Caucasian American Participants Research Articles

“I get by with a little help from my friends”: Posttraumatic growth in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aftermath of a trauma may be commonly associated with negative outcomes;however, these experiences can also lead to positive personal changes, including posttraumatic growth (PTG). Little research has explored PTG in relation to chronic or vicarious trauma, nor with regard to the social context. The current study investigated the role of perceived social support in moderating psychological distress and PTG during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cross-sectional data were collected online using CloudResearch from 296 adults residing in the United States of America during August 2020. A strong positive relationship was found between impact of trauma and PTG (r = .54;p < .001). Moderated multiple regression indicated psychological distress, perceived social support, age, gender, ethnicity, and education accounted for 39% of the variance in PTG;however, a significant positive relationship was only found between social support and PTG. The interaction between social support and psychological distress was significant (p = .021), with slope indicating the relationship between distress and PTG is strengthened with increasing social support. Contrary to expectations, this study found a significant relationship existed between PTG and perceived support from friends (beta = .23;p = .001) and family (beta = .14, p = .044), but not significant others. Age also predicted PTG, suggesting younger people may experience higher growth, and significant mean differences were found between Caucasian and African American participants who reported higher levels of PTG. These findings have potential implications for improving mental health outcomes during this challenging and novel period of our history. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

The Impact of Job Loss on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Asian Americans: 11-12 Years After the World Trade Center Attack.

Adversities following disasters are associated with the delayed onset and persistence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the wake of the World Trade Center attack, a sizeable group of Asian Americans being directly exposed to the disaster had endured job loss during the decade afterwards. Yet, no studies to date have examined the relationship between job loss and long-term PTSD in this group. This study examined the 10-11-year prevalence of probable PTSD (≥ PCL score of 44) among Asian (n=1,712) and Caucasian American (n=25,011) participants of the World Trade Center Health Registry who had completed three waves of survey studies (2003-04, 2006-08, 2011-12). Logistic regression was used to model the relationship between job loss since the disaster and probable PTSD for the two racial groups separately while controlling for sociodemographics, disaster exposure, post-disaster traumatic/stressful events exposure, lower respiratory symptoms, PTSD history since 911, and mental health service use. The long-term prevalence of probable PTSD was 15.1% for Asian Americans and 14.4% for Caucasian Americans, with no significant difference. For both groups, having job loss since 911 was a significant risk factor for probable PTSD (Asian Americans: AOR=1.80; 95% CI=1.19, 2.71; Caucasian Americans: AOR=1.73; 95% CI=1.56, 1.93). While job loss was an important risk factor, employment opportunities were more restricted for Asian Americans given the cultural and language limitations. Current findings highlight the importance of improving employment as part of post-disaster assistance.

Acoustic and aerodynamic variation in voiced plosives

This study investigates variation in the production of word-initial /b, d, ɡ/ by native speakers of English in Mississippi. Forty speakers were recorded reading a short passage and a series of words in isolation. As previously found in this geographic region, phonetic realizations of /b, d, ɡ/ included both short positive and long negative VOTs, with speakers who identified as African American producing plosives with negative VOTs more often than those who identified as Caucasian American; however, negative VOTs were observed among both groups of speakers. Amplitude trajectories and spectral characteristics during the voice bar of the plosives with negative VOTs suggest that phonetic realizations of /b, d, ɡ/ included both prevoiced and prenasalized plosives. As with frequency of negative VOTs, prenasalization was observed among both groups but was higher among African American participants than Caucasian American participants. Nasal airflow data collected from a subset of the participants confirmed that plosives with nasal-like spectral characteristics were produced with greater nasal airflow than those lacking those characteristics. Converging acoustic and aerodynamic evidence indicate that /b, d, ɡ/ variants in Mississippi include unaspirated plosives, prevoiced plosives, and prenasalized plosives. These results also provide evidence of socio-ethnic variation in the production of /b, d, ɡ/.

