When anger expression might be beneficial for African Americans: The moderating role of chronic discrimination

Lifespan psychosocial stressors, optimism, and hemodynamic acute stress response in a national sample

OBJECTIVE

To understand the association between psychosocial stressors and cardiovascular health by evaluating: (a) lifespan patterns of childhood and adulthood stressors in relation to hemodynamic acute stress reactivity and recovery and (b) the role of optimism in these associations.

METHOD

Participants (n = 1,092, 56% women, 21% racial/ethnic minority, Mage = 56.2) were from the Midlife in the United States Study II Biomarker Project. Lifespan profiles of psychosocial stressor exposure (low lifespan exposure, high childhood only, high adulthood only, persistent exposure) were constructed from responses to the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and a life events inventory. Optimism was measured with the Life Orientation Test-Revised. Hemodynamic acute stress reactivity to and recovery from cognitive stressors were assessed using a standardized laboratory protocol involving continuous measurements of systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS).

RESULTS

Compared with the low lifespan exposure group, the high childhood- and persistent-exposure groups showed lower BP reactivity, and to a lesser extent, slower BP recovery. Persistent exposure was also associated with slower BRS recovery. Optimism did not modify the association between stressor exposure and any hemodynamic acute stress responses. However, in exploratory analyses, greater stressor exposure across all developmental periods was indirectly associated with reduced BP acute stress reactivity and slower recovery via lower optimism levels.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings support childhood as a unique developmental period wherein high adversity exposure may exert an enduring influence on adulthood cardiovascular health by limiting individuals' capacity to cultivate psychosocial resources and altering hemodynamic responses to acute stressors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A daily diary study on stressors, hurt feelings, aggression, and somatic symptoms: The role of rejection sensitivity and negative emotion differentiation

The current study adopted a daily diary design to examine associations of daily stressors and hurt feelings to three unfavorable daily outcomes, including verbal aggression, physical aggression, and somatic symptoms and the moderation of rejection sensitivity and negative emotion regulation on the relations between these daily variables. A total of 248 college students participated in the daily diary study in which they responded to the assessment on a daily basis for 7 consecutive days. The results indicated that daily stressors predicted daily verbal aggression; daily stressors, daily hurt feelings, and rejection sensitivity predicted somatic symptoms. Negative emotion regulation moderated the association between stressors and verbal aggression such that more stressors and high negative emotion regulation predicted more frequent daily verbal aggression. Rejection sensitivity moderated the association of hurt feelings to verbal and physical aggression. Perception of hurt feelings and high rejection sensitivity predicted more verbal aggression but less physical aggression. Rejection sensitivity also moderated the association of stressors to somatic symptoms such that more stressors and high rejection sensitivity predicted more somatic symptoms. The findings collectively highlight the importance of supporting individuals with high rejection sensitivity to encode social cues in a healthy way. It is imperative to provide emotion regulation skills to cope with negative emotions derived from social interactions.

Perceived discrimination, health, and well-being among adults with and without pain: a prospective study

ABSTRACT

Discrimination negatively influences health and well-being in the general population, but its impact on people with pain is unclear. This study assessed discrimination, health, and well-being in people with and without pain. Data were from 5871 participants from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Experiences of discrimination were reported in 2010 to 2011. Pain, self-rated health, depressive symptoms, quality of life, life satisfaction, and loneliness were assessed in 2010 to 2011 and 2016 to 2017. A quarter (26%, n = 1524) of the sample reported pain at baseline. Participants with pain were more likely to report discrimination than those without pain (odds ratio [OR] = 1.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.13-1.46). Cross-sectionally, those with pain who perceived discrimination had poorer self-rated health (OR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.02-1.61), greater depressive symptoms (OR = 1.90, 95% CI 1.48-2.45), were more likely to be lonely (β = 0.21, 95% CI 0.15-0.26), and had lower quality of life (β = -4.01, 95% CI -4.88 to -3.14), and life satisfaction (β = -1.75, 95% CI -2.45 to -1.06) than those with pain who did not perceive discrimination. Prospectively, discrimination in those with pain was associated with greater depression (OR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.19-2.34) and loneliness (β = 0.11, 95% CI 0.05-0.17), adjusting for baseline values. In those without pain in 2010 to 2011, discrimination predicted pain in 2016 to 2017, controlling for covariates (OR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.06-1.56). People with pain are more likely to report discrimination than those without pain, and this experience is associated with increased depression and loneliness. Discrimination was predictive of incident pain in pain-free adults. These findings highlight the need to tackle discrimination to improve well-being in those with pain and to potentially reduce the risk of pain onset.

