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OBJECTIVES Racism is a key determinant of mental health for African Americans. Although research has started to uncover moderators and mediators of the racism-health link, additional research in this area is warranted. Constructs that have yet to be examined in this link are self-compassion and self-coldness-two distinct ways of relating to oneself during adversity. METHOD Data from 133 African American college students were used to assess parallel mediation models in which the frequency and stress appraisal of racism were the predictor variables, psychological distress was the outcome variable, and dimensions of self-compassion and self-coldness were treated as mediators. RESULTS Neither frequency nor appraisal of racism were related to the three types of self-compassion (i.e., self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness); yet, both racism frequency and appraisal were related to the three types of self-coldness (i.e., self-judgment, isolation, and over-identification). However, only self-judgment emerged as a significant mediator in the links between both frequency and appraisal of racism and distress, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Reducing self-coldness in the face of racism can be a promising, individual-level wellness strategy for African Americans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Black women are uniquely located at the intersection of two marginalized identities which puts them at risk of experiencing a combined discrimination known as gendered racism. Among Black Women, experiencing increased gendered racism is associated with higher poorer mental health which includes higher levels of anxiety and depression. To cope with these experiences of gendered racism, Black women often engage in identity shifting by adjusting one’s behavior and language to conform to environmental norms. Paradoxically, having a strong sense of one’s gendered racial identity has been theorized to potentially protect Black women from the detrimental effects of gendered racism. Two hundred thirty nine young adult U.S. Black women, between the ages of 18 and 35, completed an online survey to examine the role of identity shifting and gendered racial identity centrality on the established link between gendered racism and mental health outcomes, specifically anxiety and depression symptoms. The results indicated that identity shifting did not moderate the associations between gendered racism and anxiety nor depression symptoms. Separate moderation analyses indicated that gendered racial identity centrality moderated the effect of identity shifting on depression but not on anxiety symptoms. These findings highlight the importance of considering identity factors when proposing theories and clinical practices that seek to reduce mental health concerns among young adult U.S. Black women.

National efforts to address the diversity dilemma in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) often emphasize increasing numbers of historically underrepresented (HU) students and faculty, but fall short in instituting concrete changes for inclusion and belonging. Therefore, increasing the pool of senior faculty who wish to become guides and advocates for emerging scientists from HU populations is an essential step toward creating new pathways for their career advancement. As a step toward achieving this goal, we created a novel eight-hour intervention on Culturally Aware Mentoring (CAM), a program of the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) targeted to faculty and administrators. A previous report of surveys at the end of the CAM sessions revealed substantial awareness and knowledge gains, with participants expressing intentions to use and implement new skills they had learned. In this paper, we provide the results of our thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with academic administrators and faculty, 18-24 months after participation in CAM. Interviews were designed to determine: 1) What changes in self-perceptions and interactions occurred as a result of participation in CAM? 2) What specific components of CAM are associated with changes in individual beliefs and practices? 3) How did participants actively make changes after the CAM workshop? 4) What barriers or challenges do participants encounter after the CAM intervention? The results demonstrate the lasting influences of CAM on participants' awareness of cultural differences, their assumptions about and approaches toward interactions with colleagues and students, and their efforts to change their behaviors to promote inclusive practices in their mentoring and teaching of HU students in STEM. Our findings provide evidence that CAM can be incorporated into existing mentor training programs designed to improve the confidence and capacity of senior research faculty mentors to make culturally-informed, scholar-centered decisions to more deliberately recognize and respond to cultural differences within their mentoring and collegial relationships.

OBJECTIVE: The Marianismo Beliefs Scale (MBS; Castillo et al., 2010) assesses five components of marianismo, a cultural script of Latina gender role expectations. This study evaluated the MBS’s psychometric properties across language, sex, and Latino subgroups (Mexican American, Central American, Cuban American, Dominican American, Puerto Rican, and South American). METHOD: Study sample was derived from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) Sociocultural Ancillary Study which consisted of a community sample of 4,879 Latino adults aged 18-64 from four field centers (Miami, FL; San Diego, CA; Bronx, NY; Chicago, IL). RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analyses supported five factors. English and Spanish versions demonstrated equivalence of factor loadings and error variances across Latino subgroups and sex. CONCLUSION: Although the MBS English and Spanish versions are psychometrically sound measures for male and female Latino adults, future research is needed to determine whether direct scale scores are comparable.

