Everyday discrimination frequency, intersectional attributions, and C-reactive Protein for Black midlife women who experience discrimination

Discrimination is a chronic psychosocial stressor that elevates the inflammation response. If chronically activated, this elevation may contribute to health risks such as cardiovascular disease and obesity among Black women, who disproportionately experience discrimination at the intersection of racism and sexism. We used cross-sectional data from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation to examine how both discrimination frequency and discrimination attributions (single gender, single race, or the intersection of gender and race) relate to levels of the inflammatory biomarker C-reactive protein (CRP) among Black midlife women (n= 209, M age = 52.67). Midlife represents a critical period for the emergence of cardiometabolic disease, making it an important developmental stage for understanding how discrimination shapes inflammation and health. Participants reported experiencing relatively frequent discrimination during one visit of the study. CRP levels were assayed from blood samples. Using the Detroit Area Study Everyday Discrimination Scale, women reported the frequency with which they experienced discrimination and selected all attributions for that experience from a list of potential social identity statuses. From these responses, we derived single-race, single-gender, and intersectional race-and-gender attribution categories. Linear regression analyses revealed that discrimination frequency was not significantly associated with CRP ( p =.424). There was no difference in CRP levels between those who made a single race attribution and those who made an intersectional attribution. Black women who made a single attribution to gender had higher CRP levels compared to those who made an intersectional attribution ( β =.14, 95% CI .21, 7.01, p =.038). Attributions of discrimination to gender but not, at least in some part, to race may increase health risks for Black midlife women if inflammation is chronically elevated. More research on the content of intersectional attributions of discrimination, above and beyond the frequency of exposure, is needed. • Most Black midlife women reported intersectional gendered racial discrimination. • The frequency of discrimination was not associated with C-reactive protein. • Black women who attributed discrimination to gender had higher C-reactive protein.