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， 在精神健康方面，很少有研究将结构性种族主义和歧视作为精神健康的决定因素， 此外，也没有研究探讨结构性种族主义损害心理健康的机制。 本项目将阐明：（i）SRD影响心理健康的神经生理应激机制; 和（ii）社会文化因素，影响的影响，SRD对心理健康的过渡期间， 成年核心假设是，SRD将通过影响神经生理学来预测不良的心理健康状况。 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联 SRD（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）和心理健康，方法是在州一级衡量性关系与发展的各个方面， 2）阐明SRD与心理应激的神经生理学机制 三个层次的健康：皮质边缘、自主神经和免疫;以及3）识别个体脆弱性（即， 长期遭受贫困和暴力）以及家庭、文化和社区复原力因素（例如，种族 身份，种族社会化，宗教参与），调节SRD-心理健康联系。我们将测试 这些协会的样本来自脆弱家庭和儿童福利研究的850名年轻人。这 正在进行的对主要来自低收入背景家庭的儿童的研究有多种科学依据。 优势：1）儿童在出生、1、3、5、9、15、21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， 政策和实施; 3）参与者正在进入成年早期，这是一个关键的发展时期， 心理健康状况不佳的风险增加。通过使用多种方法识别这些SRD-心理健康途径， 水平（即，个人、机构和文化种族主义）和多领域（即，组织/机构， 种族主义的指标，在不同的地理单位，有多个 神经生理学指标和社会文化弹性因素的测量， 出生队列样本，该研究将提供一个强有力的证据基础，为结构性 和治疗干预，以减少结构性种族主义，消除种族健康差距， 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.