Over the past decades, two persisting priorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) training have been: 1) increasing the knowledge of and access to careers beyond academic scientist; and 2) increasing the diversity of the STEM workforce. Previous studies show that a uniquely constructed career coaching group provides strong support and progress for both priorities. This report extends this design into a more sustainable model that is positioned within the professional context of rising young scientists. This new model is based in the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET)-the ASPET Mentoring Network. Groups of PhD students and postdocs were assigned to an ASPET professional (academic or other career) member (the coach) with an initial meeting held the day before the society's annual meeting. The coaching groups interacted during the meeting and then virtually for a year. Extensive survey and interview evaluation data gathered from the first three cohorts (12 coaching groups) in 2016- 2018 provided strong evidence of the perceived and real benefits of the network. This new version of career coaching groups is both feasible and linked to career success due to its close association with a scientific society, peers, and coaches who share scientific identities and aspirations.

More than half of prisoners in the United States are estimated to suffer from a substance use disorder. Mindfulness involves attention to the present moment, and nonjudgmental acceptance of sensations, thoughts, and emotional states. Mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) following substance use disorder treatment has been shown to reduce substance use.We sought to adapt and test MBRP for a jail substance use disorder treatment setting.We enrolled successive cohorts of incarcerated men participating in a drug treatment program in a large urban jail (n = 189) into six weekly sessions of either MBRP or an comparison communication skills intervention, between 2013 and 2015. MBRP was delivered by a culturally competent African-American trainer. Pre- and post-test measures included mindfulness, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and drug craving.At baseline, measures of mindfulness were significantly inversely correlated with anxiety, PTSD symptoms and drug cravings. Anxiety, PTSD symptoms and cravings declined significantly in both treatment arms, and mindfulness increased. Comparison of the two study arms using maximum likelihood estimation suggested a small but significantly greater increase in mindfulness in the treatment arm. Conclusions/Importance. An attention control trial of a mindfulness intervention, delivered by a culturally competent trainer, is feasible in a jail setting.

This study investigated the association of mindfulness and racial socialization messages on approach-oriented coping strategies among African Americans. Three hundred African American college students completed measures of mindfulness, racial socialization, and coping strategy preference. The results revealed that a higher degree of mindfulness and culturally based racial socialization messages are positively associated with both planning and active coping strategies. The study also found that mindful observation was positively related to all of the minority and culturally based racial socialization messages. This research has discovered that racial socialization messages are related to mindfulness, suggesting that these two metacognitive self-regulatory strategies promote adaptive coping strategy selection and potentially buffer the negative consequences of stressors for African Americans. Stress-reduction programs that promote “cultural pride and reinforcement” as well as mindfulness techniques may be ideal for African Americans grappling with race-related stressors.

Large and persistent obesity disparities exist in the US by socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity, and weight loss interventions have traditionally been less effective in these populations. Thus, a better understanding is needed of the behavioral, economic, and geographic factors that influence obesity risk factors such as eating behaviors. We used a discrete choice experiment to evaluate the impact of different meal attributes on meal choice and to test whether the relative importance of these attributes varied by SES and race/ethnicity. Study participants (n = 228) were given a series of 10 choice tasks and asked to choose among 4 meals, each rated based on the following attributes: taste; healthfulness; preparation time; travel time to food outlet for meal/ingredients; and price. SES was measured using education and self-reported difficulty paying for basics. Race/ethnicity was categorized as Hispanic/Latina, non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white, and non-Hispanic other. Data were analyzed using mixed logit regression models with interaction terms to determine whether meal attributes influenced meal choices differentially by SES and race/ethnicity. Healthfulness and taste were the most important attributes for all participants. Price was a more important attribute among those in the lowest SES group compared with those in the higher SES groups. Travel was the least important attribute for low SES participants, and it was not significantly related to meal choice in these groups. Discrete choice experiments as illustrated here may help pinpoint the most salient targets for interventions to improve eating behaviors and reduce obesity disparities. Specifically, our findings suggest interventions should incorporate strategies to target the pricing of healthy and unhealthy food options.