Cultural Differences in Perceptual Strategies Underlying Emotion Regulation

Cultural norms for the experience, expression, and regulation of emotion vary widely between individualistic and collectivistic cultures. Collectivistic cultures value conformity, social harmony, and social status hierarchies, which demand sensitivity and focus to broader social contexts, such that attention is directed to contextual emotion information to effectively function within constrained social roles and suppress incongruent personal emotions. By contrast, individualistic cultures valuing autonomy and personal aspirations are more likely to attend to central emotion information and to reappraise emotions to avoid negative emotional experience. Here we examined how culture affects perceptual strategies employed during emotion regulation, particularly during cognitive reappraisal and emotional suppression. Eye movements were measured while healthy young adult participants viewed negative International Affective Picture System (IAPS) images and regulated emotions by using either strategies of reappraisal (19 Asian American, 21 Caucasian American) or suppression (21 Asian American, 23 Caucasian American). After image viewing, participants rated how negative they felt as a measure of subjective emotional experience. Consistent with prior studies, reappraisers made lower negative valence ratings after regulating emotions than suppressers across both Asian American and Caucasian American groups. Although no cultural variation was observed in subjective emotional experience during emotion regulation, we found evidence of cultural variation in perceptual strategies used during emotion regulation. During middle and late time periods of emotional suppression, Asian American participants made significantly fewer fixations to emotionally salient areas than Caucasian American participants. These results indicate cultural variation in perceptual differences underlying emotional suppression, but not cognitive reappraisal.

Race-related differences in functional antibody response to pneumococcal vaccination in HIV-infected individuals

BackgroundBoth HIV positivity and African American (AA) ethnicity are associated with increased incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Poor immune response to pneumococcal polysaccharide-based vaccines may contribute to the race related increased frequency of IPD in African American HIV positive individuals. MethodsCaucasian and AA HIV-infected (HIV+) individuals 40–65 years old with CD4+ T cells/µl (CD4) >200 on antiretroviral therapy (ART) received either the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) followed by the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) or PPV only. Serum IgG, IgM and opsonophagocytic antibody responses to serotypes 14 and 23F as well as serum IgG and opsonophagocytic antibody responses to serotype 19A were measured pre- and post-vaccination. We measured serum markers of inflammation in all participants and performed single cell gene expression profiling at the baseline by HD Biomark in Caucasians and African Americans. ResultsThere were no significant differences in pre-immunization inflammatory markers or post-vaccination IgG and IgM concentrations between Caucasian and African American participants. However, we found significantly lower opsonophagocytic activity in response to serotypes 14 and 19A in the AA group compared to the Caucasian group. There was no association between inflammatory markers and immune response to vaccination, however we found extensive biomodal variation in gene expression levels in single IgM+ memory B cells. Differentially expressed genes may be related to differences in the immune response between ethnic groups. ConclusionsDistinct racial differences were found in the functional immune response following either PPV and/or PCV/PPV immunization in HIV-positive adults, although these differences were serotype dependent. Decreased ability to respond to vaccination may in part explain racial disparities in pneumococcal disease epidemiology.ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03039491.

Weight Recidivism After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery: An 11-Year Experience in a Multiethnic Medical Center.

Weight recidivism following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is common and is associated with recurrence of comorbidities. Studies with long-term follow-up of recidivism quantified by weight regain (WR) are lacking. A retrospective review of all RYGB at our center from 2004 to 2015 was performed to examine the effects of race and type 2 diabetes on WR following RYGB. Multivariable linear mixed models were used for the effects of time and race on weight, WR relative to nadir weight (WR/nadir), and WR relative to maximal weight loss, and Cox regressions were used for low, moderate, and high WR/nadir. A total of 1,395 participants were identified. The sample was limited to African American (AA), Caucasian American (CA), and Hispanic American (HA) participants. The effects of time (P<0.0001), race (P<0.0001), and race×time interaction (P=0.0008) on weight trajectory were significant. AA had significantly more WR than CA (P<0.01). AA and HA had a higher hazard ratio for having low, moderate, and rapid WR/nadir. Racial disparities after RYGB include WR and particularly affect AA. Understanding the etiologic factors that contribute to these disparities is important to optimize the long-term clinical outcomes of bariatric surgery.

Association of early left ventricular dysfunction with advanced magnetic resonance white matter and gray matter brain measures: The CARDIA study.

