Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association
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Research suggests that exposure to racism partially explains why African American women are 2 to 3 times more likely to deliver low birth weight and preterm infants. However, the physiological pathways by which racism exerts these effects are unclear. This study examined how lifetime exposure to racism, in combination with maternal blood pressure changes during pregnancy, was associated with fetal growth. ⋯ Increases in diastolic blood pressure between the second and third trimesters predicted lower birth weight, but only when racism exposure in childhood (direct or indirect) was relatively high. Understanding pregnant African American women's lifetime direct and indirect experiences with racism in combination with prenatal blood pressure may improve identification of highest risk subgroups within this population.
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The purpose of the current study was to examine perceived exposure to systemic racism as a moderator of the effects of perceived exposure to provider racial biases on treatment adherence and mistrust of health care for a sample of African American hypertensive patients. We hypothesized that patients who endorsed high levels of systemic racism would exhibit poor adherence to hypertension treatment and increased mistrust in health care in relation to perceptions of exposure to provider racial biases. ⋯ The overall findings suggest that patients who perceive themselves as infrequently exposed to systemic racism possess the greatest risk for nonadherence to hypertension treatment in relation to increased perceptions of provider racial biases. Implications of the findings are discussed.