IntroductionInnovative evidence-based interventions are needed to equip research mentors with skills to address cultural diversity within research mentoring relationships. A pilot study assessed initial outcomes of a culturally tailored effort to create and disseminate a novel intervention titled Culturally Aware Mentoring (CAM) for research mentors.InterventionIntervention development resulted in 4 products: a 6 hour CAM training curriculum, a facilitator guide, an online pretraining module, and metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of CAM training.MethodParticipants were 64 research mentors from 3 US research-intensive universities. Quantitative pretraining and posttraining evaluation survey data were collected.ResultsParticipants found high value and satisfaction with the CAM training, reported gains in personal cultural awareness and cultural skills, and increased intentions and confidence to address cultural diversity in their mentoring.ConclusionsStudy findings indicate that the CAM training holds promise to build research mentors’ capacity and confidence to engage directly with racial/ethnic topics in research mentoring relationships.

Sedentary behavior has emerged as an important target of health promotion and obesity prevention efforts1 due to its direct association with obesity2–7 and other risk factors that diminish cardiovascular health.8–14 Sedentary behaviors such as watching television, using a computer, reading, and “sitting and socializing” are associated with higher body mass index independent of physical activity.1,8,10 Psychological factors such as depression have been associated with sedentary behaviors.4,15,16 However, to our knowledge, the relationship between discrimination and sedentary behaviors has not been explored. Routine discriminatory experiences can become a chronic stressor that erodes an individual’s protective resources and increases vulnerability to physical illness.17,18 Discriminatory experiences can produce significantly heightened psychological and physiological stress responses18 and are related to unhealthy behaviors including cigarette smoking,19 alcohol dependence,20 and both prescription and illicit drug use.21,22 Discrimination also has been associated with health outcomes including self-rated health, hypertension, and atherosclerotic disease.23 According to the social cognitive theory and the tenets of self-efficacy, if individuals do not believe that they can control aversive events, like discriminatory experiences, they may distress themselves and subsequently impair their level of functioning.24 Pascoe and Smart25 suggest that discriminatory experiences may lead to increased participation in unhealthy behaviors as a way of escaping the negative affect and cognition that perceptions of discrimination may arouse. Whereas prior studies have investigated the association of psychosocial factors and physical activity,26,27 few have investigated these factors in relation to sedentary behaviors. Such an association is plausible because perceived discrimination has been associated with the previously mentioned health behaviors,19–22 as well as depressive symptoms,4,15,16,28–32 an established predictor of sedentary behavior. It is particularly important to assess the association between discriminatory experiences and sedentary behavior in a sample of black and white men and women because the rates of sedentary behavior and reporting of discriminatory experiences varies according to these characteristics and the association between the 2 may vary by race and sex. The objective of this study was to examine associations of self-reported discriminatory experiences with sedentary behaviors in a bi-racial sample of men and women. We hypothesized that discriminatory experiences are positively associated with sedentary behavior. Screen time was explored separately to improve understanding of these increasingly common modifiable sedentary behaviors so that potential interventions can be targeted towards at-risk populations. Answering this question is important because identifying a psychosocial determinant of sedentary behavior may help researchers explore various methods to decrease this modifiable cardiovascular risk factor. Findings from our study can be used to assess the psychosocial mechanisms of sedentary behavior and the development of behavioral interventions targeting sedentary behavior.

There is limited research on the traditional Hispanic male and female gender roles of machismo and marianismo, respectively, in relation to negative cognitions and emotions. Given the vulnerability of Hispanics to negative cognitions and emotions, it is important to examine sociocultural correlates of emotional distress. Therefore, we examined associations of machismo and marianismo with negative cognitive-emotional factors (i.e., depression symptoms; cynical hostility; and trait anxiety and anger) in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Sociocultural Ancillary Study, a cross-sectional cohort study of sociocultural and psychosocial correlates of cardiometabolic health. Participants were aged 18-74 years and self-identified as Hispanic of Central American, Cuban, Dominican, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South American, and other Hispanic background (N = 4,426). Results revealed that specific components of machismo (traditional machismo) and marianismo (family and spiritual pillar dimensions) were associated with higher levels of negative cognitions and emotions after adjusting for socio-demographic factors (p < .05); these associations remained consistent across sex, Hispanic background group, and acculturation. Findings can inform mental health interventions and contribute to our understanding of the importance of gender role socialization in the context of self-reported negative cognitive-emotional factors in Hispanics.

