When Is Hope Enough? Hopefulness, Discrimination and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Allostatic Load.

ABSTRACT: Hopefulness is associated with better health and may be integral for stress adaptation and resilience. Limited research has prospectively examined whether hopefulness protects against physiological dysregulation or does so similarly for U.S. whites, blacks and Hispanics. We examined the association between baseline hopefulness and future allostatic load using data from the Health and Retirement Study (n = 8,486) and assessed differences in this association by race/ethnicity and experiences of discrimination. Four items measured hopefulness and allostatic load was a count of seven biomarkers for which a respondent's measured value was considered high-risk for disease. A dichotomous variable assessed whether respondents experienced at least one major act of discrimination in their lifetime.

SUBMITTER: Mitchell UA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7458691 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul-Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature