2022 Undergraduate Research Symposium: Basma Adel Graduate co-author: Jacqueline Rodriguez-Stanley An individual’s perception of their discriminatory experiences has an important impact on their depressive symptoms. Some studies have shown that higher levels of perceived discrimination led to worse mental health conditions, including depressive symptoms and anxiety. Discrimination is the unfair treatment of an individual by others based on their gender, race, sexual orientation, age, and other factors. Our empirical study investigated the relationship between everyday discrimination, major lifetime discrimination, and depressive symptoms using data from 211 older African American adults in the Health among Older adults Living in Detroit (HOLD) study. The double disadvantage hypothesis explains that individuals who are disadvantaged in one stratification are disadvantaged in other stratifications including race, gender, and other factors. We implemented this hypothesis in our investigation and found that men reported experiencing more major lifetime discriminatory experiences than women. Study results also revealed that there was a significant positive correlation between everyday discrimination and major discrimination experiences and depressive symptoms. However, gender did not moderate this relationship. Our findings add to the existing literature by having investigated this relationship in older African American adults. Future studies should explore how various coping styles in men affect how they handle stressors, including discriminatory events. Studies should also investigate sex differences regarding how men and women process their thoughts and emotions through coping methods and seeking out social support.

2. Authors
Everyday Discrimination, Gender Differences in Major Lifetime
Discrimination, and Depressive Symptoms in Older African American
Adults: An Empirical Study
Basma Adel1,2
Jacqueline Rodriguez-Stanley1
Dr. Samuele Zilioli, PhD*1,3
Department of Psychology, Wayne State University1
Department of Biological Sciences, Wayne State University2
Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne
State University3

3.  An individual’s perception of their discriminatory experiences has an important impact on
their depressive symptoms.
 Discrimination is when an individual is unfairly treated by others based on their gender, race,
sexual orientation, age, and other factors (Thoits, 2010).
 Discrimination is a social stressor and can be categorized as everyday discriminatory
experiences and major experiences of discrimination (Thoits, 2010).
 Some studies have shown that higher levels of perceived discrimination led to worse mental
health conditions, including DSM-IV mental disorders, depressive symptoms and anxiety
(Barnes et al., 2012; Luo et al., 2012; Mouzon et al., 2016).
 Our empirical study investigated the relationship between everyday discrimination, major
lifetime discrimination, and depressive symptoms using data from 211 older African
American adults in the Health among Older adults Living in Detroit (HOLD) study.
 We implemented the double disadvantage hypothesis in our investigation and found that men
reported experiencing more major discriminatory experiences than women. Gender did not
act as a moderator in the relationship we studied.
 Future studies should explore how various coping styles in men affect how they handle
stressors, including discriminatory events. Studies should also investigate sex differences
regarding how men and women process their thoughts and emotions using coping methods
and seeking out social support.
Abstract

4. Introduction
• Stress Theory: disadvantaged groups have fewer coping resources and greater exposure to
stressors than privileged groups. This theory may be used to examine how multiple forms of
discrimination and the frequency of discrimination exposure affect health (Grollman 2012).
• There is a positive relationship between perceived everyday discrimination and depressive
symptoms in older African American adults (Mouzon et al., 2016; Nadimpalli et al., 2014; Qin
et al., 2020).
• Few studies explored sex differences, with some finding that African American men had lower
depressive symptom scores and reported more experiences of everyday discrimination and
racial discrimination than women (Brownlow et al., 2019; Saelee et al., 2019).
• Black Americans reported more experiences of everyday and major lifetime discrimination
than White Americans, with women reporting less discriminatory experiences than men (Luo
et al., 2012).
• Older Black adults had the greatest amount of everyday discrimination and major lifetime
discrimination compared compared to White and Latino adults. There was a mild association
between major discrimination and depressive symptoms and a moderate association between
everyday discrimination and depressive symptoms (Ayalon & Gum, 2010).

5. Introduction
Hypotheses:
 There will be a positive correlation between everyday discrimination and major lifetime
discrimination and depressive symptoms.
 Men will report more frequent everyday discrimination and major lifetime
discrimination experiences than women.
 Women will report higher depressive symptom scores than men.
 Gender will moderate the relationship between everyday discrimination and major
lifetime discrimination and depressive symptoms.