Despite variability in the burden of elevated depressive symptoms by sex and race and differences in the incidence of metabolic syndrome, few prior studies describe the longitudinal association of depressive symptoms with metabolic syndrome in a diverse cohort. We tested whether baseline and time-varying depressive symptoms were associated with metabolic syndrome incidence in black and white men and women from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study.Participants reported depressive symptoms using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale at four examinations between 1995 and 2010. At those same examinations, metabolic syndrome was determined. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the associations of depressive symptoms on the development of metabolic syndrome in 3208 participants without metabolic syndrome at baseline.For 15 years, the incidence rate of metabolic syndrome (per 10,000 person-years) varied by race and sex, with the highest rate in black women (279.2), followed by white men (241.9), black men (204.4), and white women (125.3). Depressive symptoms (per standard deviation higher) were associated with incident metabolic syndrome in white men (hazard ratio = 1.25, 95% confidence interval = 1.08-1.45) and white women (hazard ratio = 1.17, 95% confidence interval = 1.00-1.37) after adjustment for demographic characteristics and health behaviors. There was no significant association between depression and metabolic syndrome among black men or black women.Higher depressive symptoms contribute modestly to the onset of metabolic syndrome among white adults.

The study assessed whether overall perceived ethnic discrimination and four unique discrimination types were associated with binge drinking in participants from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos who also completed the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Sociocultural Ancillary Study (n = 5,313). In unadjusted analyses that were weighted for sampling strategy and design, each unit increase in discrimination type was associated with a 12-63% increase in odds of binge drinking; however, after adjusting for important demographic variables including age, sex, heritage group, language, and duration of U.S. residence, there was no longer an association between discrimination and binge drinking. Further research still needs to identify the salient factors that contribute to increased risk for binge drinking among Hispanics/Latinos.

Background: Sociocultural factors have been linked to health care seeking among Latino adults. A supportive social context may encourage proactive steps leading to health maintenance, including healthcare seeking. Objective: To explore the cross-sectional association of marital status with annual health care provider visits among Hispanic/Latino adults ages 18-74 with and without chronic diseases. Methods: Participants from HCHS/SOL Sociocultural Ancillary Study with measures of social support, marital status, and health care use were included in the analysis (n=3,401). Marital status was self-reported. Health care use was defined as whether the participant saw a health care provider in the past twelve months. Weighted multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the associations of marital status with healthcare use, after adjusting for covariates. Results: On average, participants were 40 years old , 83% were currently married, and 73% had at least one health care provider visit in the past twelve months. Analyses were stratified by gender and the findings were null in men, therefore only the findings in women are reported. Among Hispanic/ Latino women with chronic diseases, individuals who were married were more likely to have an annual health care provider visit than those who had never married. However, this association no longer remained significant after adjustment. Among Latino women without chronic diseases, individuals who were married were less likely to have an annual health care provider visit than those who were never married. Conclusion: Marital status is associated with health care use among Hispanic/Latino women without chronic diseases. Future research should assess whether marianismo, a culture specific gender role characterized by self-sacrifice and prioritization of familial needs, influences marital status’ association with preventive health care utilization among Latino women.

Background: Diabetes (DM) is more common among adults with lower socioeconomic status (SES). However, it is not known whether the socioeconomic disparities in DM are obscured by the overall rising prevalence of DM. Our objective was to test whether disparities in diabetes by SES have changed between 1999 and 2010. Methods: Participants from National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys aged > 20 years with data available to determine DM at each examination were included (n= 11,952). DM was determined as fasting glucose ≥126 mg/dL or self-report of DM medication use. Educational attainment was used to represent SES and categorized into 4 groups. Predictive marginal probabilities from logistic regression models were used to calculate the age-standardized prevalence of DM by educational category across 3 survey periods (1999-2002, 2003-2006, 2007-2010). We tested whether the relationship of SES with DM changed over time using interaction terms between education and survey period. Results: The age-standardized prevalence of diabetes was 8.5% (95% CI: 7.3-9.7) in 1999-2002, 9.6% (95% CI: 8.4-10.7) in 2003-2006 and 11.3% (95% CI: 10.0-12.5) in 2007-2010. In each survey period, DM prevalence was highest among adults with the least education (p Conclusion: Socioeconomic disparities in DM persist over time; however, the inverse gradient in DM prevalence is not present in Mexican Americans.

Background: Depression, both diagnosed and based on elevated symptom scores, is highly prevalent in individuals with Type II Diabetes (T2DM). Depression predisposes individuals to poorer glycemic control, higher rates of T2DM complications and elevated mortality. African Americans and Hispanics are less likely to be diagnosed with depression than non-Hispanic whites; however, prevalence studies in the general (i.e., non-diabetic) population report that rates of elevated depressive symptoms are similar across race/ethnic groups. Objective: To calculate the age-adjusted prevalence of comorbid depression and Type II Diabetes by race/ethnicity and to investigate whether the patterns vary according to treatment of depression or elevated depressive symptoms (EDS). We hypothesize that racial/ethnic differences in depression among adults with diabetes will vary according to whether depression is treated or based on elevated depressive symptoms. Methods: Participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (2005-2010) classified as White (n=459), Black (n=250), Mexican American (n=233), or “Other Racial/Ethnic Background” (n=149) and had T2DM (i.e., fasting glucose >=126, clinician diagnosis, or diabetic medication use) and responses to current prescription drug use and depression syndrome measures were included in the analysis (n=1,091, Mean age=48.2 year). Undiagnosed depression was determined by an elevated depressive symptoms (EDS) score => 10 on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and no report of current antidepressant use. Treatment for depression was determined by self-reported current antidepressant use (e.g., SSRI, MAOI, and TCA). Weighted age-adjusted prevalence rates of depression among adults who have diabetes were stratified by race/ethnic background. Results: Twelve percent used antidepressants and 7% of the sample had EDS without antidepressant use. The age-adjusted prevalence of antidepressant use among adults with diabetes was higher in Whites (16%, 95% CI: 9%, 22%) than Black (9%, 95% CI: 3%, 15%), Mexican Americans (5%, 95% CI: 3%, 8%), and “Others” (6%, 95% CI: 1%, 10%). These prevalence estimates remained significantly different after adjusting for healthcare provider and income. The prevalence of EDS among adults with diabetes was not significantly different across race/ethnic background groups (Whites- 5%, 95% CI: 3%, 8%; Blacks- 8%, 95% CI: 2%, 13%; Mexican Americans- 8%, 95% CI: 3%, 13%; “Others”- 8%, 95% CI %, 14%). The prevalence estimates of EDS and antidepressants by race/ethnic group did not vary by gender. Conclusions: Although African Americans and Mexican-Americans with diabetes were as likely to experience EDS, they were less likely to have to be treated for depression. These findings highlight the importance of screening for both treated depression and EDS in individuals who have Type II Diabetes.

The study by Tovote et al. (1) was the first randomized clinical trial to examine the effectiveness of individual mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in reducing depressive symptoms in patients with diabetes. However, the researchers did not account for the racial/ethnic background of the participants. Compared with the general population, African Americans are disproportionately affected by diabetes and diabetes-related complications. For some African Americans, the stress of diabetes compounded by higher levels of chronic life stressors (e.g., financial insecurity, low education level, lack of health care) makes them particularly vulnerable to complications from the synergistic effects of obesity, diabetes, …

Background: Sedentary behaviors such as television viewing or “playing games on the computer” are associated with obesity and increased cardiovascular risk. Little is known about the relationship between sedentary behaviors and adverse social contexts, particularly discriminatory experiences. Objective: To explore the cross-sectional relation of sedentary behavior and adverse social contexts in a large sample of middle-aged black and white men and women. Methods: Participants from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study with measures of discriminatory experiences and sedentary behaviors from the Year 25 exam in 2010 were included in the analysis (n=3,267). Participants were coded as experiencing discrimination if they responded yes to feeling discrimination based on gender, race, SES, or weight. The primary outcome variable, sedentary behavior, was defined by self-report as the overall number of hours per week spent in 6 behaviors: watching television, using the computer for non-work activities, listening to music, reading, talking on the phone, or texting. Linear regression was used to model the association of discrimination with sedentary time adjusted for age, race, gender, education and traditional CHD risk factors. Results: Participants were 50.2 years old (SD= 3.6), average time spent in sedentary behavior was 6.95 hrs/ day (SD=3.7), and 55% of the participants reported 1+ discriminatory experiences. In the full sample, there was a marginally significant positive relationship between discriminatory experiences and sedentary behavior (β=0.27, SE=0.3, p=.06), whereby participants who reported discrimination spent more time in sedentary behavior than those who did not report discrimination independent of demographic and traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Black participants spent more time sedentary than White participants (8.33 (SE=4.16) hrs/day vs. 5.78 (SE=2.75) hrs/day; p Conclusions: The association of discriminatory experiences with sedentary behaviors was only present among White participants in the study. Future research should investigate other psychosocial factors that may be negatively associated with sedentary behaviors among Black Americans.