White Americans Research Articles

Romantic racism: How racial preferences (and beliefs about racial preferences) reinforce hierarchy in U.S. interracial relationships.

In the United States, the two most common interracial marriages are between Asian women and White men, and between Black men and White women. Previous research proposed that the reason for these pairings stems from White Americans' racial preferences, such that White men prefer Asian women over Black women (i.e., the group stereotyped as more feminine), whereas White women prefer Black men over Asian men (i.e., the group stereotyped as more masculine). Here, we argue that focusing solely on White Americans' preferences neglects the reality that Americans of color also have preferences (and beliefs about others' preferences) that contribute to the composition of U.S. interracial relationships. We used multiple methodologies (i.e., surveys and experimental manipulations) to examine Asian, Black, and White Americans beliefs about others' preferences. Across three studies (N = 3,728), we reveal that Asian, Black, and White Americans have beliefs about others' preferences (Study 1), that those beliefs mirror their own preferences (Study 2), and that those beliefs have causal implications for their own preferences (Study 3). Collectively, these findings reveal that such beliefs (and preferences) advantage White Americans, such that both Asian and Black Americans believe that they are more attractive to White Americans than to each other, which leads them to be more attracted to White Americans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Circulating Metabolite Profiles and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease Among Racially and Geographically Diverse Populations.

Metabolomics may reveal novel biomarkers for coronary heart disease (CHD). We aimed to identify circulating metabolites and construct a metabolite risk score (MRS) associated with incident CHD among racially and geographically diverse populations. Untargeted metabolomics was conducted using baseline plasma samples from 900 incident CHD cases and 900 age-/sex-/race-matched controls (300 pairs of Black Americans, White Americans, and Chinese adults, respectively), which detected 927 metabolites with known identities among ≥80% of samples. After quality control, 896 case-control pairs remained and were randomly divided into discovery (70%) and validation (30%) sets within each race. In the discovery set, conditional logistic regression and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator over 100 subsamples were applied to identify metabolites robustly associated with CHD risk and construct the MRS. The MRS-CHD association was evaluated using conditional logistic regression and the C-index. Mediation analysis was performed to examine if MRS mediated associations between conventional risk factors and incident CHD. The results from the validation set were presented as the main findings. Twenty-four metabolites selected in ≥90% of subsamples comprised the MRS, which was significantly associated with incident CHD (odds ratio per 1 SD, 2.21 [95% CI, 1.62-3.00] after adjusting for sociodemographics, lifestyles, family history, and metabolic health status). MRS could distinguish incident CHD cases from matched controls (C-index, 0.69 [95% CI, 0.63-0.74]) and improve CHD risk prediction when adding to conventional risk factors (C-index, 0.71 [95% CI, 0.65-0.76] versus 0.67 [95% CI, 0.61-0.73]; P<0.001). The odds ratios and C-index were similar across subgroups defined by race, sex, socioeconomic status, lifestyles, metabolic health, family history, and follow-up duration. The MRS mediated large portions (46.0%-74.2%) of the associations for body mass index, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia with incident CHD. In a diverse study sample, we identified 24 circulating metabolites that, when combined into an MRS, were robustly associated with incident CHD and modestly improved CHD risk prediction beyond conventional risk factors.

Gender and race in radiology: An intersectional analysis of the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) database from 1966 to 2021

PurposeTo describe trends in gender and racial representation within academic radiology in the United States over a 55-year period from 1966 to 2021. MethodsA retrospective analysis of the American Association of Medical Colleges database of radiology faculty members from 1966 to 2021 was conducted. Trends in academic rank and tenure status for five different ethnoracial groups (White, Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Native American) each subdivided into two gender identities (men and women) were analyzed. The proportional change over time of each demographic group per outcome was analyzed with linear regression models. ResultsBetween 1966 and 2021, White men comprised the largest demographic in academic radiology each year. A significant decrease in both White individuals (−0.51 % per year) and men (−0.30 % per year) were observed over the study period. Additionally, the only demographic groups with meaningful changes in representation were White women (+0.20 % per year) and Asian men (+0.23 % per year), followed by Asian women in later years. Underrepresented minority groups (Black, Hispanic and Native American) collectively comprised less than 5 % of all academic radiologists. Finally, within each demographic group, the representation of women consistently lagged behind men. Despite these relative increases, in 2021, the majority of US academic radiologists were White (59.1 %) and male (70.1 %). ConclusionHistorically underrepresented minorities, especially women within these groups, continue to face discrimination and are consistently the least represented in radiology. Initiatives that incorporate the intersectionality framework are imperative to break this cycle.

