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Discrimination, Stress, and Health Across the Life Course
Roland J. Thorpe, Carl V. Hill. Innovation in Aging, 2025-12-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Abstract There is a paucity of research that seeks to understand why race disparities in health across the life course remain elusive. Two such explanations that have been garnering attention are stress and discrimination. The symposium includes several papers addressing the effects of discrimination and stress on health disparities across the life course. Cobb used latent class analysis to identify discrimination subgroups among Black men aged 50 and older, finding that those in the Race/Ancestry Discrimination group had significantly lower odds of hospital visits. Thomas Tobin examined the association between everyday discrimination and multimorbidity among Black Americans, revealing that the discrimination-multimorbidity association was strongest among young adults and decreased among middle-aged and older adults. Kim conducted a multi-methods study on food insecurity and food environments, finding that residing in neighborhoods with low-income, low-vehicle access, and higher low-fat milk prices was associated with a greater risk of incident dementia. Qualitatively, food environmental factors relevant to healthy food purchasing and eating—both protective against dementia. Whilby characterized racial discrimination trajectories and identified correlates of the trajectories among Black adults, identifying individuals reporting higher levels of major lifetime experiences of discrimination and greater neighborhood social cohesion were associated with membership in the “moderate” and the “persistently high and increasing” racial discrimination trajectory groups. These findings highlight the variability in the cumulative patterning of racial discrimination and stress among midlife and older Black adults, providing insights into how these factors impact health outcomes in middle to late life.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Thorpe, R. J., & Hill, C. V. (2025). Discrimination, Stress, and Health Across the Life Course. Innovation in Aging. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaf122.1686
Vancouver
Thorpe RJ, Hill CV. Discrimination, Stress, and Health Across the Life Course. Innovation in Aging. 2025. doi:10.1093/geroni/igaf122.1686.
BibTeX
@article{thorpe2025-40d3b981,
author = {Thorpe, Roland J. and Hill, Carl V.},
title = {{Discrimination, Stress, and Health Across the Life Course}},
journal = {Innovation in Aging},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1093/geroni/igaf122.1686},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaf122.1686}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Cobb used latent class analysis to identify discrimination subgroups among Black men aged 50 and older, finding that those in the Race/Ancestry Discrimination group had significantly lower odds of hospital visits.
- Kim conducted a multi-methods study on food insecurity and food environments, finding that residing in neighborhoods with low-income, low-vehicle access, and higher low-fat milk prices was associated with a greater risk of incident dementia.
- Whilby characterized racial discrimination trajectories and identified correlates of the trajectories among Black adults, identifying individuals reporting higher levels of major lifetime experiences of discrimination and greater neighborhood social cohesion were associated with membership in the “moderate” and the “persistently high and increasing” racial discrimination trajectory groups.
- These findings highlight the variability in the cumulative patterning of racial discrimination and stress among midlife and older Black adults, providing insights into how these factors impact health outcomes in middle to late life.
Why it matters
This symposium summary reports that living in neighborhoods with low income, low vehicle access, and higher low-fat milk prices was linked to a greater risk of incident dementia. It describes associations only and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 27/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on institution's track record, so that was left out: it earned 26 of the 97 points we could judge it on, which is 27 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Innovation in Aging) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Innovation in Aging: journal h-index 48 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 0 / 7 | Cited 0 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.0 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 0 / 6 | Cited 0.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Carl V. Hill: h-index 17 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multicenter collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 0 institution(s) in 0 countries — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 26 / 97 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 26 of the 97 points we could judge it on is 27 out of 100. |
| Total | 27 / 100 | — |
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