Laurel M. Peterson

The effects of racial discrimination on the HIV-risk cognitions and behaviors of Black adolescents and young adults.

OBJECTIVE Two studies examined the impact of racial discrimination on HIV-risk (substance use and risky sex) behaviors (Study 1) and cognitions (Study 2) among African Americans. METHODS Study 1 examined longer-term effects of cumulative discrimination on HIV-risk behaviors among 833 adolescents. In Study 2, Black young adults were excluded or included in an online game (Cyberball) by White peers. RESULTS Study 1 revealed that discrimination was associated with greater HIV-risk behaviors contemporaneously, and with an increase in these behaviors over a 3-year period. In Study 2, excluded participants tended to attribute their exclusion to racial discrimination and reported greater risky sex and substance use willingness. In Study 1, the relation between discrimination and risky sex was mediated by substance use behavior. In Study 2, substance use willingness mediated the relation between perceived discrimination and risky sex willingness. CONCLUSIONS Findings highlight the importance of examining the effects of discrimination on HIV risk among Black youth. The studies also demonstrate the utility of assessing social-psychological processes when examining the effects of discrimination on HIV-risk cognitions and behavior.

Influence of Oral Sex and Oral Cancer Information on Young Adults' Oral Sexual-Risk Cognitions and Likelihood of HPV Vaccination

Public health information and educational interventions regarding human papillomavirus (HPV) have focused on the link between vaginal sex and cervical cancer among women. Many people are unaware that HPV can be transmitted through oral sex or that HPV causes oral cancers. Given that HPV infections and unprotected oral sex are increasing, research on oral sex-related HPV risk is important. This study examined the effect of a brief informational intervention regarding HPV and oral sex on the sexual risk cognitions of young adults. College students (N = 238) read information on HPV, oral sex, and oral cancer or no information. Participants then completed measures of oral sex and HPV knowledge, oral sex willingness, HPV vaccination likelihood, and risk perceptions. Participants who read the information on HPV and oral sex and cancer (compared to those who did not) reported greater knowledge, perceived risk and concern, and lower willingness to engage in oral sex. These effects were only significant among women. However, men reported a higher likelihood of future HPV vaccination compared to women who had not yet received the vaccine. Focusing on oral sex and cancer, this study adds to research investigating ways to reduce HPV infections.

The Relationship Between Cumulative Unfair Treatment and Intima Media Thickness and Adventitial Diameter: The Moderating Role of Race in The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation

OBJECTIVE Unfair treatment may have a detrimental effect on cardiovascular health. However, little research on chronic health outcomes uses cumulative measures of unfair treatment. We tested whether cumulative unfair treatment was associated with greater subclinical cardiovascular disease in a diverse sample of African-American, Caucasian, Chinese, and Hispanic women. We also examined whether this relationship varied by race. METHOD The Study of Womens Health Across the Nation is a longitudinal study of midlife women. Cumulative unfair treatment was calculated as the average of unfair treatment assessed over 10 years at 6 time points. Subclinical cardiovascular disease, specifically carotid intima media thickness and adventitial diameter, was assessed via carotid ultrasound conducted at study year 12 in 1,056 women. We tested whether cumulative unfair treatment was related to subclinical cardiovascular disease via linear regression, controlling for demographic factors including socioeconomic status and cardiovascular risk factors. RESULTS The relation between unfair treatment and subclinical cardiovascular disease significantly varied by race (ps < .05), with unfair treatment related to higher intima media thickness (B = .03, SE = .01, p = .009) and adventitial diameter (B = .02, SE = .009, p = .013) only among Caucasian women. No significant relations between unfair treatment and subclinical cardiovascular disease outcomes were observed for African-American, Hispanic, and Chinese women. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that cumulative unfair treatment is related to worse subclinical cardiovascular disease among Caucasian women. These findings add to the growing literature showing that Caucasian womens experience of unfair treatment may have detrimental health implications. (PsycINFO Database Record

Heart attack risk perception biases among hypertension patients: The role of educational level and worry

Risk biases such as comparative optimism (thinking one is better off than similar others) and risk inaccuracy (misestimating ones risk compared to ones calculated risk) for health outcomes are common. Little research has investigated racial or socioeconomic differences in these risk biases. Results from a survey of individuals with poorly controlled hypertension (N = 813) indicated that participants showed (1) comparative optimism for heart attack risk by underestimating their heart attack risk compared to similar others, and (2) risk inaccuracy by overestimating their heart attack risk compared to their calculated heart attack risk. More highly educated participants were more comparatively optimistic because they rated their personal risk as lower; education was not related to risk inaccuracy. Neither race nor the federal poverty level was related to risk biases. Worry partially mediated the relationship between education and personal risk. Results are discussed as they relate to the existing literature on risk perception.

Trait positive and negative emotionality differentially associate with diurnal cortisol activity

Inter-individual variability in metrics of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) activity, such as the slope of the diurnal decline in cortisol, cortisol awakening response (CAR), and total cortisol output, have been found to associate inversely with trait ratings of extraversion and positive affect (E/PA) and positively with neuroticism and negative affect (N/NA) in some, but not all, investigations. These inconsistencies may partly reflect varied intensity of cortisol sampling among studies and reliance on self-rated traits, which are subject to reporting biases and limitations of introspection. Here, we further examined dispositional correlates of HPA activity in 490 healthy, employed midlife volunteers (M age=43 years; 54% Female; 86% white). Trait ratings were requested from participants and 2 participant-elected informants using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Extraversion and Neuroticism dimensions of NEO personality inventories. CAR was assessed as percent increase in cortisol levels from awakening to 30min after awakening; and the diurnal slope and total output of cortisol [Area Under the Curve (AUC)] were determined from cortisol measurements taken at awakening, +4 and +9h later, and bedtime, across 3 workdays. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate multi-informant E/PA and N/NA factors. We used 3days of measurement as indicators to model each of the three latent cortisol factors (slope, CAR, and AUC). With the two latent emotionality and three latent cortisol indices included there was good fit to the data (χ(2)(200)=278.38, p=0.0002; RMSEA=0.028, 90% CI=0.02-0.04; CFI/TLI=0.97/0.96; SRMR=0.04). After controlling for covariates (age, sex, race), results showed higher latent E/PA associated with a steeper diurnal slope (Standardized β=-0.19, p=0.02) and smaller CAR (Standardized β=-0.26, p=0.004), whereas N/NA did not associate with any cortisol metric (Standardized βs=-0.12 to 0.13, ps=0.10 to 0.53). These findings suggest that positive emotionality may be more closely associated with indices of diurnal cortisol release than negative emotionality.

The Relationship Between Young Adult Smokers’ Beliefs About Nicotine Addiction and Smoking-Related Affect and Cognitions

Risk beliefs and self-efficacy play important roles in explaining smoking-related outcomes and are important to target in tobacco control interventions. However, information is lacking about the underlying beliefs that drive these constructs. The present study investigated the interrelationships among young adult smokers’ beliefs about the nature of nicotine addiction and smoking-related affect and cognitions (i.e., feelings of risk, worry about experiencing the harms of smoking, self-efficacy of quitting, and intentions to quit). Smokers (n = 333) were recruited from two large universities. Results showed that quit intentions were associated with feelings of risk, but not with worry or self-efficacy. Furthermore, higher feelings of risk were associated with lower beliefs that addiction is an inevitable consequence of smoking and with lower beliefs that the harms of smoking are delayed. This suggests that it is important for health messages to counter the possible negative effects of messages that strongly emphasize the addictiveness of nicotine, possibly by emphasizing the importance of quitting earlier rather than later. The findings also add to the evidence base that feelings of risk are powerful predictors of behavioral intentions. Furthermore, our results suggest that in some circumstances, feelings of risk predict quit intentions beyond that predicted by worry and self-efficacy. Gaining additional understanding of the tobacco-related beliefs that can increase feelings of risk and incorporating those beliefs into educational campaigns may improve the quality of such campaigns and reduce tobacco use.

Sleep duration partially accounts for race differences in diurnal cortisol dynamics

Objective: Emerging research demonstrates race differences in diurnal cortisol slope, an indicator of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA)-axis functioning associated with morbidity and mortality, with African Americans showing flatter diurnal slopes than their White counterparts. Sleep characteristics are associated with both race and with HPA-axis functioning. The present report examines whether sleep duration may account for race differences in cortisol dynamics. Method: Participants were 424 employed African American and White adults (mean age = 42.8 years, 84.2% White, 53.6% female) with no cardiovascular disease (Adult Health and Behavior Project—Phase 2 [AHAB-II] cohort, University of Pittsburgh). Cortisol slope was calculated using 4 salivary cortisol readings, averaged over each of 4 days. Demographic (age, sex), psychosocial (socioeconomic status [SES], affect, discrimination), and health behaviors (smoking, alcohol use, physical activity) variables were used as covariates, and sleep (self-report and accelerometry) was also assessed. Results: African Americans had flatter slopes than Whites (F(1, 411) = 10.45, B = .02, p = .001) in models adjusting for demographic, psychosocial, and health behavior covariates. Shorter actigraphy-assessed total sleep time was a second significant predictor of flatter cortisol slopes (F(1, 411) = 25.27, B = −.0002, p < .0001). Total sleep time partially accounted for the relationship between race and diurnal slope [confidence interval = .05 (lower = .014, upper .04)]. Conclusions: African Americans have flatter diurnal cortisol slopes than their White counterparts, an effect that may be partially attributable to race differences in nightly sleep duration. Sleep parameters should be considered in further research on race and cortisol.

