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Under The Skin Social Stress: Physiological Effects Of Racial Discrimination And Family Communication During Adolescence, Dana Mansfield

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Adolescence is a formative, developmental period that encompasses increased life stress. For youth of color, these stressors are amplified due to race-related experiences such as racial discrimination. Studies have shown that family communication greatly influences the physiological stress response in childhood development. The purpose of the current study was to examine how interpersonal and institutional discrimination impact the physiological stress response and how supportive family communication may influence the stress response in adolescents from various ethnic and racial groups. A sample of 379 ethnically diverse adolescents participated in this study and completed self-report questionnaires. Cortisol samples were collected in conjunction …