The experience of stigmatizing events related to mental health can trigger chronic stress responses in individuals with mental health conditions. Although the psychological and social effects of stigma are well-documented, the direct physiological impact of mental health stigma, particularly its effect on cortisol secretion in response to acute stressors, has remained underexplored. This study aims to clarify how exposure to mental health stigma affects cortisol levels, thereby enriching our understanding of the full spectrum of stigma's impact on health and well-being. We hypothesized that exposure to mental health stigma would alter cortisol responses, potentially leading to either heightened or suppressed cortisol levels, indicative of a dysregulated stress response, especially among those with prior mental health diagnoses. However, our findings did not reveal statistically significant differences in cortisol reactivity, although trends suggest that stigmatizing conditions might decrease cortisol responses relative to supportive conditions. In this study, we measured cortisol levels before and after participants were exposed to controlled supportive or stigmatizing social interactions to examine these effects. These preliminary results underscore the complexity of the physiological pathways involved and highlight the need for further research to definitively map the relationship between mental health stigma and stress physiology.
Latinx/a/o people in the United States (U.S.) are disproportionately burdened by human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers. Despite the widespread availability of the HPV vaccine, uptake among Latinx/a/o adults remains low. Efforts to enhance HPV vaccine uptake in this population group requires identifying the factors driving such disparities. To address this gap in the literature, the proposed study examined correlates of HPV vaccination uptake among a sample of Latinx/a/o adults in the Greater Richmond Area. Latinx/a/o adults (N=90) that receive dental care at the VCU Dental Clinics were recruited to participate in a survey to assess correlates related to HPV vaccination. Chi-squared tests were used to compare differences in nativity status, sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, marital status), socioeconomic factors (educational attainment and household income), and health-related variables (insurance status) by HPV vaccine uptake (yes/no). Over a quarter (25.5)% of participants reported they have received the HPV vaccination. Nativity, marital status, and educational attainment were significantly associated with HPV vaccination (p=0.02, p=0.02, and p=0.03, respectively). Findings suggest the need to implement community grounded efforts to promote HPV vaccination among Latinx/a/o adults.
In sign languages, spatial relationships such as in, on, and under can be communicated with two main types of signs: analogical and lexical. Studying an emerging sign language, such as Lengua de Señas Nicaragüense (LSN), allows us to see the development of spatial language across time by comparing language produced by different cohorts. First cohort signers are the earliest users of LSN and their language reflects the early forms of LSN while later cohorts’ language reflects more recent changes to LSN. This study compared the spatial language of first (n=13), second (n=13), and third (n=12) cohort users of LSN to determine what linguistic forms used to communicate spatial relations emerged first. We hypothesized that analogical signs would appear more often in first-cohort signers as they are more specific and languages tend to conventionalize to general forms over time. We elicited spatial language from participants using a shielded communication task. The relationship between the type of spatial relation, in, on, or under, and the type of sign used (lexical, analogical) was also explored. Our study was able to capture the emergence of spatial language and a pattern that reflects language change from more specific to more categorical forms.
