Childhood racial discrimination and adult allostatic load: The role of Indigenous cultural continuity in allostatic resiliency

Objective: To examine the association between racial discrimination experienced in childhood on allostatic load (AL) in adulthood, and whether this association differed by cultural continuity among Indigenous adults. Method: Data were collected from Indigenous adults attending university in a small city in western Canada between 2015 and 2017 (N = 105). The frequency of childhood racial discrimination was measured using an item modified from the Experience of Discrimination Scale. AL was measured as a composite of 7 biomarkers assessing neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune system function. Cultural continuity was measured using the Vancouver Index Enculturation Scale. Bootstrapped linear regression models examined associations adjusted for confounders, with and without stratification by a dichotomized measure of Indigenous cultural continuity. Results: Most Indigenous adults (72.3%) experienced racial discrimination some or most of the time in childhood. The frequency of child discrimination was significantly associated with AL, explaining 11% of the variance in adult AL score after adjustment for age and income. In the high cultural continuity group, there was no association between child discrimination and adult AL. In the low cultural continuity group, child discrimination was significantly associated with AL, explaining 21% of the variance in adult AL score. Conclusion: Childhood racial discrimination may have a biological toll on adult health through altered activation of the stress response system which could, over time, exacerbate health inequities in this population. High Indigenous cultural continuity served as a resilience factor that buffered the adverse impacts of childhood discrimination on adult AL score.