Racism and Health: Pathways to Risk and Resilience

Monday, November 20, 2017

Rick Gibbons

Professor, Department of Psychological Sciences
University of Connecticut

Evidence has been accumulating for some time indicating that perceived racial discrimination is a major contributor to the health disparities that exist between Blacks and Whites in the US. The current climate in our country suggests there is reason to expect this relation may become even more of a health issue in the future. My research has examined this relation and factors that mediate and moderate it. This research includes both experimental (laboratory) work in which discrimination has been manipulated, and survey studies. Most of the latter have come from the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS), a 20-year multi-wave study of 900 African American families with a focus on environmental, economic and especially interpersonal (i.e., perceived discrimination) stressors and their effects on physical health and health behavior. Current and future directions of the FACHS project will be discussed.

Video Recording:
Racism and Health: Pathways to Risk and Resilience

Papers:
Gibbons-and-Stock-revision-final-5-16-16.pdf
Stock-2013-effects-of-disc-on-HIV-risk.pdf