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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

The Promise Of Inclusion For Female Student Health, Kate D. Romero, Kymberlee O'Brien Jan 2020

The Promise Of Inclusion For Female Student Health, Kate D. Romero, Kymberlee O'Brien

Faculty Publications

Despite extensive inclusion and diversity initiatives, females do not feel valued or included and still report higher stress, discrimination and microaggressions than males. Cumulative effects of social devaluation on health were examined for students at a STEM University. A sample of 292 undergraduates were asked about daily and chronic experiences of inclusion using surveys assessing personal perceived stress and subtle and overt social devaluation. Females reported significantly higher microaggressions and perceived stress, associated with lower physical and mental health. Females in high social devaluation (SD) reported lower total well-being (TWB) across several domains. An exploratory factor analyses examined factor loadings …


Hair Cortisol And Lifetime Discrimination: Moderation By Subjective Social Status, Kymberlee O'Brien, Jerrold Meyer, Edward Tronick, Celia L. Moore Jan 2017

Hair Cortisol And Lifetime Discrimination: Moderation By Subjective Social Status, Kymberlee O'Brien, Jerrold Meyer, Edward Tronick, Celia L. Moore

Faculty Publications

Discrimination has been associated with elevated cortisol as measured in saliva, blood, and urine. This study investigated the association between lifetime discrimination and hair cortisol concentrations, considered a measure of chronic stress. We recruited 180 young adults from diverse backgrounds. Participant responses to lifetime discrimination, home stress, and subjective status measures were recorded. Lifetime discrimination significantly predicted hair cortisol concentrations, supporting past research that discrimination experiences impact neuroendocrine systems. To our knowledge, these are the first findings associating hair cortisol concentrations with discrimination and supports prior evidence positing discrimination as a chronic stressor that serves as a risk factor for …


Relationship Between Hair Cortisol And Perceived Chronic Stress In A Diverse Sample, Kymberlee O'Brien, E. Z. Tronick, C. L. Moore Jan 2012

Relationship Between Hair Cortisol And Perceived Chronic Stress In A Diverse Sample, Kymberlee O'Brien, E. Z. Tronick, C. L. Moore

Faculty Publications

Hair cortisol (CORT) is a biomarker of chronic stress via long-termalterations in hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis activity. Relationships to perceived stressmeasures, however, have rarely been specifically investigated. A diverse sample of 135 adults participated in a study assessing relationships between chronic stress indicator CORT to perceived stress and health indicators. CORT was not correlated to single perceived domain indices but with a global stress composite. Differences in objective and subjective measures were found for sociodemographics: racial/ethnic identity, sex and socioeconomic status (SES). Race by SES interactions predicted both CORT and perceived stress, but produced a complex and partially unanticipated pattern of results. …