescence. Young adult PRD, however, for blacks only, was associated with a larger cortisol awakening response. The results suggest that although PRD appears to impact cortisol for both blacks and whites, effects are stronger for black participants. In addition, adolescence may serve as a sensitive period for chronic impacts of PRD on adult stress biology.

Emma Adam, Professor and Chair of Human Development and Social Policy and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University

Jennifer Heissel, Graduate Student, Department of Human Development and Social Policy, Northwestern University

Katharine Zeiders, Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Missouri

Jennifer Richeson, Professor of Psychology and African American Studies and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University

Emily Ross, Graduate Student, Department of Human Development and Social Policy, Northwestern University

Katherine Ehrlich, IPR Postdoctoral Fellow, Northwestern University

Dorainne Levy, Graduate Student, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University

Margaret Kemeny, Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco

Amanda Brodish, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Achievement Research Lab, University of Michigan

Oksana Malanchuk, Research Investigator, Achievement Research Lab, University of Michigan

Stephen Peck, Assistant Research Scientist, Achievement Research Lab, University of Michigan

Thomas Fuller-Rowell, Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University

Jacquelynne Eccles, Distinguished Professor of Education, University of California, Irvine

Download PDF