Relations between heart failure and clinically manifested stroke are well known, but the associations between heart and brain early abnormalities are not totally clear. We explore relations of subclinical brain abnormalities with early cardiac dysfunction in a large healthy middle-aged biracial cohort. The CARDIA study enrolled 5115 young adults aged 18-30years at baseline (1985-1986). We assessed 719 Caucasian and African American participants of the CARDIA study, with echocardiograms and brain MRI at follow-up year 25 (2010-2011). Echocardiography assessed aortic root diameter; LVEF; circumferential, longitudinal, and radial deformation. Cerebral MRI DTI, and, on a subset, ASL perfusion sequences were used to assess white matter fractional anisotropy and gray matter cerebral blood flow (CBF). Linear regression explored relations between cardiac parameters and cerebral measures, adjusting for anthropometrics, risk factors, and brain constitutional variation. Mean age 50±4years, SBP 118±15mmHg; 60% white, and 48% men. Mean CBF was 46±9mL/100g/min, and white matter fractional anisotropy was 0.31±0.02. Worse circumferential deformation and larger aortic root were related to worse white matter fractional anisotropy. Worse radial systolic deformation was related to worse CBF in multivariable models. LVEF did not relate to early brain abnormalities. In spite of no apparent effect of LV ejection fraction, early subclinical cardiac dysfunction and brain abnormalities are present and associated in middle-aged generally healthy individuals.

Factor Analysis of an Expanded Halstead-Reitan Battery and the Structure of Neurocognition.

The structure of neurocognition is explored by examining the neurocognitive domains underlying comprehensive neuropsychological assessment of cognitively healthy individuals. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the adult normative dataset of an expanded Halstead-Reitan Battery (eHRB), comprising Caucasian and African American participants. The factor structure contributions of the original HRB, eHRB expansion, and Wechsler intelligence scales were compared. Demographic effects were examined on composite factor scores calculated using confirmatory factor analysis. The full eHRB had an eight-factor structure, with latent constructs including: 'working memory', 'fluency', 'verbal episodic memory', 'visuospatial cognition' (visuospatial memory and problem solving), 'perceptual-motor speed' (speed for processing visual/tactile material and hand-motor execution), 'perceptual attention' (attention to sensory-perceptual information), 'semantic knowledge' (knowledge acquired through education and culturally-based experiences), and 'phonological decoding' (grapheme-phoneme processing essential for sounding-out words). 'Perceptual-motor speed' and 'perceptual attention' were most negatively associated with age, whereas 'semantic knowledge' and 'phonological decoding' were most resistant to aging. 'Semantic knowledge' showed the greatest dependence on demographic background, including education and ethnicity. Gender differences in cognitive performances were negligible across all domains except 'phonological decoding' with women slightly outperforming men. The original HRB contributed four neurocognitive domains, the eHRB expansion three domains, and the Wechsler scales one additional domain but with restructuring of verbal factors. Eight neurocognitive domains underlie performance of healthy cognitive individuals during comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. These domains serve as framework for understanding the constructs measured by commonly-used neuropsychological tests and may represent the structure of neurocognition.

The Relationship of Fertility, Lifestyle, and Longevity Among Women

Longevity in women has been found to be associated with several reproductive factors; the age of women when they give birth, their total number of children, and the age at which they experience menopause. In the context of expectations from the evolutionary theory of aging, the focus of this study examined relationships between lifetime reproduction, age at menopause and longevity, while accounting for various lifestyle factors. The purpose of this study was to assess fertility and age at onset of menopause in 197 women of the Georgia Centenarian Study. It was hypothesized that greater lifetime reproduction would predict earlier menopause and subsequently an earlier death. An independent t test was computed to assess ethnic differences between Caucasian and African American participants. Two block-wise multiple regression analyses were computed to evaluate the impact of low socioeconomic status in childhood, the age at the time of the first childbirth, the total number of children, smoking and alcohol use, incidence of heart disease and stroke, and the age at onset of menopause on longevity. Results from this study suggest a positive association between the total number of children to the age at onset of menopause and longevity. However, when considering the lifestyle factor of smoking, the association of the total number of children to longevity is diminished.