Racism and alcohol-related problems among Black adults: The role of negative emotionality to experiencing racism

IntroductionAlthough Black Americans tend to consume less alcohol than non-Hispanic/Latine White Americans, Black Americans who do drink alcohol appear at especially high risk for negative alcohol-related problems. This alcohol-based health disparity indicates a need to identify psycho-sociocultural factors that may play a role in drinking and related problems to inform prevention and treatment efforts. Minority stress-based models posit that stressors such as racism increase negative emotions, which may be associated with using substances such as alcohol to cope with negative emotions. Yet, little research has directly assessed emotional reactions to racism and whether it plays a role in drinking-related behaviors. MethodParticipants were 164 Black American undergraduates at a racially/ethnically diverse university who endorsed current alcohol use 18–48 (M = 21.7, SD = 4.3). Participants completed an online survey regarding their experiences with racism and alcohol-related behaviors. ResultsExperiencing more frequent racism was related to greater negative emotions experienced in response to racism (i.e., negative emotional reactivity to racism) and alcohol-related problems. More frequent racism was related to more alcohol-related problems via the sequential effects of negative emotional reactivity to racism and coping motivated drinking. ConclusionsThese data indicate that the experience of negative emotions that occur after experiencing racism and attempts to cope with those negative emotions by consuming alcohol play important roles in drinking behaviors among Black Americans.

Opinion Instability and Measurement Errors: A G-Theory Analysis of College Students

ABSTRACT This study examines opinion instability among individuals from different ethnic groups (White, Latino, and Asian Americans) by analyzing measurement errors in survey measures. Using a multi-wave panel dataset of college students and employing generalizability theory, the study uncovers significant patterns. The results reveal that White students exhibit higher attitude reliability, characterized by larger variances in true opinions and smaller measurement errors. In contrast, Latino and Asian American students display lower attitude stability, with lower variances in true opinions and higher variances in both item-specific and measurement errors. Disparities in political socialization and issue concerns contribute to the observed attitude instability among Latino and Asian American students. Moreover, Asian American and Latino respondents require a greater number of survey items to mitigate measurement error compared to their White counterparts. However, the impact of multiple waves of surveys on improving reliability is limited for Latino and Asian American students compared to White students. These findings deepen our understanding of attitude stability across ethnic groups and underscore the importance of further research in this area.

