Objective: To examine associations between maternal experiences of discrimination and child biomarkers of toxic stress in a multiethnic, urban sample of mothers and children (4-9 years).
Methods: Data were drawn from a cross-sectional study of maternal-child dyads (N = 54) living in low-income neighborhoods in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Mothers reported experiences of discrimination. Noninvasive biomarkers of toxic stress were collected to assess neuroendocrine (hair cortisol), immune (salivary cytokines, c-reactive protein), and cardiovascular (blood pressure) functioning in children.
Results: Maternal experiences of discrimination were associated with increased log-transformed salivary interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in children (β = 0.15, p = 0.02).
Conclusions: Vicarious racism, or indirect exposure to discrimination experienced by caregivers, is associated with poor health outcomes for children. Immune pathways may be a biological mechanism through which racial discrimination "gets under the skin," but additional research is needed to fully understand these relationships. Uncovering the physiological mechanisms linking vicarious racism with child health is an important step towards understanding possible early roots of racial and ethnic health inequities.
Keywords: Child health; Parenting; Racism; Social discrimination; Stress, physiological; Vicarious racism.