Past racial discrimination exacerbates the effects of racial exclusion on negative affect, perceived control, and alcohol-risk cognitions among Black young adults

Racial discrimination is associated with alcohol use and risky sex cognitions and behaviors, which are risk factors for negative health outcomes, including human immunodeficiency virus infection. The current study investigated the causal impact of racial discrimination on alcohol and sexual-risk cognitions while exploring potential mediators that might help explain this relation: negative affect, perceived control, and meaningful existence. We also examined if past discrimination impacts the strength of (moderates) these effects. Participants were 287 Black/African American young adults aged 18–25. They were randomly assigned to be excluded or included by White peers via the game Cyberball. Racial exclusion (vs. inclusion) predicted greater: perceived racial discrimination, negative affect, alcohol use willingness, and reduced perceived control and meaningful existence. Furthermore, excluded participants who experienced more past racial discrimination reported the lowest perceived control, and greatest negative affect and alcohol-risk cognitions. The findings suggest that past racial discrimination exacerbates the harmful health effects of immediate experiences of discrimination.

The diagnosis of asymptomatic disease is associated with fewer healthy days: A cross sectional analysis from the national health and nutrition examination survey

OBJECTIVE To examine the effect of the diagnosis of asymptomatic disease on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). DESIGN Secondary analysis of a national data set. METHOD We analysed adult participants in the 2011-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) of the civilian non-institutionalized US general population. Across three asymptomatic diseases (glucose intolerance, hyperlipidaemia, and hypertension), we examined four groups (without disease; with disease but no diagnosis; with disease and diagnosis but no treatment; and with disease, diagnosis, and treatment). For each asymptomatic disease, we examined group differences in self-rated health (ordinal logistic regression) and Healthy Days outcomes (number of the last 30 days that physical health was not good, mental health was not good, or inactive; regression). Models were adjusted for age, sex, smoking status, insurance status, income, education, race, body mass index, and comorbid conditions. RESULTS Analyses included 6012 respondents (glucose intolerance), 2772 respondents (hyperlipidaemia), and 5524 respondents (hypertension). In adjusted models, those who did not know about their disease had the same self-rated health scores as those without the disease, those with the disease without treatment, and those with disease and treatment. In adjusted analyses of the Healthy Days questions, those with unknown disease reported the same number of unhealthy days as those without disease with the exception of glucose intolerance. Conversely, in four of the nine possible comparisons, those with known disease without treatment reported more unhealthy days than those with who did not know about their disease. CONCLUSIONS In adjusted analyses, individuals knowing about their asymptomatic disease are more likely to experience decrements in healthy days compared to those without knowledge of their asymptomatic disease. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? There has been sparse evidence that diagnosis of asymptomatic diseases is related to reduced health-related quality of life in population studies. Previous studies have included patients receiving treatment, which impedes the ability to isolate the effects of diagnosis from the effects of treatment. What does this study add? This report examines three asymptomatic health conditions: glucose intolerance, hyperlipidaemia, and hypertension. Those who did not know about their health condition generally had the same health-related quality of life scores as those without health conditions. Conversely, those diagnosed with disease but not receiving treatment reported worse health-related quality of life.

The Pedagogical Benefits of Enacting Positive Psychology Practices through a Student-Faculty Partnership Approach to Academic Development.

Abstract Academic development that supports the enactment of positive psychology practices through student–faculty pedagogical partnership can increase faculty confidence and capacity in their first year in a new institution. When student partners practice affirmation and encouragement of strengths-based growth, processes of faculty acclimation and self-authoring can be accelerated. This article presents a student–faculty pedagogical partnership program and positive psychology practices that focus on faculty strengths and capacities as the foundation for reinforcing and revising existing pedagogical strategies and for sustaining energy for continued development. It combines collaborative autoethnographic and comparative case study approaches to investigate the pedagogical benefits of these practices.