Assessment of the Incidence of Müllerian Anomalies in Central Illinois

Introduction: Müllerian anomalies include a spectrum of malformations resulting from the underdevelopment of the Müllerian duct during embryological development. This results in a malformed vagina, uterus or both. Complete agenesis of one or both of these structures in a subset of these cases is known as Mayer‐Rokitansky‐Küster‐Hauser (MRKH) syndrome. There are two types of Müllerian agenesis: Type I MRKH only affects the upper vagina, cervix and uterus, whereas Type II MRKH has associated malformations affecting the renal, auditory and skeletal systems. The reported prevalence is approximately 1 in 5,000 for MRKH syndrome and ~5.5 in 100 for all Müllerian anomalies; however, there is a broad range in the described incidence rates. Purpose: We hypothesized the patient population served by the Department of Ob/Gyn, Division of Reproduction, Endocrinology and Infertility (REI) at Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine has a higher incidence of Müllerian anomalies and MRKH. Our objective was to assess the incidence of these Müllerian anomalies and describe the types of anomalies that affect women in Central Illinois. Methods: All patients receiving care at SIU Ob/Gyn, Division of REI from 01/1/2010-07/31/2021 were queried using specific ICD-9 and 10 codes and further screened to verify eligibility. A retrospective review (IRB# 21-893) was then conducted on all eligible subjects and relevant health information was extracted from the electronic health record. Continuous variables were measured by central tendency (mean or median) and dispersion (standard deviation or range). Categorical variables were described using frequencies and percentages. Results: The initial query identified 282 individuals of which 81 were deemed eligible (i.e., confirmed Müllerian anomaly). The total number of unique patients who underwent an ultrasound at REI during that time of study approval was 697. Based on these data, the calculated incidence of Müllerian anomalies in the REI patient population is ~11.6% and the incidence of MRKH is 57 in 5000. Demographics included: 74 subjects were White (91.4%), two Black or African American (2.5%), one Asian (1.2%) and 4 declined to report their race or identified as more than one race (4.9%); two subjects were of Hispanic ethnicity (2.5%). Mean ages at menarche and diagnosis were 12.7 ± 1.7 and 27.8 ± 6.4 years, respectively. Eight subjects diagnosed with MRKH had Type I MRKH. The specific type of anomalies identified included: uterine septum (29.1%), arcuate uterus (25.3%), unicornuate uterus (19.0%), agenesis (10.1%), bicornuate uterus (6.3%), uterus didelphys (6.3%) and 3.8% had another type of anomaly. The majority of patients underwent surgery within approximately one year of diagnosis (74%). Postoperative complications were rare (~7%) and included mild constipation, urinary retention and bleeding from the incision site. Pregnancy outcomes were as follows: prior to diagnosis, 3 (30%) infants were preterm vs. 7 (70%) term and those were spontaneous conceptions; after diagnosis 4 (30%) infants were preterm vs 9 (70%) term deliveries and the most common methods of conception were spontaneous and ovulation induction; post-surgery 11 (31%) infants were born preterm vs 24 (69%) term deliveries, and the most common methods of conception were ovulation induction and in-vitro fertilization. Conclusions: From this initial investigation, we found the incidence of Müllerian anomalies in the SIU Ob/Gyn, REI population is higher than the wide range of reported values. As expected, the vast majority of these patients underwent surgical management with little or no complications. We aim to further study what factors/exposures may be impacting the development of female fetuses resulting in Müllerian anomalies.

Long-term trajectories of sleep duration are associated with incident diabetes in middle-to-older-aged Black and White Americans.

Both short and long sleep durations have been linked to higher diabetes risk. However, sleep duration may vary over time, and there has been limited research focusing on individual sleep trajectories and diabetes risk. There are substantial racial disparities in both sleep health and diabetes risk in the USA. Thus, it is important to understand the role of suboptimal sleep patterns in diabetes risk in different racial groups. We assessed long-term trajectories of sleep duration and incident diabetes in 22,285 Black adults (mean age ± SD, 51.1 ± 8.2 years; 64.8% women) and 13,737 White adults (mean age ± SD, 54.4 ± 9.0 years; 63.8% women) enrolled in the Southern Community Cohort Study. Nine sleep trajectories were derived based on self-reported sleep duration at baseline and after a mean of 5 years of follow-up: normal-normal (reference), short-normal, normal-short, short-short, long-normal, normal-long, long-long, long-short and short-long. Diabetes was reported using a validated questionnaire. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression was used to determine relationships between sleep trajectories and incident diabetes. When compared with the normal-normal trajectory, suboptimal sleep trajectories were associated with higher likelihoods of developing diabetes (OR; 95% CI: short-normal 1.19; 1.09, 1.31; normal-short 1.14; 1.02, 1.27; short-short 1.17; 1.07, 1.28; long-normal 1.13; 0.98, 1.30; normal-long 1.16; 1.00, 1.34; long-long 1.23; 1.02, 1.48; long-short 1.45; 1.19, 1.77; short-long 1.51; 1.28, 1.77). Stratified analyses by race and socioeconomic status (i.e. education and household income) showed that most suboptimal sleep trajectories were consistently associated with incident diabetes in all sociodemographic subgroups. We also noted potential interaction with race and education for several sleep trajectories (i.e. short-long and normal-short with race; long-long and short-short with education). Adults with suboptimal sleep duration trajectories are more likely to develop incident diabetes. Future research is needed to study how sociodemographic factors modulate this relationship.

What is QuantCrit doing in a nice field like family science?

