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PRESENTED BY: JENNIFER LYNN DEFEO, PHD

THE IMPACT OF racism and GAY-RELATED STRESS ON physiological arousal in african-american and GAY MALE YOUTH populations. PRESENTED BY: JENNIFER LYNN DEFEO, PHD. Idea Behind the Study. What happens to the body ’ s physiology when exposed to prejudice and/or discriminatory events?.

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PRESENTED BY: JENNIFER LYNN DEFEO, PHD

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  1. THE IMPACT OF racism and GAY-RELATED STRESS ON physiological arousal in african-american and GAY MALE YOUTH populations PRESENTED BY: JENNIFER LYNN DEFEO, PHD

  2. Idea Behind the Study • What happens to the body’s physiology when exposed to prejudice and/or discriminatory events?

  3. Minority Stress • Distinguishable excess stress to which individuals from stigmatized social categories are exposed as a result of their social position (Meyer, 1991)

  4. Armstead, et. al • Conducted research exploring racism as a stressor affecting blood pressure in African American college students. • Found that blood pressure was significantly higher for the racist film clip compared to a neutral film clip. • Found that those who characteristically internalized anger had higher blood pressure responses than those that did not.

  5. Racism as a Stressor for African Americans • Racism is defined as “beliefs, attitudes, institutional arrangements, and acts that tend to denigrate individuals or groups because of phenotypic characteristics or ethnic group affiliation” (Clark, Anderson, Clark & Williams, 1999, p. 805). • Perceived racism is an individual’s “subjective experience of prejudice or discrimination” (Clark et al., 1999, p. 808). • Coping styles will influence the effect of the stress of perceived and actual racism.

  6. Biopsychosocial Effects of Perceived Racism

  7. Racism as a stressor • Biopsychosocial Effects: • Racism perceived as stressful • Coping responses to perceptions of racism • Interventions and prevention of adverse effects

  8. Racism as a Stressor • Psychological and Physiological Responses • Psychological: paranoia, anger, frustration, helplessness and hopelessness, fear, resentment • Physiological: cardiovascular functioning, neuroendocrine, immune

  9. Racism as a Stressor • Effects of stress on health • Facilitate depression • Low birth weight • Cardiac problems • Upper respiratory infections

  10. Gay-related Stress • Occurs when individuals are exposed to stressors that are based upon their sexual orientation (Meyer, 1995).

  11. Glsen Statistics (2003) • 9 of 10 Gay Youth experience homophobic remarks in school such as “fag” or “queer” • 2 of 10 youth report having heard antigay remarks from school faculty, including teachers • 5 of 10 youth report the presence of school faculty when experiencing prejudice from other students

  12. Physiological Measures • Diastolic Blood pressure • Systolic Blood Pressure • Heart Rate • LF/HF Ratio (Sympathovagal Dominance)

  13. Film Clips • Neutral - Fish swimming • General Stress -Tsunami • Antigay Stress -Military

  14. results

  15. Diastolic Blood Pressure - Blood vessel pressure between heart beats (Resting)

  16. Systolic Blood Pressure -The amount of pressure that is exerted on the blood vessels while the heart is beating

  17. Heart Rate -The number of heart beats per unit of time

  18. LF/HF Sympathovagal Dominance • LF= Low Frequency (Sympathetic Nervous System Output) • HF= High Frequency (Parasympathetic Nervous System Output)

  19. Theoretical Implications • Ewart & Jorgenson (2004) -ANS force at chronic levels is a risk factor for coronary heart disease and damage. - If replicated is consistent with this theory.

  20. Clinical Implications (2) Cognitive Behavioral Approaches (A) School-Based Interventions -Sagren & Rogers (2001) discuss the importance of cognitive-behavioral and educational interventions in addressing and changing the minds of students and staff from prejudice, fear, and stereotypical thinking to accepting, understanding, and affirming sexual orientation. Serves three functions: (Sagren & Rogers, 2001) (1) positively affects the school environment and climate (2) decreases school-related stress (3) improves the protective factors, such as support and advocacy for gay youth.

  21. Clinical implications • Educate school staff on the specific needs of gay youth; school-based mental health programs and school-based clinicians can formulate interventions to improve physical, social, and psychological functioning and well-being of gay youth.

  22. The End • THANK YOU AND HAVE A GREAT REST OF YOUR TIME IN PUERTO RICO!

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