Racism, Ethnic Discrimination, and Cardiovascular Health: Conceptual and Measurement Issues

Abstract

Bias against members of racial and ethnic minority group members is expressed in the form of prejudice and discriminatory behavior at the cultural, institutional, and interpersonal levels. Members of racial and ethnic minority groups may also internalize this bias and endorse negative beliefs about their group as a whole or may incorporate negative stereotypes about the group into their personal identity. Prejudice and discrimination serve as psychosocial stressors for many members of racial and ethnic minority groups. Racial and ethnic discrimination contributes to increased risk for cardiovascular disease through multiple mechanisms. Although the results vary across levels of discrimination, the evidence suggests that racial and ethnic discrimination is associated with risky health behaviors, increased stress reactivity, impaired stress recovery, and high levels of several markers of cardiovascular disease. In this chapter, we review conceptualizations of each level of discrimination, review literature linking discrimination to cardiovascular health outcomes, identify strategies for measuring discrimination, and suggest areas in need of future research.KeywordsPrejudiceRacismDiscriminationMinoritiesCardiovascular disease