AbstractFamily science is grappling with the legacy of White supremacy embedded in its theories and methodologies. This presents an opportunity to move beyond traditional theoretical perspectives and statistical approaches that have perpetuated racist assumptions about the inferiority of people of color compared to White Americans. We build on Curtis et al.'s (2022) introduction of Quantitative Criticalism by presenting quantitative critical race theory (QuantCrit) as a critical framework that combines quantitative methods and critical race theory (CRT) to examine issues of racism and race in social science research. Specifically, we (1) make an argument for why QuantCrit is needed in family science, (2) review and critique conventional approaches family scientists have used to analyze racial inequality within the family sciences, (3) offer QuantCrit as an alternative and critical strategy for the quantitative study of racial inequality in family research, and (4) provide examples of how family scientists can leverage QuantCrit to subvert underlying assumptions and practices that perpetuate continued marginalization. We discuss recent research that exhibits elements of QuantCrit in family research to showcase the value of an emerging subfield. QuantCrit provides an opportunity for family scientists studying racial inequality to promote theories, methodological strategies, and policies rooted in social justice.

Your Typical Criminal: Why White Americans Hate Voter Fraud

Abstract Public concerns about voter fraud are widespread and are frequently cited to justify new voting restrictions and harsh punishment for violators. But to what extent do beliefs about a perpetrator’s identity shape public support for efforts to prevent and punish voter fraud? Antipathy toward racial and ethnic groups is a strong predictor of public beliefs about voter fraud. Yet, prior studies have only been able to approximate beliefs about deviant behavior, and not specifically casting an illegal ballot. Drawing from sociology and criminology, we use a “typification” strategy that more directly measures which people are perceived as typical perpetrators of casting illegal ballots. We utilize nationally representative surveys of US voters in the 2017–2020 modules of the Cooperative Election Study to apply and empirically test the typification theory. Among white respondents, we find that the typification of racially minoritized groups such as Blacks, Latinos, Arabs, and immigrants as illegal voters is widespread and is strongly associated with beliefs about voter fraud, support for restrictive election policies, and harsh punishment of illegal voting. The pictures of likely criminals that white voters carry in their heads shape their preferences for crime policies, and this extends to the domain of voter fraud.

Design and Rationale of the Phase 2 Baricitinib Study in Apolipoprotein L1–Mediated Kidney Disease (JUSTICE)

Individuals of recent West African ancestry develop focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and hypertension-attributed end-stage kidney disease (HTN-ESKD) at 4 times the rate of White Americans. Two protein-coding variants of the Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) gene, G1 and G2, explain 50% to 70% of the excess risk of HTN-ESKD and FSGS among this group. Increased expression of G1 and G2 in the kidney, mediated by Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) signaling, drive pathogenesis of these kidney diseases. Baricitinib is an orally active inhibitor of JAK1/2 that blocks APOL1 synthesis. The Janus kinase-STAT Inhibition to Reduce APOL1-Associated Kidney Disease (JUSTICE) trial is evaluating the antiproteinuric efficacy and safety of baricitinib in patients with APOL1-associated FSGS and HTN-attributed chronic kidney disease (HTN-CKD). JUSTICE is a single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, pilot phase 2 trial of baricitinib in patients with proteinuria, APOL1-associated FSGS or APOL1-associated HTN-CKD without diabetes. A total of 75 African American patients with APOL1-associated CKD, including 25 with FSGS and 50 with HTN-CKD, aged 18 to 70 years will be randomized 2:1 to daily treatment with baricitinib or placebo, respectively. The primary efficacy end point will be percent change in urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) from baseline to end of month 6. The primary safety end point will be incidence of clinically significant decreases in hemoglobin of≥ 1g/dl. The phase 2 JUSTICE study will characterize the antiproteinuric efficacy and safety of JAK1/2 inhibition with baricitinib in patients with APOL1-associated FSGS and APOL1-associated HTN-CKD.

“Racism is alive and well”: (Re)visiting the University of Florida’s Black Student Union’s history through composite counterstorytelling

This study centers on the origins of the Black Student Union (BSU) during the late 1960s and early 1970s at the University of Florida (UF) presented as a speculative fiction composite counterstory. The story presented in this manuscript serves as a cautionary tale of what the future of higher education will be, if white supremacy persists, even when white people will no longer represent a numerical majority. Though the findings utilized in this piece are decades old, we offer the current climate of public institutions and DEI initiatives to emphasize the importance of counterstories that underscore the resistance and activism that challenges oppressive systems and birthed such organizations as Black Student Unions, which are now increasingly under threat of elimination. Utilizing BlackCrit, we look backward to explore the permanence of anti-Black racism in our future. We invoke the genre of speculative fiction to give form to our findings - a fictional short story that posits a possible future world that runs counter to expectations for a post-racial future on college campuses and in the United States more broadly. Through a deeper understanding of how Black students drew upon their social networks during the Long Black Student Movement era, we aim to spark dialogue about the future of Black student advocacy at predominantly white American colleges and universities.