An fMRI investigation of the effects of culture on evaluations of stigmatized individuals

Certain groups (e.g., women, older adults, and the economically disadvantaged) are universally stigmatized. Numerous studies, however, have identified cross-cultural differences in the attitudes expressed toward stigmatized groups. These differences may potentially be due to existing cross-cultural dissimilarities in social status for some groups. The current study used fMRI to examine whether Chinese and Caucasian-American participants engage the same cognitive and affective mechanisms when perceiving stigmatized individuals with similarly low social status in both cultures (homeless individuals), but different cognitive and/or affective processes when evaluating stigmatized individuals whose status differs across cultures (older adults). Using a social neuroscience approach can provide unique insight into this question because the neural regions involved in cognitive and affective evaluations of stigmatized individuals have been well characterized. Results revealed that Chinese participants and Caucasian-American participants engaged similar patterns of negative affective processing associated with disgust (left anterior insula) when evaluating homeless individuals. Moreover, self-reported negative explicit attitudes toward homeless individuals were associated with increased activity in the insula. However, Chinese participants and Caucasian-American participants engaged increased activity in neural regions associated with status (ventral striatum) when they evaluated older adults. Moreover, self-reported attitudes toward older adults and ventral striatal activity were correlated with the extent to which participants reported being affiliated with their respective cultural traditions.

Ambient air pollution and racial/ethnic differences in carotid intima-media thickness in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

BackgroundIn the USA, ethnic disparities in atherosclerosis persist after accounting for known risk factors. Ambient air pollution is associated with increased levels of atherosclerosis and differs in the USA by...

The effects of angiotensinogen gene polymorphisms on cardiovascular disease outcomes during antihypertensive treatment in the GenHAT study.

Previous studies have reported that risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality substantially increases in hypertensive patients, especially among those with inadequate blood pressure control. Two common antihypertensive drug classes including thiazide diuretics and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors affect different enzymes in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). In the RAAS, angiotensinogen is converted into angiotensin II which increases blood pressure through vasoconstriction. Using a case-only design with 3448 high-risk hypertensive individuals from the Genetics of Hypertension Associated Treatment (GenHAT) study, we examined whether seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the angiotensinogen gene (AGT) interact with three classes of antihypertensive drugs including chlorthalidone (a thiazide diuretic), lisinopril (an ACE inhibitor), and amlodipine (a calcium channel blocker) to modify the risk of incident coronary heart disease (CHD) and heart failure (HF) among Caucasian and African American participants, separately. We found no gene by treatment interactions to be statistically significant after correction for multiple testing. However, some suggestive results were found. African American participants with the minor allele of rs11122576 had over two-fold higher risk of CHD when using chlorthalidone compared to using amlodipine, or lisinopril compared to amlodipine (p = 0.006 and p = 0.01, respectively). Other marginal associations are also reported among both race groups. The findings reported here suggest that rs11122576 could contribute to future personalization of antihypertensive treatment among African Americans though more studies are needed.

Genetic and environmental influences on plasma vitamin D binding protein concentrations

Recent studies suggest that low vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP aka group-specific complement or Gc) concentrations may be linked with inflammatory-mediated conditions, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer. However, these studies may be confounded by substantial racial and ethnic or genetic differences. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that circulating VDBP concentrations are significantly associated with genetic ancestry. We used avalidated high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry assay of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 and its downstream metabolite 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. VDBP concentrations (milligrams per liter) were measured in duplicate using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay among healthy African American (n=56) and Caucasian American (n=60) participants. Ancestry informative markers across the genome were used to estimate individual genetic ancestry proportions, designed to robustly distinguish between West African and European ancestry. Genotype-defined Gc isoforms were defined using rs7041 and rs4588 combination groups. VDBP concentration was correlated with both Gc isoform (r=0.93, P<0.001) and West African genetic ancestry (r=-0.66, P<0.001). In the final model, Gc isoform, the catabolic ratio of serum vitamin D, oral contraceptive use, and body mass index remained significantly associated with VDBP concentration, after adjustment for genetic ancestry. Failure to adjust for Gc isoform may lead to spurious associations in studies of VDBP concentration and disease risk, particularly when the condition of interest may also be associated with genetic ancestry. The higher circulating VDBP concentrations and higher vitamin D catabolic rate among Caucasian Americans observed here appear to be consistent with lower bone mineral density and racial and ethnic differences in vitamin D-inducing cytokines.

