Faculty Facilitator: Stephanie Cook, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics
Bridging the gap between statistics and social science application, The Attachment and Health Disparities Lab seeks to understand health disparities observed among young sexual and racial/ethnic minorities through the lens of Dr. Cook’s integrated theory of adult attachment and minority stress. Though current theoretical paradigms of attachment indicate how individuals respond to stress, these theories do not adequately account for the unique impact of social stressors on individual health and well-being, which may be of critical importance in understanding the drivers of health in marginalized populations. The negative social valuation of a marginalized identity—such as a sexual minority identity or a racial minority identity—causes stress in persons with a marginalized social status beyond the level of stress that people generally experience; this excess stress has been named minority stress. However, many theories of minority stress are limited and inadequately delineate the associations between attachment orientation, stress, and subsequent health outcomes. Making these theoretical and empirical linkages is important for understanding how to address health disparities among disadvantaged individuals who are at heightened risk for experiencing minority stress compared to other individuals (e.g., African-American youth, sexual minority men). Through the development of statistical models for determining associations between biological and behavioral risk factors and health outcomes, Dr. Cook’s research investigates the pathways and mechanisms located particularly at the intersection of marginalized identities that link attachment, minority stress, and health among disadvantaged individuals.