Everyday discrimination, such as being treated unfairly based on one’s age, is prevalent in daily life. People who experience everyday discrimination more frequently tend to have poorer mental and physical health, including biomarkers of accelerated aging, compared to those who are exposed to less discrimination. These associations persist even after accounting for sociodemographic factors, such as education level, household income, and race/ethnicity. The UPLIFT Health Lab and our collaborators use ambulatory health monitoring to investigate the psychological, social, behavioural, and biological mechanisms that may underlie the influence of discrimination on health. We are also interested in the role of aging in this association. For example, does everyday discrimination exert a stronger influence on emotions and stress-related physiology in younger versus older adults? How do the impacts of everyday discrimination accumulate to influence longer-term health as we age?
Members involved: Dr. Nancy Sin, Lydia Ong
Recent publications: