Ethnic-Racial Stigma and Physical Health Disparities in the United States of America

Ethnic-racial diversity in the United States is a source of national pride, but it is overshadowed by the reality that stigmatized groups are disproportionately burdened by negative physical health. The social contexts and their activated psychological processes that contribute to ethnic-racial health disparities are not well understood. Moreover, scientists should delineate the implications of their research for public policies that address health disparities. This Journal of Social Issues volume brings together social, developmental, cognitive, and clinical psychological research on health disparities. Furthermore, it discusses how the present research informs public health policy.

SECTION I: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

Ethnic-Racial Stigma and Health Disparities: From Psychological Theory and Evidence to Public Policy Solutions
Luis M. Rivera 197


SECTION II: INTRAPERSONAL FACTORS AS A SOURCE OF PHYSICAL HEALTH DISPARITIES

Identity-Based Motivation: Implications for Health and Health Disparities
Daphna Oyserman, George C. Smith, and Kristen Elmore 205

Stereotypes Can “Get Under the Skin”: Testing a Self-Stereotyping and Psychological Resource Model of Overweight and Obesity
Luis M. Rivera and Stefanie M. Paredez 225

The Relationships among Vigilant Coping Style, Race, and Depression
Thomas A. LaVeist, Roland J. Thorpe Jr., Geraldine Pierre, GiShawn A. Mance, and David R. Williams 240

SECTION III: INTERPERSONAL AND INTERGROUP FACTORS AS A SOURCE OF PHYSICAL HEALTH DISPARITIES

Stress and Coping in Interracial Contexts: The Influence of Race-Based Rejection Sensitivity and Cross-Group Friendship in Daily Experiences of Health
Elizabeth Page-Gould, Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, and Wendy Berry Mendes 255

Perceived Racial Discrimination, Drug Use, and Psychological Distress in African American Youth: A Pathway to Child Health Disparities
Kathy Sanders-Phillips, Wendy Kliewer, Taqi Tirmazi, Von Nebbitt, Takisha Carter, and Heather Key 278

Everyday Discrimination Prospectively Predicts Inflammation across 7-Years in Racially Diverse Midlife Women: Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation
Danielle L. Beatty, Charlotte Brown, Karen A. Matthews and Joyce T. Bromberger 297

SECTION IV: STRUCTURAL FACTORS AS A SOURCE OF PHYSICALHEALTH DISPARITIES

Stress-Related Externalizing Behavior among African American Youth: How Could Policy and Practice Transform Risk into Resilience?
Sonya S. Brady, Willie Winton III, and Sonia E. Gockley 315

An Empirical Test of Racial/Ethnic Differences in Perceived Racism and Affiliation with the Gay Community: Implications for HIV Risk
Rahwa Haile, Tawandra L. Rowell-Cunsolo, Edith A. Parker, Mark B. Padilla, and Nathan B. Hansen 342

Examining Neighborhood Environment and Central Obesity in the YES Health Study
Ronica N. Rooks, Yanmei Xu, and David Williams 359

SECTION V: CONCLUSION

Conceptual and Methodological Challenges for Health Disparities Research and Their Policy Implications
Brian D. Smedley and Hector F. Meyers 381

Luis M. Rivera is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and the Principal Investigator of the Rutgers Implicit Social Cognition (RISC) lab at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark.?He earned his Ph.D. (2006) in experimental social psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His research focuses on the implicit social cognitive processes that underlie the expression of stereotyped attitudes and how these processes and attitudes affect stigmatized individuals' self-concept, identity, and health.?He has (co)authored articles in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, and Social Cognition.?His health disparities research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Danielle L. Beatty Moody is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Principal Investigator of the Social Determinants of Health Inequities (SoDHI) lab at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland. She earned her PhD in Social and Personality Psychology at the City University of New York, Graduate Center, in 2007. Her research focuses on individual level social and psychological factors, which contribute to racial/ethnic disparities in cardiovascular disease risks. She has (co)authored articles in the APA journal Health Psychology, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, and Psychosomatic Medicine.