Racial disparities in colorectal cancer outcomes and access to care: a multi-cohort analysis.

Non-Hispanic Black (NHB) Americans have a higher incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) and worse survival than non-Hispanic white (NHW) Americans, but the relative contributions of biological versus access to care remain poorly characterized. This study used two nationwide cohorts in different healthcare contexts to study health system effects on this disparity. We used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry as well as the United States Veterans Health Administration (VA) to identify adults diagnosed with colorectal cancer between 2010 and 2020 who identified as non-Hispanic Black (NHB) or non-Hispanic white (NHW). Stratified survival analyses were performed using a primary endpoint of overall survival, and sensitivity analyses were performed using cancer-specific survival. We identified 263,893 CRC patients in the SEER registry (36,662 (14%) NHB; 226,271 (86%) NHW) and 24,375 VA patients (4,860 (20%) NHB; 19,515 (80%) NHW). In the SEER registry, NHB patients had worse OS than NHW patients: median OS of 57 months (95% confidence interval (CI) 55-58) versus 72 months (95% CI 71-73) (hazard ratio (HR) 1.14, 95% CI 1.12-1.15, p = 0.001). In contrast, VA NHB median OS was 65 months (95% CI 62-69) versus NHW 69 months (95% CI 97-71) (HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.98-1.07, p = 0.375). There was significant interaction in the SEER registry between race and Medicare age eligibility (p < 0.001); NHB race had more effect in patients <65 years old (HR 1.44, 95% CI 1.39-1.49, p < 0.001) than in those ≥65 (HR 1.13, 95% CI 1.11-1.15, p < 0.001). In the VA, age stratification was not significant (p = 0.21). Racial disparities in CRC survival in the general US population are significantly attenuated in Medicare-aged patients. This pattern is not present in the VA, suggesting that access to care may be an important component of racial disparities in this disease.

Geographic and racial variability in kidney, cardiovascular and safety outcomes with canagliflozin: A secondary analysis of the CREDENCE randomized trial.

To explore the effect of canagliflozin on kidney and cardiovascular events and safety outcomes in individuals with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease across geographic regions and racial groups. A stratified Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess efficacy and safety outcomes by geographic region and racial group. The primary composite outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), doubling of the serum creatinine (SCr) level, or death from kidney or cardiovascular causes. Secondary outcomes included: (i) cardiovascular death or heart failure (HF) hospitalization; (ii) cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke; (iii) HF hospitalization; (iv) doubling of the SCr level, ESKD or kidney death; (v) cardiovascular death; (vi) all-cause death; and (vii) cardiovascular death, MI, stroke, or hospitalization for HF or for unstable angina. The 4401 patients were divided into six geographic region subgroups: North America (n = 1182, 27%), Central and South America (n = 941, 21%), Eastern Europe (n = 947, 21%), Western Europe (n = 421, 10%), Asia (n = 749, 17%) and Other (n = 161, 4%). The analyses included four racial groups: White (n = 2931, 67%), Black or African American (n = 224, 5%), Asian (n = 877, 20%) and Other (n = 369, 8%). Canagliflozin reduced the relative risk of the primary composite outcome in the overall trial by 30% (hazard ratio 0.70, 95% confidence interval 0.59-0.82; P = 0.00001). Across geographic regions and racial groups, canagliflozin consistently reduced the primary composite endpoint without evidence of heterogeneity (interaction P values of 0.39 and 0.91, respectively) or significant safety outcome differences. Canagliflozin reduces the risk of kidney and cardiovascular events similarly across geographic regions and racial groups.

