J Natl Med Assoc
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Exposure to racism has been linked to poor health outcomes. Little is known about the impact of racism on diabetes outcomes. This study explored African American women's beliefs about how racism interacts with their diabetes self-management and control. ⋯ Many women described anger in such situations and the tendency to internalize anger and other negative emotions, only to find that the negative emotions would be reactivated repeatedly with exposure to novel racial stressors, even long after the original racist event remitted. African American women in this study believed that racism affects their diabetes self-management and control. Health beliefs can exert powerful effects on health behaviors and may provide an opportunity for health promotion interventions in diabetes.