TY - JOUR
T1 - The Health Correlates of Culture
T2 - Examining the Association Between Ethnic-Racial Identity and Diurnal Cortisol Slopes
AU - Zeiders, Katharine H.
AU - Causadias, José M.
AU - White, Rebecca M.B.
N1 - Funding Information:
Work on this paper was supported, in part, by the National Institute of Mental Health grant R01-MH68920 and by Arizona State University's School of Social Family Dynamics' Cowden Fellowship and Graduate Dissertation Award .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
PY - 2018/3
Y1 - 2018/3
N2 - Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the link between ethnic-racial identity (ERI) components (exploration, resolution, and affirmation) and youths’ diurnal cortisol slopes. Methods: A sample of 103 U.S.-Mexican adolescents (Mage = 15.29 years) living in the Southwest participated in an in-home interview and 3-day salivary sampling protocol. Results: ERI affirmation, but not exploration or resolution, was related to steeper diurnal slopes (greater declines in cortisol from waking to bedtime) after controlling for adolescents’ life stressors, acculturation level, ethnic-racial discrimination, and daily behaviors (i.e., caffeine use, hours of exercise, hours of sleep, and medication level). Conclusions: This study provides initial evidence of the physiological benefits of ERI affirmation. Given that steeper diurnal slopes are thought of as an indicator of positive health, our findings point to the importance of examining cultural processes in the well-being of ethnic-racial minority youth.
AB - Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the link between ethnic-racial identity (ERI) components (exploration, resolution, and affirmation) and youths’ diurnal cortisol slopes. Methods: A sample of 103 U.S.-Mexican adolescents (Mage = 15.29 years) living in the Southwest participated in an in-home interview and 3-day salivary sampling protocol. Results: ERI affirmation, but not exploration or resolution, was related to steeper diurnal slopes (greater declines in cortisol from waking to bedtime) after controlling for adolescents’ life stressors, acculturation level, ethnic-racial discrimination, and daily behaviors (i.e., caffeine use, hours of exercise, hours of sleep, and medication level). Conclusions: This study provides initial evidence of the physiological benefits of ERI affirmation. Given that steeper diurnal slopes are thought of as an indicator of positive health, our findings point to the importance of examining cultural processes in the well-being of ethnic-racial minority youth.
KW - Culture
KW - Diurnal cortisol slopes
KW - Ethnic-racial identity
KW - HPA axis
KW - U.S-Mexican adolescents
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.09.020
DO - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.09.020
M3 - Article
C2 - 29203357
AN - SCOPUS:85035334795
SN - 1054-139X
VL - 62
SP - 349
EP - 351
JO - Journal of Adolescent Health
JF - Journal of Adolescent Health
IS - 3
ER -