Veronica Y. Womack

Relationship between Perceived Discrimination and Sedentary Behavior in Adults

OBJECTIVE To identify psychosocial factors associated with sedentary behavior, we tested whether perceived discrimination is associated with sedentary behavior. METHODS Black and white men and women (N = 3270) from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study reported experiences of discrimination and time engaged in total and screen time sedentary behaviors in 2010-11. RESULTS There were no associations of discriminatory experiences with total sedentary behavior time. However, discriminatory experiences were positively associated with screen time for black men (OR 1.81, 95% CI: 1.14, 2.86) and white women (OR 1.51, 95% CI: 1.14, 2.00) after adjusting for demographic and traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors. CONCLUSION Among black men and white women, discriminatory experiences were correlated with more screen time sedentary behavior.

Binge drinking and perceived ethnic discrimination among Hispanics/Latinos: Results from the Hispanic community health study/study of Latinos sociocultural ancillary study

ABSTRACT The study assessed whether overall perceived ethnic discrimination and four unique discrimination types were associated with binge drinking in participants from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos who also completed the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Sociocultural Ancillary Study (n = 5,313). In unadjusted analyses that were weighted for sampling strategy and design, each unit increase in discrimination type was associated with a 12–63% increase in odds of binge drinking; however, after adjusting for important demographic variables including age, sex, heritage group, language, and duration of U.S. residence, there was no longer an association between discrimination and binge drinking. Further research still needs to identify the salient factors that contribute to increased risk for binge drinking among Hispanics/Latinos.

The Association of Mindfulness and Racial Socialization Messages on Approach-Oriented Coping Strategies Among African Americans:

This study investigated the association of mindfulness and racial socialization messages on approach-oriented coping strategies among African Americans. Three hundred African American college students completed measures of mindfulness, racial socialization, and coping strategy preference. The results revealed that a higher degree of mindfulness and culturally based racial socialization messages are positively associated with both planning and active coping strategies. The study also found that mindful observation was positively related to all of the minority and culturally based racial socialization messages. This research has discovered that racial socialization messages are related to mindfulness, suggesting that these two metacognitive self-regulatory strategies promote adaptive coping strategy selection and potentially buffer the negative consequences of stressors for African Americans. Stress-reduction programs that promote “cultural pride and reinforcement” as well as mindfulness techniques may be ideal for African Americans grappling with race-related stressors.

Pilot study of an intervention to increase cultural awareness in research mentoring: Implications for diversifying the scientific workforce

Introduction Innovative evidence-based interventions are needed to equip research mentors with skills to address cultural diversity within research mentoring relationships. A pilot study assessed initial outcomes of a culturally tailored effort to create and disseminate a novel intervention titled Culturally Aware Mentoring (CAM) for research mentors. Intervention Intervention development resulted in 4 products: a 6 hour CAM training curriculum, a facilitator guide, an online pretraining module, and metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of CAM training. Method Participants were 64 research mentors from 3 US research-intensive universities. Quantitative pretraining and posttraining evaluation survey data were collected. Results Participants found high value and satisfaction with the CAM training, reported gains in personal cultural awareness and cultural skills, and increased intentions and confidence to address cultural diversity in their mentoring. Conclusions Study findings indicate that the CAM training holds promise to build research mentors’ capacity and confidence to engage directly with racial/ethnic topics in research mentoring relationships.

A Longitudinal Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms and Development of Metabolic Syndrome: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study.

Objective Despite variability in the burden of elevated depressive symptoms by sex and race and differences in the incidence of metabolic syndrome, few prior studies describe the longitudinal association of depressive symptoms with metabolic syndrome in a diverse cohort. We tested whether baseline and time-varying depressive symptoms were associated with metabolic syndrome incidence in black and white men and women from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study. Methods Participants reported depressive symptoms using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale at four examinations between 1995 and 2010. At those same examinations, metabolic syndrome was determined. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the associations of depressive symptoms on the development of metabolic syndrome in 3208 participants without metabolic syndrome at baseline. Results For 15 years, the incidence rate of metabolic syndrome (per 10,000 person-years) varied by race and sex, with the highest rate in black women (279.2), followed by white men (241.9), black men (204.4), and white women (125.3). Depressive symptoms (per standard deviation higher) were associated with incident metabolic syndrome in white men (hazard ratio = 1.25, 95% confidence interval = 1.08–1.45) and white women (hazard ratio = 1.17, 95% confidence interval = 1.00–1.37) after adjustment for demographic characteristics and health behaviors. There was no significant association between depression and metabolic syndrome among black men or black women. Conclusions Higher depressive symptoms contribute modestly to the onset of metabolic syndrome among white adults.

Comment on Tovote et al. Individual Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Treating Depressive Symptoms in Patients With Diabetes: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial. Diabetes Care 2014;37:2427–2434

The study by Tovote et al. (1) was the first randomized clinical trial to examine the effectiveness of individual mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in reducing depressive symptoms in patients with diabetes. However, the researchers did not account for the racial/ethnic background of the participants. Compared with the general population, African Americans are disproportionately affected by diabetes and diabetes-related complications. For some African Americans, the stress of diabetes compounded by higher levels of chronic life stressors (e.g., financial insecurity, low education level, lack of health care) makes them particularly vulnerable to complications from the synergistic effects of obesity, diabetes, …