Table II.
Studies of the buffering effects of social support on the relationship of racism to mental or physical health indices
| Authors/Date | Sample | Support | Measures Racism | Outcome | Design | Main effects of social supporta | Buffering effects on healthb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fischer & Shaw (1999) | 119 AA college students | Proportion of casual, friend, and romantic relations with other AA | SRE | MHI | Correlational Cross-sectional, | (YES-POS) Proportion of relationships with AA/MHI | (NO) % AA friends/SRE/MH |
| Noh & Kaspar (2003) | 180 Korean adults from population based sample | Social support seeking when confronting discrimination | Perceived discrimination scale developed for study – series of items ranging from overt (threatened) to covert (ignored) | CES-D-K | Correlational cross sectional | (YES-POS) Social support seeking/CES-D | (NO) Support Seeking/SRE/MH |
| Sanders Thompson (2006) | 156 adults, Black, Asian, European, Hispanic, convenience sample | From the CRI: guidance and support seeking when experiencing specific racism event | Experiences of Discrimination Questionnaire (Thompson Sanders, 1995) | Impact of Events Scale (re-experiencing sx and avoidance sx) (Horowitz, et al., 1979) | Correlational, cross sectional, responses to specific racist event | (NO) Support seeking/Avoidance (NO) Support seeking/Re-experiencing |
(NO) Support seeking/Discrim./Avoidance (NO) Support seeking/Discrim./Re-experiencing |
| Finch & Vega (2003) | 3012 Mexican American adults, population based sample | Emotional Support Instrumental support # of family members in US # of friends/peers in US |
Perceived discrimination measures developed for study – (perception of being disliked, treated unfairly, friend treated unfairly) | Self-reported health (single item) | Correlational, cross sectional | (YES-POS) Emotional support (YES - POS) Instrumental support (YES-POS) Friends in US (YES-POS) Family in US |
(YES – B) Instrumental support/Discrim./Self-reported health |
| Clark (2003) | 64 AA college students, convenience sample | Sarason Social Support Survey (Sarason et al., 1987). SSN – number of supports SSQ – quality of support |
Life Experiences & Stress Scale (Harrell, 1997) | Baseline SBP, DBP Change in SBP, DBP |
Laboratory study, testing correlates of reactivity in response to mental arithmetic task | (YES-NEG) SSQ/Baseline SBP (NO) SSQ/baseline DBP (NO) SSN/baseline SBP (NO) SSN/baseline DBP |
(YES-I and Bc) SSN/perceived racism/SBP reactivity (YES-I and B) SSN/perceived racism/SBP reactivity |
| Clark & Gotchett (2006) | 217 AA youth, convenience sample | Coping responses to racism “talking to someone” | Everyday discrimination scale modified to include the statement “because of your race” | Resting BP | Correlational, cross-sectional | (NO) “Talking to someone” | (NO) “Talking to someone”/perceived racism/SBP and DBP level (YES-B) Low “Talking to someone”/high perceived racism/Elevated BP status |
| McNeilly et al (1995) | 30 AA adults, convenience sample | Presence or absence of supportive confederate | Racist provocation (i.e., debate with White confederate about racially noxious topics) vs. non-race-related topics | Baseline SBP, DBP Change in SBP, DBP in response to race-related and non-race-related stressors |
Laboratory study, manipulate the presence of absence of supportive confederate during two debates (race & non-race related) | N/A | (NO) Presence of support/racist provocation/BP |
Note. sx = symptoms; discrim. = discrimination. SBP = systolic blood pressure; DBP = diastolic blood pressure. BP = blood pressure. SRE = Schedule of Racist Events (Landrine & Klonoff, 1996). MHI = Mental Health Inventory (Veit & Ware, 1983). CES-D-K = Korean version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (Noh et al., 1998; Radloff, 1977). CRI = Coping Responses Inventory–Adult Form (Moos, 1993).
For main effects analysis, the type of support and specific outcome measure are listed as follows: type of support/outcome. The results are categorized as follows: (NO) = No main effect; (YES-POS) = Significant main effects such that increasing scores on listed dimensions of social support are associated with lower symptom reports; (YES-NEG) = Significant main effects such that increasing scores on listed dimensions of social support are associated with greater symptom reports.
(NO) = No buffering effect; (YES-I) = Significant interaction effect, such that the relationship of racism to symptoms is stronger for those with high scores on listed dimensions of social support. (YES-B) = Significant interaction effect, such that the relationship of racism to symptoms is weaker for those with high scores on listed dimensions of social support.
. For both SBP and DBP, the SSN is negatively related to BP reactivity for those reporting low levels of racism and positively related for those reporting high levels of racism.