title: The relationship between cumulative unfair treatment and intima media thickness and adventitial diameter: The moderating role of race in the study of women's health across the nation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Unfair treatment may have a detrimental effect on cardiovascular health. However, little research on chronic health outcomes uses cumulative measures of unfair treatment. We tested whether cumulative unfair treatment was associated with greater subclinical cardiovascular disease in a diverse sample of African-American, Caucasian, Chinese, and Hispanic women. We also examined whether this relationship varied by race.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation is a longitudinal study of midlife women. Cumulative unfair treatment was calculated as the average of unfair treatment assessed over 10 years at 6 time points. Subclinical cardiovascular disease, specifically carotid intima media thickness and adventitial diameter, was assessed via carotid ultrasound conducted at study year 12 in 1,056 women. We tested whether cumulative unfair treatment was related to subclinical cardiovascular disease via linear regression, controlling for demographic factors including socioeconomic status and cardiovascular risk factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The relation between unfair treatment and subclinical cardiovascular disease significantly varied by race (ps < .05), with unfair treatment related to higher intima media thickness (B = .03, SE = .01, p = .009) and adventitial diameter (B = .02, SE = .009, p = .013) only among Caucasian women. No significant relations between unfair treatment and subclinical cardiovascular disease outcomes were observed for African-American, Hispanic, and Chinese women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that cumulative unfair treatment is related to worse subclinical cardiovascular disease among Caucasian women. These findings add to the growing literature showing that Caucasian women's experience of unfair treatment may have detrimental health implications. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Bryn Mawr College.
authors.forename: Laurel M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Karen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Matthews
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Derby
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Joyce T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Bromberger
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Rebecca C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Thurston
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D058070:Asymptomatic Diseases; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D063505:Racism; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology; D016387:Women's Health