Dual Attitudes toward the Model’s Race in Advertising

The current research investigated the effect of model’s race on attitude toward the ad employing stringent methodology to achieve a high degree of internal validity. In an attempt to test the possibility of dual attitudes, we compared participants’ reactions with advertising model’s race by using both time-unconstrained and time-constrained measures. As a result, both African and Caucasian Americans reported similar attitudes toward ads with either African or Caucasian American models under a time-unconstrained condition. Under a time-constrained condition, Caucasian American participants did not report differences in their attitudes toward models of different races. Moreover, African American participants reported more positive attitudes toward the ad with Caucasian American models than with African American models. A similar pattern of reporting attitudes under a time-constrained condition was found when examining reaction times. The implications and contributions are discussed.

Hydrochlorothiazide‐induced hyperuricaemia in the pharmacogenomic evaluation of antihypertensive responses study

Elevations in uric acid (UA) and the associated hyperuricaemia are commonly observed secondary to treatment with thiazide diuretics. We sought to identify novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ)-induced elevations in UA and hyperuricaemia. A genome-wide association study of HCTZ-induced changes in UA was performed in Caucasian and African American participants from the pharmacogenomic evaluation of antihypertensive responses (PEAR) study who were treated with HCTZ monotherapy. Suggestive SNPs were replicated in Caucasians and African Americans from the PEAR study who were treated with HCTZ add-on therapy. Replicated regions were followed up through expression and pathway analysis. Five unique gene regions were identified in African Americans (LUC7L2, ANKRD17/COX18, FTO, PADI4 and PARD3B), and one region was identified in Caucasians (GRIN3A). Increases in UA of up to 1.8 mg dL(-1) were observed following HCTZ therapy in individuals homozygous for risk alleles, with heterozygotes displaying an intermediate phenotype. Several risk alleles were also associated with an increased risk of HCTZ-induced clinical hyperuricaemia. A composite risk score, constructed in African Americans using the 'top' SNP from each gene region, was strongly associated with HCTZ-induced UA elevations (P = 1.79 × 10(-7) ) and explained 11% of the variability in UA response. Expression studies in RNA from whole blood revealed significant differences in expression of FTO by rs4784333 genotype. Pathway analysis showed putative connections between many of the genes identified through common microRNAs. Several novel gene regions were associated with HCTZ-induced UA elevations in African Americans (LUC7L2, COX18/ANKRD17, FTO, PADI4 and PARD3B), and one region was associated with these elevations in Caucasians (GRIN3A).

Cultural modulation of the neural correlates of emotional pain perception: The role of other-focusedness

Cultures vary in the extent to which they emphasize group members to habitually attend to the needs, perspectives, and internal experiences of others compared to the self. Here we examined the influence that collectivistic and individualistic cultural environments may play on the engagement of the neurobiological processes that underlie the perception and processing of emotional pain. Using cross-cultural fMRI, Korean and Caucasian-American participants passively viewed scenes of others in situations of emotional pain and distress. Regression analyses revealed that the value of other-focusedness was associated with heightened neural response within the affective pain matrix (i.e. anterior cingulate cortex and insula) to a greater extent for Korean relative to Caucasian-American participants. These findings suggest that mindsets promoting attunement to the subjective experience of others may be especially critical for pain-related and potentially empathic processing within collectivistic relative to individualistic cultural environments.

Evidence of Analytic Versus Holistic Thinking in Viewing Magazine Images: Preliminary Findings

A qualitative cross-cultural comparison of native Japanese and Caucasian American women was used to examine whether the women critically processed magazine images differently. Four focus groups were used to generate data (n = 19). The data analysis revealed that the native Japanese women viewed magazine images holistically, whereas the Caucasian American participants processed images of fashion analytically. Implications of differences are discussed with analytic versus holistic thinking and traditional beauty ideals in Japanese and Caucasian American cultures.