6. Methodology
Participants
• Data was collected from a sample of 211 African American adults ages 50-89 years
in the Health among Older adults Living in Detroit (HOLD) study
• 105 of the participants were recruited through the Institute of Gerontology’s
Healthy Black Elders Center Participant Research Pool.
• 73.3% female, Mage= 67.57 ± 8.452 years
Eligibility
• African American
• Residing in the city of Detroit
• Older than 50 years old
Procedure
• November 2017-March 2020
Home Visit 1  Home Visit 2

Individual
Home Activities

7. Measures
Major Experiences of Discrimination
(MED) Scale
• (Sternthal & Slopen, 2011)
• 6 items collected during the first
home visit.
• e.g. “How many times have you
been unfairly stopped, searched,
questioned, physically threatened or
abused by the police?”
Everyday Discrimination Scale
(EDS)
• (Williams et al., 1997)
• 5 items collected during the daily
diary period
• 1= Never to 6= Almost everyday
• e.g. “In your day-to-day life,
how often are you treated with
less courtesy than other people?”
Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression
(CESD) Scale
• (Radloff, 1977)
• 10 scale items collected during the first home
visit
• 1= Rarely or none of the time to 4= Most of the
time
• e.g. “I was depressed” and “I had trouble
keeping my mind on what I was doing”

8. Results
Gender and Depression
There was no gender difference in depressive symptoms (t(209) = 1.69, p = .093).
Gender and Discrimination
Men reported more MED than women (t(83.6) = 2.57, p = .012)
There was no gender difference in the EDS (t(73.2) = 1.16, p = .248)
Discrimination Predicting Depression
EDS was significantly associated with depressive symptoms (b =.124, SE = .036, p < .001)
MED was significantly associated with depressive symptoms (b = .10, SE = .026, p < .001)
Moderation Results
Gender did not moderate the relationship between the EDS and depressive symptoms (b =
.112, SE = .248, p = .651).
There was no gender difference in MED predicting depressive symptoms (b = .463, SE =
.333, p = .166)

9. Table 1. Mean, standard deviation (SD), and correlation coefficients among study variables.
Note. EvDisc = Everyday Discrimination; MajDisc= Major Experiences of Discrimination;
DepSymp= Depressive Symptoms.
a unit in years.
b N was displayed.
c Percentage was displayed.
*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.
Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. EvDisc -
2. MajDisc .403*** -
3. DepSymp .183** .276** -
4. Age –.031 –.173* –.194** -
5. Pre-Tax Income .069 –.052 –.321** .292** -
6. Physical Health –.046 .091 .411** –.209** –.408** -
7. Female –.096 –.191** –.116 .319** .051 –.048 -
Mean 1.86 0.93 1.61 67.57a 4.95 2.85 154b
SD 0.82 1.13 0.49 8.45 2.51 0.96 73.3c

10. Discussion
In support of my hypotheses, I found:
 A significant positive correlation between everyday discrimination and major
experiences of discrimination and depressive symptoms.
• The literature supports these findings (Mouzon et al., 2016; Nadimpalli et al.,
2014; Qin et al., 2020)
 Men reported more major lifetime discrimination experiences than women.
• Women less likely to encounter instances (e.g., police encounter) described in
the MED scale (Luo et al., 2012; Kwate & Goodman, 2015).
Contrary to what was expected:
 There were no gender differences in the EDS and depressive symptoms.
• MED questionnaire items differ from items in the EDS scale
• 73.3% female participants in the sample
 Gender did not moderate the relationship between EDS, MED, and depressive
symptoms.
• Mixed findings regarding the variables which may or may not moderate this
relationship, including socioeconomic status, education levels (Nadimpalli et
al., 2014; Yoon et al., 2019).
• Sex differences moderate relationship between specific types of racial
discrimination (e.g., individual, cultural, institutional) and mental health
outcomes (Brownlow et al., 2019).

