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Racism and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in a Community Sample

From the Department of Psychology, St. John’s University, Jamaica, New York (E.B., D.J.L., E.D., S.T.); the Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (D.L.B.); the Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York (J.S.); Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, New York (M.S.); Clinical Directors Network, New York, New York (J.N.T, A.C.); and the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York (T.G.P., W.G.).

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Elizabeth Brondolo, PhD, Department of Psychology, St. John’s University, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Jamaica, NY 11439. E-mail: brondole{at}stjohns.edu

Objective: 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.

Methods: 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.

Results: Perceived racism was positively associated with nocturnal ABP even when controlling for personality factors and socioeconomic status.

Conclusions: The results suggest that racism may influence cardiovascular disease risk through its effects on nocturnal BP recovery.

Key Words: ambulatory blood pressure • racism • discrimination • cardiovascular disease • ecological momentary assessment • hypertension

Abbreviations: ABP = ambulatory blood pressure; SBP = systolic blood pressure; DBP = diastolic blood pressure; CVD = cardiovascular disease; SES = socioeconomic status; HTN = hypertension; AHA = American Heart Association; GHI = gross household income; BMI = body mass index; PEDQ-CV = Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire-Community Version.