When Anger Remains Unspoken: Anger and Accelerated Epigenetic Aging Among Stress-Exposed Black Americans

OBJECTIVE

Race-related lifetime stress exposure (LSE) including racial discrimination, trauma, and stressful life events have been shown to contribute to racial health disparities. However, little is known about associations between race-related stressors and premature biological aging that confer the risk of adverse health outcomes. Even less is known about the mechanisms through which race-related stressors may be associated with accelerated aging. Early evidence suggests psychological processes such as anger, and particularly the internalization of anger, may play a role.

METHODS

In a community sample of predominantly low-income Black adults (n = 219; age = 45.91 [12.33] years; 64% female), the present study examined the association of race-related LSE (as defined by exposure to racial discrimination, trauma, and stressful life events) and epigenetic age acceleration through anger expression.

RESULTS

Internalized and externalized anger expression were each significantly associated with LSE and age acceleration. Although LSE was not directly associated with age acceleration (ΔR2 = 0.001, p = .64), we found that greater LSE was indirectly associated with age acceleration through increases in internalized, but not externalized, anger (indirect effect: β = 0.03, standard error = 0.02, 95% confidence interval = 0.003 to 0.08; total effect: β = 0.02, 95% confidence interval = -0.25 to 0.31).

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest race-related LSE may elicit the internalization of anger, which, along with the externalization of anger, may initiate detrimental epigenetic alterations that confer the risk of adverse health outcomes. These findings lay the groundwork for longitudinal studies of the association between race-related stress and racial health disparities.

Racial exclusion causes acute cortisol release among emerging-adult African Americans: The role of reduced perceived control

Racial discrimination contributes to stress-related health disparities among African Americans, but less is known about the acute effects of racial exclusion on the hypo-pituitary-adrenocortical response and psychological mediators. Participants were 276 Black/African American emerging-adults (54% female; M _age = 21.74, SD = 2.21) who were randomly assigned to be excluded or included by White peers via the game Cyberball. Racial exclusion (vs. inclusion) predicted: greater negative affect (F(1, 276) = 104.885, p < .0001), lower perceived control (F(1, 276) = 205.523, p < .0001), and greater cortisol release (F(1, 274) = 4.575, p = .033). Racial exclusion's impact on cortisol release was mediated by lower perceived control (95% CI: .027, .112), but not negative affect (-.041, .013). These findings suggest that racial exclusion contributes to acute cortisol release, and that reduced perceived control is a consequence of racial discrimination that has important implications for the health of those who experience discrimination.

Emotion, Social Relationships, and Physical Health: Concepts, Methods, and Evidence for an Integrative Perspective

Emotional characteristics and processes are robust predictors of the development and course of major medical illnesses and premature mortality, as are a variety of indicators of the presence and quality of personal relationships. Despite clear evidence of close interconnection between these two domains of risk and protection, affective characteristics and relationships have largely been studied separately as influences on health. After a recent conference on integrative perspectives on emotions, relationships and health co-sponsored by the American Psychosomatic Society and the Society for Affective Science, the present review builds on prior calls for integration, related theory, and current research to outline what is known about the interconnection of these domains as it specifically relates to their overlapping influences on health. Areas of interest include the following: their interconnected roles over the course of development, which may inform current efforts to understand the influence of early life events on adult health; the parallel positive and negative factors in both domains that could have distinct influences on health; the role of emotion regulation in relationship contexts; and measurement, design, and analysis approaches to capture the dyadic and dynamic aspects of these interconnected influences on health. We conclude with a discussion of an emerging research agenda that includes the following: common biological foundations of affective and relationship processes, the cultural embeddedness of affective and relationship processes, the potential contribution of affective-relational processes to health disparities, and implications for intervention research.