Structural Racism and Black American Mental Health: Neurophysiological Mechanisms and Sociocultural Processes Promoting Resilience During the Transition to Adulthood

尽管有明确的证据表明，个人的种族主义经历会对心理健康产生负面影响 在健康方面，很少有研究将结构性种族主义和歧视(SRD)作为精神决定因素 此外，也没有研究探讨结构性种族主义损害精神健康的机制。 本项目将阐明：(I)SRD影响心理健康的神经生理应激机制； 和(2)社会文化因素，这些因素影响了在向 成人期。中心假设是SRD会通过影响神经生理学来预测心理健康状况不佳 压力系统，而个人、家庭和社会文化因素将缓和结构性种族主义的影响 神经生理学和心理健康。这一假设将在三个具体目标上进行检验：1)确定 组织/机构、邻里/社区和社会指标之间的关系 可持续发展战略(例如，居住隔离、歧视性贷款做法、学校纪律和刑事司法 做法，接近种族主义雕像)和精神健康，通过在国家一级衡量SRD的各个方面， 社区和人口普查；2)阐明将SRD和精神疾病联系起来的神经生理应激机制 三个级别的健康：皮质边缘、自主神经和免疫；以及3)识别个人的脆弱性(即， 长期遭受贫穷和暴力)和家庭、文化和社区复原力因素(例如，种族 身份认同、种族社会化、宗教参与)，缓和了SRD与心理健康之间的联系。我们将测试 来自脆弱家庭和儿童福祉研究的850名年轻人样本中的这些联系。这 正在进行的对主要来自低收入家庭的孩子的研究具有多重科学意义 优点：1)儿童在出生时、1岁、3岁、5岁、9岁、15岁、21岁和22岁时进行评估；2)样本具有代表性 出生在大城市的儿童在种族隔离和刑事司法方面存在很大差异 政策和执行；3)参与者正在进入成年期早期，这是 心理健康状况不佳的风险增加。通过使用多个-确定这些SRD-心理健康途径 一级(即个人、机构和文化种族主义)和多领域(即组织/机构、 社区/社区、社会)不同地理单元的种族主义指标，有多个 22年纵向研究中的神经生理学测量和社会文化弹性因素测量 出生队列样本，这项研究将提供强有力的证据基础，以告知新的结构性机会 和治疗干预措施，以减少结构性种族主义，消除种族健康差距，促进 健康公平。

Although there is clear evidence that individual racism experiences can have negative effects on mental health, few studies have examined structural racism and discrimination (SRD) as a determinant of mental health, nor have studies examined the mechanisms by which structural racism undermines mental health. This project will elucidate: (i) neurophysiological stress mechanisms by which SRD impacts mental health; and (ii) sociocultural factors that influence the impact of SRD on mental health during the transition to adulthood. The central hypothesis is that SRD will predict poor mental health by impacting neurophysiological stress systems, while individual, family, and sociocultural factors will moderate the impact of structural racism on neurophysiology and mental health. This hypothesis will be tested across three specific aims: 1) Determine the associations between organizational/institutional, neighborhood/community, and societal indicators of SRD (e.g., residential segregation, discriminatory lending practices, school disciplinary and criminal justice practices, proximity to racist statues) and mental health by measuring aspects of SRD at the level of state, neighborhood, and census tract; 2) Elucidate neurophysiological stress mechanisms linking SRD and mental health at three levels: corticolimbic, autonomic, and immune; and 3) Identify individual vulnerability (i.e., chronic exposure to poverty and violence) and family, cultural, and community resilience factors (e.g., racial identity, racial socialization, religious involvement) that moderate the SRD-mental health link. We will test these associations in a sample of 850 young adults from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. This ongoing study of children born to families from predominantly low-income backgrounds has multiple scientific strengths: 1) Children were assessed at birth, 1, 3, 5, 9, 15, 21, and 22 years; 2) The sample is representative of children born in large cities with considerable variation across cities in segregation and criminal justice policy and implementation; and 3) Participants are entering early adulthood, a critical developmental period of increased risk for poor mental health outcomes. By identifying these SRD-mental health pathways using multi- level (i.e., individual, institutional, and cultural racism) and multi-domain (i.e., organization/institutional, neighborhood/community, societal) indicators of racism across diverse geographic units, with multiple measures of neurophysiology, and measurement of sociocultural resilience factors in a 22-year longitudinal birth cohort sample, the study will provide a strong evidence-base to inform new opportunities for structural and therapeutic interventions to decrease structural racism, eliminate racial health disparities, and promote health equity.