Intersectional discrimination from black women, white women, black men, or white men impacts young adult black women's affective states and risky health cognitions

OBJECTIVE

Black women experience pronounced inequalities in alcohol use and sexual risk outcomes. Racial discrimination is a known contributor to health inequalities. However, Black women face unique and intersectional forms of discrimination beyond racial discrimination. The current study investigates how exclusion from four distinct social groups effects Black women's negative affect and risky health cognitions.

DESIGN

Black women (N = 124; ages 18-29) were randomly assigned to be excluded in Cyberball by Black women, Black men, White women, or White men.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Participants responded to measures of internalising (depressive, anxious) and externalising (anger) affect, heavy alcohol use willingness, and risky sex expectations.

RESULTS

Participants primarily attributed exclusion from White women to racial discrimination, exclusion from Black men to gender discrimination, and exclusion from White men to both gender and racial discrimination. When excluded by White women, participants reported the highest levels of anger, depressive affect, and anxiety. Exclusion by White men predicted the greatest heavy drinking willingness, though exclusion by Black men predicted the greatest risky sex expectations.

CONCLUSION

This study is the first to demonstrate that exclusion from different social groups leads to differing patterns of negative affect and risky health cognitions in young adult Black women.

The ironic effects of dietary restraint in situations that undermine self-regulation

Dietary restraint, defined as the cognitive effort to restrict eating, can paradoxically make individuals more susceptible to unhealthy eating when their ability to self-regulate is threatened. Past experiments have found that, in situations that elicit low self-control and/or unhealthy cravings, participants with higher dietary restraint eat more than those with lower restraint. However, these relationships have never been examined in a free-living environment. The current daily diary study examined if dietary restraint would exacerbate the associations between poor self-control and unhealthy cravings with overconsumption, namely, eating more than usual and binge eating. College women (N = 121, M age = 19) reported their restrained eating behavior and completed seven daily surveys. Multilevel analyses showed a significant interaction between dietary restraint and daily self-control on eating more than usual (b = -0.13, p = .001) and binge eating (b = -0.22, p < .001). Lower daily self-control was associated with eating more than usual and with more binge eating that day, but only among women with higher dietary restraint. Dietary restraint also moderated the effect of cravings on eating more than usual (b = 0.10, p = .007); this relationship was stronger for women with higher restraint. Stronger cravings were associated with more binge eating regardless of restraint. Results suggest that situations that undermine self-control are more strongly associated with overeating among those with higher dietary restraint. Findings can inform strategies to reduce overconsumption among restrained eaters.

Combining a UV photo intervention with self-affirmation or self-compassion exercises: implications for skin protection

The current study tested whether self-affirmation or self-compassion exercises, shown to increase message acceptance, could maximize the benefit of a UV photo intervention on skin protection cognitions. College women (N = 167) were randomly assigned to: (1) view a UV photo or Black and White (no-UV) photo of their face and (2) write a self-affirmation, self-compassion, or neutral essay. Participants who saw their UV photo reported healthier cognitions, including greater perceived vulnerability and intentions to protect skin. Within the self-compassion condition, participants who saw their UV photo were also more likely to take the sunscreen packets offered. However, neither self-affirmation nor self-compassion enhanced the effect of the UV photo. Within the UV condition, women who completed these exercises had similar (and occasionally less healthy) cognitions and behavior as those who wrote a neutral essay. The benefits of self-affirmation and self-compassion in conjunction with health messages may be limited to higher risk groups who experience more message defensiveness than the current sample.

Racial (vs. self) affirmation as a protective mechanism against the effects of racial exclusion on negative affect and substance use vulnerability among black young adults

Affirming one's racial identity may help protect against the harmful effects of racial exclusion on substance use cognitions. This study examined whether racial versus self-affirmation (vs. no affirmation) buffers against the effects of racial exclusion on substance use willingness and substance use word associations in Black young adults. It also examined anger as a potential mediator of these effects. After being included, or racially excluded by White peers, participants were assigned to a writing task: self-affirmation, racial-affirmation, or describing their sleep routine (neutral). Racial exclusion predicted greater perceived discrimination and anger. Excluded participants who engaged in racial-affirmation reported reduced perceived discrimination, anger, and fewer substance use cognitions compared to the neutral writing group. This relation between racial-affirmation and lower substance use willingness was mediated by reduced perceived discrimination and anger. Findings suggest racial-affirmation is protective against racial exclusion and, more generally, that ethnic based approaches to minority substance use prevention may have particular potential.

Racial (vs. self) affirmation as a protective mechanism against the effects of racial exclusion on negative affect and substance use vulnerability among black young adults

Affirming one's racial identity may help protect against the harmful effects of racial exclusion on substance use cognitions. This study examined whether racial versus self-affirmation (vs. no affirmation) buffers against the effects of racial exclusion on substance use willingness and substance use word associations in Black young adults. It also examined anger as a potential mediator of these effects. After being included, or racially excluded by White peers, participants were assigned to a writing task: self-affirmation, racial-affirmation, or describing their sleep routine (neutral). Racial exclusion predicted greater perceived discrimination and anger. Excluded participants who engaged in racial-affirmation reported reduced perceived discrimination, anger, and fewer substance use cognitions compared to the neutral writing group. This relation between racial-affirmation and lower substance use willingness was mediated by reduced perceived discrimination and anger. Findings suggest racial-affirmation is protective against racial exclusion and, more generally, that ethnic based approaches to minority substance use prevention may have particular potential.

