Cognitive-Affective Factors Linking Experiences of Daily Discrimination with Adult Psychopathology and Risky Health Behaviors

Abstract

Although a growing literature describes an association between experiences of discrimination and health behaviors, the factors that help maintain this relationship remain incompletely characterized. The current study investigated how interpersonal discrimination relates cross-sectionally to cognitive-affective processes and health behaviors in a diverse sample of 250 community adults aged 18-54 (M/SD = 30.47/9.67). A path analysis revealed that, as the frequency of discrimination increased, so did disruptions in emotional processes, current symptoms of psychopathology, and risky health behaviors. Moreover, relatively greater emotion dysregulation, higher perceived stress, and poorer impulse control during negative and positive emotional states partially accounted for the associations between discrimination, current psychopathology symptoms, and recent risky behavior. Associations between discrimination and these health behaviors remained after accounting for history of trauma exposure. These findings implicate discrimination as a key correlate of health behaviors and provide new insights into cognitive-affective constructs that partially account for the apparent increase in psychopathology symptoms and risky behavior that occurs with greater exposure to discrimination. Together, results underscore the importance of further clarifying how discrimination impacts health behaviors.

Keywords: delay discounting; emotion dysregulation; impulsivity; marginalized groups; perceived stress.