The Greater Cincinnati Pediatric Clinic Repository: A Novel Framework for Childhood Asthma and Allergy Research

BACKGROUND: Allergic disorders, including asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, eosinophilic esophagitis, and food allergy, are a major global health burden. The study and management of allergic disorders is complicated by the considerable heterogeneity in both the presentation and natural history of these disorders. Biorepositories serve as an excellent source of data and biospecimens for delineating subphenotypes of allergic disorders, but such resources are lacking. METHODS: In order to define subphenotypes of allergic disease accurately, we established an infrastructure to link and efficiently utilize clinical and epidemiologic data with biospecimens into a single biorepository called the Greater Cincinnati Pediatric Clinic Repository (GCPCR). Children with allergic disorders as well as healthy controls are followed longitudinally at hospital clinic, emergency department, and inpatient visits. Subjects' asthma, allergy, and skin symptoms; past medical, family, social, diet, and environmental histories; physical activity; medication adherence; perceived quality of life; and demographics are ascertained. DNA is collected from all participants, and other biospecimens such as blood, hair, and nasal epithelial cells are collected on a subset. RESULTS: To date, the GCPCR has 6,317 predominantly Caucasian and African American participants, and 93% have banked DNA. This large sample size supports adequately powered genetic, epidemiologic, environmental, and health disparities studies of childhood allergic diseases. CONCLUSIONS: The GCPCR is a unique biorepository that is continuously evaluated and refined to achieve and maintain rigorous clinical phenotype and biological data. Development of similar disease-specific repositories using common data elements is necessary to enable studies across multiple populations of comprehensively phenotyped patients.

Independent effects of perceiver race on pain perception and empathy

Prior research has demonstrated that patient race is associated with differences in pain sensitivity as well as access to and quality of care. Some researchers have suggested that patient-provider racial concordance may help moderate racial disparities in care. However, whether or not racial differences exist in perception of the pain of other people remains largely unexplored. The present experiment tested the effect of perceiver race and patient-perceiver concordance on pain perception. Eighty African American (40f) and 87 Caucasian American (45f) student volunteers read 10 scenarios whereby a fellow student described his pain symptoms and provided a self-reported pain rating. Prior to reading each scenario, participants were primed with either an African American or Caucasian American face displayed subliminally (30ms). Primes were preceded and followed by a scrambled mask (100ms). After reading each scenario, participants gave ratings of perceived pain and empathy. Patient race was counterbalanced across participants. Results of the present study revealed no patient by perceiver race interactions in pain perception, but rather a main effect of perceiver race such that African American participants perceived more pain in patients, irrespective of patient race. Furthermore, African American participants reported thinking that the patients were in more pain than they claimed, and reported more empathy for all patients, relative to Caucasian American participants. These findings suggest that perceiver race may have independent effects on pain assessment. Prior research has demonstrated that patient race is associated with differences in pain sensitivity as well as access to and quality of care. Some researchers have suggested that patient-provider racial concordance may help moderate racial disparities in care. However, whether or not racial differences exist in perception of the pain of other people remains largely unexplored. The present experiment tested the effect of perceiver race and patient-perceiver concordance on pain perception. Eighty African American (40f) and 87 Caucasian American (45f) student volunteers read 10 scenarios whereby a fellow student described his pain symptoms and provided a self-reported pain rating. Prior to reading each scenario, participants were primed with either an African American or Caucasian American face displayed subliminally (30ms). Primes were preceded and followed by a scrambled mask (100ms). After reading each scenario, participants gave ratings of perceived pain and empathy. Patient race was counterbalanced across participants. Results of the present study revealed no patient by perceiver race interactions in pain perception, but rather a main effect of perceiver race such that African American participants perceived more pain in patients, irrespective of patient race. Furthermore, African American participants reported thinking that the patients were in more pain than they claimed, and reported more empathy for all patients, relative to Caucasian American participants. These findings suggest that perceiver race may have independent effects on pain assessment.

Effects of Ethnically Diverse Photographic Stimuli on Preference and Discourse Tasks in African American and Caucasian American Adults

This study determined whether using photographic stimuli displaying different ethnicity (African American vs. Caucasian American) influenced preference, word count, and number of content units produced by African American or Caucasian American participants. Six photograph pairs depicting common scenes were developed, differing only by model ethnicity. Participants sorted photographs by preference and described each photograph from which word count and content unit were determined. Each group showed significant preference for photographs of their own ethnicity. Caucasian Americans produced significantly more words than African Americans. Caucasian Americans also produced significantly more content units. Caucasian Americans produced more content units for African American scenes (nonsignificant). Results suggest that ethnic groups prefer photographic stimuli representing their own ethnicity. Other factors may influence the amount and content of speech produced. If African Americans typically produce less speech with less content than Caucasian American counterparts, separate normative data may be needed for each ethnic group.