This study was designed to examine the prospective relations of perceived racial discrimination with allostatic load (AL), along with a possible buffer of the association. A sample of 331 African Americans in the rural South provided assessments of perceived discrimination from ages 16 to 18 years. When youths were 18, caregivers reported parental emotional support, and youths assessed peer emotional support. AL and potential confounder variables were assessed when youths were 20. Latent Growth Mixture Modeling identified two perceived discrimination classes: high and stable and low and increasing. Adolescents in the high and stable class evinced heightened AL even with confounder variables controlled. The racial discrimination to AL link was not significant for young adults who received high emotional support.

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Many African American youth may develop high levels of allostatic load (AL), a measure of physiological wear and tear on the body as a function of developing psychosocial competence under conditions of high SES-related risk. The current study was designed to test hypotheses based on John Henryism theory about such physiological costs. We tested these hypotheses with a representative sample of 489 African American youth living in the rural South. Cumulative SES-related risks and teacher-reported competence were assessed when the youth were 11 to 13 years of age; depressive symptoms, externalizing behavior, and AL were assessed at age 19. The results revealed that rural African American preadolescents who evinced high psychosocial competence under conditions of high cumulative SES-related risk displayed low levels of adjustment problems along with high AL at age 19. These results suggest that, for many rural African Americans, resilience may indeed be only “skin deep.”

The authors examined the relations between adolescent-therapist and mother-therapist therapeutic alliances and dropout in multidimensional family therapy for adolescents who abuse drugs. The authors rated videotapes of family therapy sessions using observational methods to identify therapist-adolescent and therapist-mother alliances in the first 2 therapy sessions. Differences in adolescent and mother alliances in families that dropped out of therapy and families that completed therapy were compared. Results indicate that both adolescent and mother alliances with the therapist discriminated between dropout and completer families. Although no differences were observed between the 2 groups in Session 1, adolescents and mothers in the dropout group demonstrated statistically significantly lower alliance scores in Session 2 than adolescents and parents in the completer group. These findings are consistent with other research that has established a relationship between therapeutic alliance and treatment response.

The health disparities literature identified a common pattern among middle-aged African Americans that includes high rates of chronic disease along with low rates of psychiatric disorders despite exposure to high levels of cumulative SES risk. The current study was designed to test hypotheses about the developmental precursors to this pattern. Hypotheses were tested with a representative sample of 443 African American youths living in the rural South. Cumulative SES risk and protective processes were assessed at 11-13 years; psychological adjustment was assessed at ages 14-18 years; genotyping at the 5-HTTLPR was conducted at age 16 years; and allostatic load (AL) was assessed at age 19 years. A Latent Profile Analysis identified 5 profiles that evinced distinct patterns of SES risk, AL, and psychological adjustment, with 2 relatively large profiles designated as focal profiles: a physical health vulnerability profile characterized by high SES risk/high AL/low adjustment problems, and a resilient profile characterized by high SES risk/low AL/low adjustment problems. The physical health vulnerability profile mirrored the pattern found in the adult health disparities literature. Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that carrying an s allele at the 5-HTTLPR and receiving less peer support distinguished the physical health vulnerability profile from the resilient profile. Protective parenting and planful self-regulation distinguished both focal profiles from the other 3 profiles. The results suggest the public health importance of preventive interventions that enhance coping and reduce the effects of stress across childhood and adolescence.