Involvement of Reactive Oxygen Species in Prostate Cancer and Its Disparity in African Descendants.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) participate in almost all disorders, including cancer. Many factors, including aging, a high-fat diet, a stressful lifestyle, smoking, infection, genetic mutations, etc., lead to elevated levels of ROS. Prostate cancer, the most prevalent type of cancer in senior American men and the second leading cause of cancer mortality in American men, results from chronic oxidative stress. The doubled incident rate as well as the doubled mortality numbers of prostate cancer have persisted in African Americans in comparison with Caucasian Americans and other racial groups, indicating a prostate cancer disparity in African American men. In this review, we mainly focus on the latest findings on ROS in prostate cancer development and progression within the last five years to update our understanding in this area, as several comprehensive literature reviews addressing oxidative stress and/or inflammation in prostate cancer before 2020 are available. In addition to other known factors such as socioeconomic disadvantage, cultural mistrust of the health care system, etc. that are long-existing in the African American group, we also summarize the latest evidence that demonstrated high systemic oxidative stress and inflammation in African Americans for their potential contribution to the racial prostate cancer disparity in this population.

Impact of opioid overdoses on US life expectancy and years of life lost, by demographic group and stimulant co-involvement: a mortality data analysis from 2019 to 2022

The United States' opioid crisis is worsening, with the number of deaths reaching 81,806 in 2022 after more than tripling over the past decade. This study aimed to comprehensively characterize changes in burden of opioid overdose mortality in terms of life expectancy reduction and years of life lost between 2019 and 2022, including differential burden across demographic groups and the contribution of polysubstance use. Using life tables and counts for all-cause and opioid overdose deaths from the National Center for Health Statistics, we constructed cause-eliminated life tables to estimate mortality by age in the absence of opioid-related deaths. We calculated the loss in life expectancy at birth (LLE) and total years of life lost (YLL) due to opioid overdose deaths by state of residency, sex, racial/ethnic group, and co-involvement of cocaine and psychostimulants. Opioid-related deaths in the US led to an estimated 3.1 million years of life lost in 2022 (38 years per death), compared to 2.0 million years lost in 2019. Relative to a scenario with no opioid mortality, we estimate that opioid-related deaths reduced life expectancy nationally by 0.67 years in 2022 vs 0.52 years in 2019. This LLE worsened in all racial/ethnic groups during the study period: 0.76y-0.96y for white men, 0.36y-0.55y for white women, 0.59y-1.1y for Black men, 0.27y-0.53y for Black women, 0.31y-0.82y for Hispanic men, 0.19y-0.31y for Hispanic women, 0.62y-1.5y for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) men, 0.43y-1y for AI/AN women, 0.09y-0.2y for Asian men, and 0.08y-0.13y for Asian women. Nearly all states experienced an increase in years of life lost (YLL) per capita from 2019 to 2022, with YLL more than doubling in 16 states. Cocaine or psychostimulants with abuse potential (incl. methamphetamines) were involved in half of all deaths and years of life lost in 2022, with substantial variation in the predominant drug class by state and racial/ethnic group. The burden of opioid-related mortality increased dramatically in the US between 2019 and 2022, coinciding with the period of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated disruptions to social, economic, and health systems. Opioid overdose deaths are an important contributor to decreasing US life expectancy, and Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans now experience mortality burdens approaching or exceeding white Americans. None.

Multi-ancestry polygenic risk scores for venous thromboembolism.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality, with large disparities in incidence rates between Black and White Americans. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) limited to variants discovered in genome-wide association studies in European-ancestry samples can identify European-ancestry individuals at high risk of VTE. However, there is limited evidence on whether high-dimensional PRS constructed using more sophisticated methods and more diverse training data can enhance the predictive ability and their utility across diverse populations. We developed PRSs for VTE using summary statistics from the International Network against Venous Thrombosis (INVENT) consortium genome-wide association studies meta-analyses of European- (71 771 cases and 1 059 740 controls) and African-ancestry samples (7482 cases and 129 975 controls). We used LDpred2 and PRS-CSx to construct ancestry-specific and multi-ancestry PRSs and evaluated their performance in an independent European- (6781 cases and 103 016 controls) and African-ancestry sample (1385 cases and 12 569 controls). Multi-ancestry PRSs with weights tuned in European-ancestry samples slightly outperformed ancestry-specific PRSs in European-ancestry test samples (e.g. the area under the receiver operating curve [AUC] was 0.609 for PRS-CSx_combinedEUR and 0.608 for PRS-CSxEUR [P = 0.00029]). Multi-ancestry PRSs with weights tuned in African-ancestry samples also outperformed ancestry-specific PRSs in African-ancestry test samples (PRS-CSxAFR: AUC = 0.58, PRS-CSx_combined AFR: AUC = 0.59), although this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.34). The highest fifth percentile of the best-performing PRS was associated with 1.9-fold and 1.68-fold increased risk for VTE among European- and African-ancestry subjects, respectively, relative to those in the middle stratum. These findings suggest that the multi-ancestry PRS might be used to improve performance across diverse populations to identify individuals at highest risk for VTE.

