%0 Journal Article %J Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences %D 2018 %T Psychosocial Mechanisms Underlying Older Black Men's Health. %A Tyson H Brown %A Taylor W. Hargrove %K Depressive symptoms %K Discrimination %K Intersectionality %K Racial/ethnic differences %X

Objectives: To evaluate the psychosocial mechanisms underlying older Black men's self-rated health, we examined: (a) the individual, cumulative, and collective effects of stressors on health; (b) the direct effects of psychosocial resources on health; and (c) the stress-moderating effects of psychosocial resources.

Method: This study is based on a nationally representative sample of Black men aged 51-81 (N = 593) in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models of the psychosocial determinants of self-rated health draw on data from the HRS 2010 and 2012 Core datasets and Psychosocial Modules.

Results: Each of the six measures of stressors as well as a cumulative measure of stressors are predictive of worse self-rated health. However, when considered collectively, only two stressors (chronic strains and traumatic events) have statistically significant effects. Furthermore, two of the five psychosocial resources examined (mastery and optimism) have statistically significant protective effects, and prayer moderates the harmful effects of traumatic events on self-rated health.

Discussion: Conventional measures of stressors and coping resources-originally developed to account for variance in health outcomes among predominantly white samples-may not capture psychosocial factors most salient for older Black men's health. Future research should incorporate psychosocial measures that reflect their unique experiences.

%B Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences %V 73 %P 188-197 %8 01/2018 %G eng %N 2 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28977648?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1093/geronb/gbx091 %0 Journal Article %J J Health Soc Behav %D 2016 %T Using Multiple-hierarchy Stratification and Life Course Approaches to Understand Health Inequalities: The Intersecting Consequences of Race, Gender, SES, and Age. %A Tyson H Brown %A Liana J Richardson %A Taylor W. Hargrove %A Courtney S Thomas %K Age Factors %K Aged %K Aging %K Continental Population Groups %K Female %K Health Status Disparities %K Health Surveys %K Humans %K Male %K Middle Aged %K Sex Factors %K Social Class %K Socioeconomic factors %X

This study examines how the intersecting consequences of race-ethnicity, gender, socioeconomics status (SES), and age influence health inequality. We draw on multiple-hierarchy stratification and life course perspectives to address two main research questions. First, does racial-ethnic stratification of health vary by gender and/or SES? More specifically, are the joint health consequences of racial-ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic stratification additive or multiplicative? Second, does this combined inequality in health decrease, remain stable, or increase between middle and late life? We use panel data from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 12,976) to investigate between- and within-group differences in in self-rated health among whites, blacks, and Mexican Americans. Findings indicate that the effects of racial-ethnic, gender, and SES stratification are interactive, resulting in the greatest racial-ethnic inequalities in health among women and those with higher levels of SES. Furthermore, racial-ethnic/gender/SES inequalities in health tend to decline with age. These results are broadly consistent with intersectionality and aging-as-leveler hypotheses.

%B J Health Soc Behav %V 57 %P 200-22 %8 2016 06 %G eng %U https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4905600/ %N 2 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27284076?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1177/0022146516645165 %0 Journal Article %J Ethn Dis %D 2015 %T A Life Course Approach to Inequality: Examining Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Relationship between Early Life Socioeconomic Conditions and Adult Health Among Men. %A Taylor W. Hargrove %A Tyson H Brown %K Adult %K Aged %K ethnicity %K Humans %K Life Change Events %K Male %K Men's health %K Middle Aged %K Racial Groups %K Socioeconomic factors %K United States %X

OBJECTIVE: Previous research has documented a relationship between childhood socioeconomic conditions and adult health, but less is known about racial/ethnic differences in this relationship, particularly among men. This study utilizes a life course approach to investigate racial/ethnic differences in the relationships among early and later life socioeconomic circumstances and health in adulthood among men.