11. • Strengths:
– Novel Findings: Studies a sample of 211 older African American Adults
– Findings on the positive relationship between perceived discrimination and
depressive symptoms agree with previous literature on African American adults
(Barnes et al., 2012; Luo et al., 2012; Mouzon et al., 2016)
• Weaknesses:
– Studies should replicate this project with a larger sample of male participants
because the HOLD study was composed of 73.3% female participants
– Snowball Sampling
• Future Directions:
– Explore how various coping styles in men affect how they handle stressors,
including discriminatory events
– Explore sex differences regarding how men and women process stressful
situations through coping methods and seeking out social support
– Examine other variables (e.g., socioeconomic status) that can explain the
relationship between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms
Conclusion

12. Ayalon, L., & Gum, A. M. (2011). The relationships between major lifetime discrimination, everyday discrimination, and mental health in three
racial and ethnic groups of older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 15(5), 587-594. doi:10.1080/13607863.2010.543664
Barnes, L. L., Lewis, T. T., Begeny, C. T., Yu, L., Bennett, D. A., & Wilson, R. S. (2012). Perceived discrimination and cognition in older
African Americans. Journal of International Neuropsychological Society, 18(5), 856– 865. doi:10.1017/S1355617712000628
Brownlow, B. N., Sosoo, E. E., Long, R. N., Hoggard, L. S., Burford, T. I., & Hill, L. K. (2019). Sex differences in the impact of racial
discrimination on mental health among black americans. Current Psychiatry Reports, 21(11), 1-14. doi:10.1007/s11920-019-1098-9
Grollman, E. A. (2012). Multiple forms of perceived discrimination and health among adolescents and young adults. Journal of Health and Social
Behavior, 53(2), 199-214. doi:10.1177/0022146512444289
Kwate, N. O. A., & Goodman, M. S. (2015). Racism at the intersections: Gender and socioeconomic differences in the experience of racism
among african americans. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 85(5), 397-408. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000086
Luo, Y., Xu, J., Granberg, E., & Wentworth, W. M. (2012). A longitudinal study of social status, perceived discrimination, and physical and
emotional health among older adults. Research on Aging, 34(3), 275-301. doi:10.1177/0164027511426151
Mouzon, D. M., Taylor, R. J., Keith, V. M., Nicklett, E. J., & Chatters, L. M. (2016). Discrimination and psychiatric disorders among older
african americans: Discrimination and psychiatric disorders. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 32(2), 175-182. doi:10.1002/gps.4454
Nadimpalli, S. B., James, B. D., Yu, L., Cothran, F., & Barnes, L. L. (2014). The association between discrimination and depressive symptoms
among older african americans: The role of psychological and social factors. Experimental Aging Research, 41(1), 1-24.
doi:10.1080/0361073X.2015.978201
Qin, W., Nguyen, A. W., Mouzon, D. M., Hamler, T. C., & Wang, F. (2020). Social support, everyday discrimination, and depressive symptoms
among older african americans: A longitudinal study. Innovation in Aging, 4(5), igaa032-igaa032. doi:10.1093/geroni/igaa032
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological
Measurement, 1, 385-401.
Saelee, R., Vaccarino, V., Sullivan, S., Hammadah, M., Shah, A., Wilmot, K., Abdelhadi, N., Elon, L., Pimple, P., Kaseer, B., Levantsevych, O.,
Bremner, J. D., & Lewis, T. T. (2019). Longitudinal associations between self-reported experiences of discrimination and depressive symptoms in
young women and men post- myocardial infarction. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 124, 109782. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2019.109782
Sternthal, M.J., Slopen, N., Williams, D.R. “Racial Disparities in Health.” Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 2011; 8: 95-113.
Thoits, P. A. (2010). Stress and Health: Major Findings and Policy Implications. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51(1_suppl), S41-53.
doi:10.1177/0022146510383499
Williams, D.R., Yu, Y., Jackson, J.S., and Anderson, N.B. “Racial Differences in Physical and Mental Health: Socioeconomic Status, Stress, and
Discrimination.” Journal of Health Psychology. 1997; 2(3):335-351.
References

13. Acknowledgments
I would like to thank faculty mentor and Primary Investigator Dr. Samuele Zilioli and Doctoral
Candidate Jacqueline Rodriguez-Stanley for guiding me throughout the research and writing process for
my Honors Thesis. I would also like to thank the HOLD research team for their contributions to the
HOLD study.
Project Manager: Dan Saleh
Data Managers: Russell Houpt, Julian Bruinsma
Research Assistants:
Maryam Adel
Rida Farook
Danielle Ford
Jeannette German
Edwin Jurado
Jasleen Kaur
Clinton LeClerc
Lena Lewis
Tiara Perkins
Bijan Sagman
Ryan Sparks
Arlene Tharakan