Structurally unjust: how lay beliefs about racism relate to responses to racial inequality in the criminal legal system

Racial inequality has been a persistent component of American society since its inception. The present research investigates how lay beliefs about the nature of racism—as primarily caused by prejudiced individuals or, rather, to structural factors (i.e., policies, institutional practices) that disadvantage members of marginalized racial groups—predict reactions to evidence of racial inequality in the criminal legal system (Studies 1–3). Specifically, the current research suggests that holding a more structural (vs. interpersonal) view of racism predicts a greater tendency to perceive racial inequality in criminal legal outcomes. Moreover, White Americans' lay beliefs regarding racism, coupled with their general degree of preference for societal hierarchy, predict support for policies that would impact disparities in the U.S. prison population. Together, this work suggests that an appreciation of structural racism plays an important role in how people perceive and respond to racial inequality.

Cities on a Hill: American Religious Exceptionalism and White Christian Nationalism

Abstract Scholarly attention has shifted from a focus on white evangelicals and the Christian Right to the more pressing threat of white Christian nationalism. In The Everyday Crusade: Christian Nationalism in American Politics, Eric L. McDaniel, Irfan Nooruddin, and Allyson F. Shortle explore the antecedent ideology of American religious exceptionalism. They report that many elements of this ideology are present across the political spectrum, but the strongest believers are distinctive in many ways. American religious exceptionalism can be a basis for a variety of political mobilizations, but it has most recently been used primarily in an effort to deliver Christian nationalist votes to Republican candidates, including Donald Trump.

This proposal is racist: the (muted) consequences of invoking racism in policy arguments

ABSTRACT Using an original vignette survey experiment, we explore how white Americans’ evaluations of policy arguments in the local context change depending on the rhetoric used to criticize the policy. We compare the effects of three rhetorical frames used by critics of a policy: inefficiency, unfairness, and racism. We find that respondents use political rhetoric as a strong ideological cue: criticisms that invoke both unfairness and racism make respondents perceive policy critics as more liberal and policy supporters as more conservative. The effects of rhetoric on criticism evaluations are moderated by partisanship: Democrats find criticism about unfairness and racism more persuasive, while for Republicans the effect is opposite. We are unable to establish reliable effects of rhetorical framing on the respondents’ support for the policy itself or their readiness to engage in local political action.

Compensatory strategy use in diverse older adults with subjective cognitive complaints

Objectives The current study aimed to evaluate the relationship between subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) and compensatory strategy (CS) use in a diverse sample of non-Latinx White (NLW), Black, and Latinx American older adults. Method 807 older adults (M age = 65.38, 62.7% female) were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and Qualtrics Panel to complete questionnaires on SCC and CS use. Kruskall-Wallis tests were used to evaluate differences in SCC across groups given non-normal distributions. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate group differences in CS use. The PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to examine whether demographic factors moderated the relationship between SCC and CS use. Results NLWs reported higher levels of SCC and greater overall use of CS in comparison to Latinx and Black individuals. Several demographic and psychosocial factors including age, ethno-racial group, education, and anxiety level were found to be associated with CS use. Education was found to moderate the association between SCC and CS use. Conclusion Inconsistent with prior studies, our study found that NLWs reported the highest levels of SCC. CS were used across all racial/ethnic groups, but the frequency of CS use may be impacted by education level. While all education groups increased their CS in response to higher levels of SCC, this increase was more substantial for those with lower levels of education. Future work should consider individuals’ cultural and educational background when examining SCC and/or developing CS-based intervention for the aging population.