# Sharing the burden of discrimination: Parents as sources of resilience from adolescent obesity-related health risk

> **NIH NIH F32** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · 2020 · $69,426

## Abstract

Abstract
Research Project: African American (AA) and Hispanic/Latina (HL) female adolescents show markedly
elevated rates of obesity compared to their Non-Hispanic White (NHW) and male peers. Minority and female
youth also experience increased discrimination-related stress; stress-induced alterations to physiology and
behavior may partially account for these disparities in obesity prevalence. Guided by attachment theory, an
influential paradigm that has never before been applied to the study of obesity-related health disparities, this
project takes a resilience-focused approach, proposing that parents can buffer the impact of discrimination on
youth. When parents serve as a safe haven (SH), providing comfort when youth face threat, and a secure base
(SB), encouraging youth to actively cope with stressors in the environment, they help to strengthen youth’s
ability to withstand discrimination with less physiological wear and tear. Attachment theory proposes that
SH/SB can be measured both behaviorally and physiologically, as SH/SB exchanges affect both parent and
youth Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) activity. Participants include 120 female adolescents (1/3 AA, 1/3 HL,
1/3 NHW; 1/3 obese, 1/3 overweight, 1/3 typical weight) and their caregivers, enrolled in an R01 study of
adolescent stress and obesity-related health parameters (body composition, physiology, energy balance, and
cardio-metabolic markers). Attachment relationships are measured during parent-youth discussions of youth
experiences of discrimination. Both parent SH/SB behavior and parent-youth ANS activity linkage are
assessed as indices of attachment. The study’s first aim tests whether associations between youth
discrimination and obesity-related health are moderated by a) coded SH/SB or b) parent-youth ANS linkage.
The second aim identifies catalysts of this health-protective parenting (SH/SB and physiology) for parents who
have been exposed to discrimination. Parents’ history of discrimination may either reduce or enhance their
sensitive responses to youth’s experiences of discrimination, depending on the parent’s capacity for reflective
functioning, the ability to attune to youth’s thoughts, emotions, and intentions. The proposed study adds
parent-youth discrimination discussions to an existing, data-rich study of adolescent obesity disparities. By
identifying attachment relationships as reducing the obesogenic effect of discrimination, this project lays the
foundation for the future development of dyadic obesity interventions for at-risk minority youth.
Training Plan and Environment: Post-doctoral training will launch PI Kazmierski’s research career as a
clinical psychologist who studies social determinants of health for at-risk youth. Via research, coursework,
mentorship, and professional development activities, the proposed fellowship will endow Ms. Kazmierski with
increased mastery of the theories, methodologies, and statistical approaches used in health disparities
research. W...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10000775
- **Project number:** 5F32MD014050-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Kelly Frances Miller Kazmierski
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $69,426
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-19 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10000775

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10000775, Sharing the burden of discrimination: Parents as sources of resilience from adolescent obesity-related health risk (5F32MD014050-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10000775. Licensed CC0.

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