Perceived Discrimination, Trauma, Mental Health, and Blood Pressure Outcomes Among Young African American/Black Mothers in the InterGEN Study.
Alexandria Nyembwe, Yihong Zhao, Eugenia Millender and 10 others
PMID 40052829WHAT IT FOUND
Among young African American/Black mothers, more reported racial discrimination and race-related trauma was linked to increases in systolic blood pressure over 6 months.
Depressive symptoms were not linked to systolic blood pressure change.
Key findings
01A higher overall discrimination and race-related trauma severity score was associated with an increase in systolic blood pressure over time (b=0.92; P=.04).
02Depressive symptoms were not a significant predictor of changes in systolic blood pressure (b=0.31; P=.71).
03No statistically significant relationships were found between discrimination, race-related trauma, or depressive symptoms and diastolic blood pressure.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was from one region of the United States and had similar ages and socioeconomic status, so it may not apply to other African American/Black mothers. Discrimination measures did not separate gender or age discrimination, which may overlap with race discrimination. Only baseline and 6-month data were analyzed because later discrimination data were phased out, so longer-term blood pressure change was not examined. The analysis used only mothers with complete data from the parent cohort, so missing data may affect the results. Coping strategies were not measured, so they may explain part of the depressive symptoms. The study observed associations over time and did not assign discrimination or trauma, so it cannot show that they caused blood pressure changes.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest were disclosed.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that discrimination or race-related trauma caused blood pressure increases, or that treating depression will lower blood pressure. This was an observational analysis over 6 months, and depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with systolic blood pressure change.