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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 9, 2025

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents

Published on: July 10, 2017

Discrimination Exposure, Neural Reactivity to Stress, and Psychological Distress.

Devon K Grey¹, Juliann B Purcell¹, Kristen N Buford¹

¹Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham (Grey, Purcell, Buford, Mrug, Knight); Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, Pasadena, CA (Schuster); RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA (Elliott); UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Houston (Emery).

The American Journal of Psychiatry

|October 30, 2024

Summary

Adolescent discrimination exposure alters brain activity in regions regulating emotions, impacting mental health. This neural reactivity may explain disparities in psychological distress, including depression and anxiety.

Keywords:

Neuroimaging Sociopolitical Issues Stigma/Discrimination Stress

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Psychology
Mental Health Research

Background:

Discrimination exposure negatively impacts mental health, increasing risks for depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
Neural processes in emotion expression and regulation are suspected mediators, but specific mechanisms remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate the link between adolescent discrimination exposure and stress-elicited brain activity.
Examine the relationship between discrimination exposure and mental health symptoms in young adulthood.

Main Methods:

301 participants underwent functional MRI during the Montreal Imaging Stress Task.
Discrimination exposure was measured from ages 11-19; brain activity and psychological distress were assessed at age 20.

Main Results:

Stress-elicited activity in the dorsolateral/medial prefrontal cortex, inferior parietal lobule, and hippocampus varied with discrimination exposure.
Brain activity changes correlated with cumulative discrimination and its trajectory.
Depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms were linked to discrimination exposure.
Prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal lobule activity statistically mediated the discrimination-distress relationship.

Conclusions:

Adolescent discrimination exposure may alter neural responses to stressors, affecting susceptibility to psychological distress.
Altered stress-elicited neural reactivity may be a key neurobiological mechanism behind mental health disparities linked to discrimination.