DESIGN: Panel data from the Health and Retirement Study and growth curve models are used to examine group differences in the relationships among childhood and adult socioeconomic factors and age-trajectories of self-rated health among White, Black and Mexican American men aged 51-77 years (N=4147).

RESULTS: Multiple measures of childhood socioeconomic status (SES) predict health in adulthood for White men, while significantly fewer measures of childhood SES predict health for Black and Mexican American men. Moreover, the health consequences of childhood SES diminish with age for Black and Mexican American men. The childhood SES-adult health relationship is largely explained by measures of adult SES for White men.

CONCLUSIONS: The life course pathways linking childhood SES and adult health differ by race/ethnicity among men. Similar to arguments that the universality of the adult SES-health relationship should not be assumed, results from our study suggest that scholars should not assume that the significance and nature of the association between childhood SES and health in adulthood is similar across race/ethnicity among men.

%B Ethn Dis %I 25 %V 25 %P 313-20 %8 2015 Aug 07 %G eng %N 3 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26674267?dopt=Abstract %2 PMC4671423 %4 Life course/race/ethnicity/health %$ 999999 %R 10.18865/ed.25.3.313 %0 Journal Article %J Family and community health %D 2015 %T Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Men's Health: Examining Psychosocial Mechanisms %A Tyson H Brown %A Taylor W. Hargrove %A Griffith, Derek M. %K Demographics %K Health Conditions and Status %K Women and Minorities %X This study uses data from the Health and Retirement Study and an approach informed by the Biopsychosocial Model of Racism as a Stressor to examine the extent to which socioeconomic status, stressors, discrimination, and neighborhood conditions are mechanisms underlying racial/ethnic disparities in functional limitations among men. Results reveal that racial/ethnic differences in socioeconomic status, stressors, discrimination, and neighborhood conditions-individually and collectively-account for a substantial proportion of racial/ethnic disparities in functional limitations. Findings suggest that the social determinants of health for men of color need to be more seriously considered in investigations of and efforts to address health disparities. %B Family and community health %I 38 %V 38 %P 307-18 %G eng %N 4 %4 stress/Racism/racial/Ethnic Differences/minorities/social determinants/health behavior %$ 999999 %R 10.1097/fch.0000000000000080 %0 Journal Article %J Women, Gender, and Families of Color %D 2013 %T Multidimensional Approaches to Examining Gender and Racial/Ethnic Stratification in Health %A Tyson H Brown %A Taylor W. Hargrove %K Demographics %K Healthcare %K Women and Minorities %X Extant research on health disparities has traditionally employed a unidimensional approach to stratification, focusing on gender and racial/ethnic inequality separately. Such studies implicitly assume that gender inequality is monolithic across racial/ethnic lines and that racial/ethnic stratification is similar for women and men. While informative, these traditional, unidimensional approaches artificially decouple gender and racial/ethnic inequality and, consequently, may obscure the gender-race/ethnicity-health relationship, thus limiting our understanding of the unique health experiences of women of color. This study extends prior research by using multidimensional approaches to examine whether gender and racial stratification combine in an additive or multiplicative fashion to shape functional health, consistent with double-jeopardy and intersectionality hypotheses, respectively. In addition, this study investigates the extent to which group differences in socioeconomic status (SES), health behaviors, and medical care explain gender-racial/ethnic disparities in health. We use data from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative sample of older adults, to address these questions among a diverse sample of black, white, and Mexican American men and women. Results reveal that women of color have worse functional health than all other gender-racial/ethnic groups and that the joint impacts of gender and racial/ethnic oppression on functional health are additive among Mexican Americans and multiplicative among blacks. We find that multidimensional approaches namely, double-jeopardy and intersectionality as well as examination of various potential mediators of health disparities provide a better understanding of how health is shaped by multiple social locations. %B Women, Gender, and Families of Color %I 1 %V 1 %P 180-206 %G eng %N 2 %4 health disparities/Socioeconomic Differences/socioeconomic Status/Minority/ethnic groups %$ 999999