Perceived racial discrimination (PRD) has been associated with altered diurnal cortisol rhythms in past cross-sectional research. We investigate whether developmental histories of PRD, assessed prospectively, are associated with adult diurnal cortisol profiles. One-hundred and twelve (N = 50 Black, N = 62 White) adults from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study provided saliva samples in adulthood (at approximately age 32 years) at waking, 30 min after waking, and at bedtime for 7 days. Diurnal cortisol measures were calculated, including waking cortisol levels, diurnal cortisol slopes, the cortisol awakening response (CAR), and average daily cortisol (AUC). These cortisol outcomes were predicted from measures of PRD obtained over a 20-year period beginning when individuals were in 7th grade (approximately age 12). Greater average PRD measured across the 20-year period predicted flatter adult diurnal cortisol slopes for both Black and White adults, and a lower CAR. Greater average PRD also predicted lower waking cortisol for Black, but not White adults. PRD experiences in adolescence accounted for many of these effects. When adolescent and young adult PRD are entered together predicting cortisol outcomes, PRD experiences in adolescence (but not young adulthood) significantly predicted flatter diurnal cortisol slopes for both Black and White adults. Adolescent, but not young adult PRD, also significantly predicted lower waking and lower average cortisol for Black adults. Young adult PRD was, however, a stronger predictor of the CAR, predicting a marginally lower CAR for Whites, and a significantly larger CAR for Blacks. Effects were robust to controlling for covariates including health behaviors, depression, income and parent education levels. PRD experiences interacted with parent education and income to predict aspects of the diurnal cortisol rhythm. Although these results suggest PRD influences on cortisol for both Blacks and Whites, the key findings suggest that the effects are more pervasive for Blacks, affecting multiple aspects of the cortisol diurnal rhythm. In addition, adolescence is a more sensitive developmental period than adulthood for the impacts of PRD on adult stress biology.

We present the race-based disparities in stress and sleep in context model (RDSSC), which argues that racial/ethnic disparities in educational achievement and attainment are partially explained by the effects of race-based stressors, such as stereotype threat and perceived discrimination, on psychological and biological responses to stress, which, in turn, impact cognitive functioning and academic performance. Whereas the roles of psychological coping responses, such as devaluation and disidentification, have been theorized in previous work, the present model integrates the roles of biological stress responses, such as changes in stress hormones and sleep hours and quality, to this rich literature. We situate our model of the impact of race-based stress in the broader contexts of other stressors [e.g., stressors associated with socioeconomic status (SES)], developmental histories of stress, and individual and group differences in access to resources, opportunity and employment structures. Considering both psychological and biological responses to race-based stressors, in social contexts, will yield a more comprehensive understanding of the emergence of academic disparities between Whites and racial/ethnic minorities. (PsycINFO Database Record

Children from low-socioeconomic status (SES) and racial-/ethnic-minority groups score lower on average on standardized academic tests relative to high-SES and White families, respectively (Bradbury, Corak, Waldfogel, & Washbrook, 2015;Reardon, 2011). Many factors contribute to the achievement gap, including class size, teacher characteristics, parent participation, and hunger and nutrition (Barton & Coley, 2009). Although acknowledging these factors, the present paper focuses on an understudied component of the achievement gap: how biological stress responses associated with stress exposure affect performance on standardized tests. Stress exposures come from school, home, and neighborhood factors and can affect the functioning of multiple stresssensitive biological systems. We focus here on two such systems: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sleep. As we show, stress-related alterations in these systems can affect students' learning and test-taking experience. We argue that achievement gaps are at least partly driven by differential stress exposure and biological stress responses between groups. The Stress Disparity ModelHere we provide a brief overview of a theoretical model of how stress exposure and resulting biological stress responses might affect academic achievement as measured by standardized tests. We call this model the stress disparity model. Figure 1 displays the pathways of this model; Figure 2 focuses on the outcomes measured as an achievement gap. We present evidence for this model throughout the paper.We begin by noting that low-SES and racial-/ethnicminority children are more likely to be exposed to stressful life events relative to higher-income or White students (Pathway A; Hatch & Dohrenwend, 2007;Repetti, Taylor, & Seeman, 2002

No abstract