Real-Time Stress Reaction to Racism.

• Position: MICROAGGRESSIONS

More evidence that the stress of racism contributes to health problems among people of color was provided by a study from researchers at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and University of Texas, Austin.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study employed wearable sensors and daily surveys to measure college students' stress response to instances of race-based microaggression; when they ruminated upon racism; or when they were vicariously exposed to racism.

The researchers found elevated stress responses in the sympathetic nervous system among African-American and Latinx students when they personally experienced racism. Latinx youth also had elevated stress responses when they thought deeply about racial injustice. African immigrant students had elevated stress responses when they witnessed racism. Latinx students also experienced negative emotions when they witnessed racism, but their physical reaction came in the form of a sup pressed...