Stomaching rejection: Self-compassion and self-esteem moderate the impact of daily social rejection on restrictive eating behaviours among college women

OBJECTIVE

The present study examined whether having high self-esteem or a self-compassionate perspective help mitigate the impact of daily social rejection on negative affect and restrictive eating behaviours.

DESIGN

Following a baseline survey assessing self-esteem and self-compassion, 121 college women completed online daily diaries for one week.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Negative affect and restrictive eating behaviours.

RESULTS

On days when women reported more rejection, they also reported higher restrictive eating behaviours and greater negative affect. Effects were moderated by self-esteem and self-compassion, such that the lower participants were in self-esteem or self-compassion, the stronger the positive relation between rejection and negative affect and restrictive eating. However, only the common humanity/isolation dimension of self-compassion significantly moderated daily effects of rejection when controlling for self-esteem. Mediated moderation results reveal different mechanisms by which self-esteem and self-compassion buffer against rejections' effects on affect and restrictive eating.

CONCLUSION

Self-compassion and self-esteem influence the complex impact that social rejection has on affect and restrictive eating. More than other dimensions of self-compassion or self-esteem, remembering one's common humanity can result in a healthier response to social rejection.

It only takes once: The absent-exempt heuristic and reactions to comparison-based sexual risk information

Three studies (N = 545) investigated the effects of social comparison on the "absent-exempt" (AE) heuristic (feeling exempt from future risk). Study 1 examined how comparison with an infected peer (comparison target) who was similar or nonsimilar in terms of sexual risk (number of partners, lack of condom use), influenced willingness and intentions to engage in sex without a condom, and conditional perceived vulnerability to an STD. Participants generally reported lower willingness and higher conditional vulnerability if they compared with a similar-risk level target. However, high-risk students who compared with a low-risk target engaged in what appeared to be AE thinking, reporting the highest willingness and lowest conditional vulnerability. Intentions to have sex without a condom were not influenced. Study 2 included a direct measure of AE thinking and compared the impact of a low-risk comparison target with a Public Service Announcement (PSA) stating that negative outcomes (STDs) can happen even to low-risk targets. Among high-risk participants, comparing with the low-risk target increased AE thinking. The effects in Studies 1 and 2 were strongest among participants high in tendencies to socially compare. Study 3 explored whether AE thinking could be decreased by encouraging more reasoned processing. Results indicated that asking participants to think about the illogicality of AE thinking reduces AE endorsement and increases STD testing intentions. Findings suggest that comparison-based information can have a stronger influence on health cognitions than analytic-based information (e.g., most PSAs). Implications for dual-processing models of decision-making and their applicability to health messages are discussed.

Effects of perceived weight discrimination on willingness to adopt unhealthy behaviours: influence of genomic information

OBJECTIVE

Weight-based discrimination negatively influences health, potentially via increased willingness to engage in unhealthful behaviours. This study examines whether the provision of genomic obesity information in a clinical context can lead to less willingness to engage in unhealthy eating and alcohol consumption through a mediated process including reduced perceptions of blame and discrimination.

DESIGN

A total of 201 overweight or obese women aged 20-50 interacted with a virtual physician in a simulated clinical primary care environment, which included physician-delivered information that emphasised either genomic or behavioural underpinnings of weight and weight loss.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Perceived blame and weight discrimination from the doctor, and willingness to eat unhealthy foods and consume alcohol.

RESULTS

Controlling for BMI and race, participants who received genomic information perceived less blame from the doctor than participants who received behavioural information. In a serial multiple mediation model, reduced perceived blame was associated with less perceived discrimination, and in turn, lower willingness to eat unhealthy foods and drink alcohol.

CONCLUSION

Providing patients with genomic information about weight and weight loss may positively influence interpersonal dynamics between patients and providers by reducing perceived blame and perceived discrimination. These improved dynamics, in turn, positively influence health cognitions.

Identifying and characterizing casein kinase II in human platelets

We have recently shown that inhibition of protein phosphatases in platelets causes increases in protein phosphorylations with a concomitant inhibition of platelet responses. The burst in protein phosphorylation appears to be catalyzed by messenger-independent protein kinases. The aim of the present study was to characterize the presence of broad families of protein kinases found in platelets. Lysates of control and thrombin-stimulated platelets were prepared, and proteins were separated on MONO Q fast protein liquid chromatography. In addition to the presence of histone protein kinase and tyrosine kinase activities, human platelets contain casein kinase II (CKII) activity as assessed by phosphorylation of a specific substrate peptide. Western blot analysis and immunogold electron microscopy studies further showed the presence of alpha-, alpha'-, and beta-subunits of CKII. The enzyme appears to be distributed throughout the cytosol and not secreted after thrombin treatment. Immunoprecipitation studies suggest that at least some of the holoenzymes exist as an alpha alpha' beta 2 complex. Although no activation of the enzyme was detected after thrombin treatment, our results show that CKII is a major messenger-independent protein kinase in platelets.