Early Childhood Adversity, Toxic Stress, and the Impacts of Racism on the Foundations of Health.
Shonkoff JP, Slopen N, Williams DR.
Annu Rev Public Health. 2021 04 01. 42:115-134. PMID: 33497247
Primary Faculty
David Williams
Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor of Public Health
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Other Positions
Chair, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor of Public Health in the School of Public Health and Professor of African and African American Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
African and African American Studies -Sr. Faculty
Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Affiliate of the Department of Sociology
Sociology -Other Academic
Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Overview
My research interests include race, socioeconomic status (SES), and health; racism and health; racial discrimination, stress, and health; social influences on mental health; and religious involvement and health. During an academic career spanning three decades at Yale, Michigan and Harvard, I have developed a strong record of theoretical analysis and empirical research focused on understanding the ways in which psychosocial factors can affect health and contribute to socioeconomic and racial disparities in health. My research has shown how location in social contexts and structures shape behavioral patterns and other psychosocial vulnerabilities and strengths, and unfold over the life course, to affect health and access to and utilization of care. I have also examined the role of residential segregation and other factors linked to geographic location that can affect racial and SES disparities in health. I have been increasingly interested in how interactions between biological susceptibilities and exposures in the psychosocial and physical environment can affect SES and racial/ethnic inequalities in health. I have been involved in the development of comprehensive but brief batteries of stressors for use in large epidemiological studies. The Everyday Discrimination Scale that I developed is one of the most widely used measures of discrimination in health studies. Much of my research has involved the analysis of large epidemiological studies, and I have extensive training in quantitative research strategies and substantial research experience analyzing large, complex data sets.
B.Th., 1976
University of the Southern Caribbean , Maracas Valley, Trinidad
M.Div., 1979
Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI
M.P.H., 1981, Health Education
Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA
M.A., 1984, Sociology
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Ph.D., 1986, Sociology
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Elected Member, National Academy of Medicine
National Academy of Medicine
Decade of Behavior Research Award
Ranked as one of the Top Ten Most Cited Researchers in the Social Sciences in the past decade
ISI Essential Science Indicators
Elected Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Ranked as the Most Cited Black Scholar in the Social Sciences in 2008
The Journal of Black Issues in Higher Education
Leo G. Reeder Award for Distinguished Contributions to Medical Sociology
American Sociological Association
Stephen Smith Award for Distinguished Contributions in Public Health
New York Academy of Medicine
Top Blacks in Healthcare
BlackDoctor.org and Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions
Lemuel Shattuck Award for Significant Contributions to the Field of Public Health
Massachusetts Public Health Association
Ranked one of the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds Psychiatry/Psychology & Social Sciences
Thomson Reuters
Distinguished Leadership in Psychology Award, Committee on Socioeconomic Status
American Psychological Association
Leonard I. Pearlin Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Sociological Study of Mental Health
American Sociological Association
Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
St. Lucia Medal of Merit (Gold)
Government of St. Lucia
Goodwill Ambassador
Government of St. Lucia
Bibliography
Barriers to Mental Health Service Use and Predictors of Treatment Drop Out: Racial/Ethnic Variation in a Population-Based Study.
Green JG, McLaughlin KA, Fillbrunn M, Fukuda M, Jackson JS, Kessler RC, Sadikova E, Sampson NA, Vilsaint C, Williams DR, Cruz-Gonzalez M, Alegría M.
Adm Policy Ment Health. 2020 07. 47(4):606-616. PMID: 32076886
How Early Life Adversities Influence Later Life Family Interactions for Individuals with Schizophrenia in Outpatient Treatment: A Qualitative Analysis.
Misra S, Johnson KA, Parnarouskis LM, Koenen KC, Williams DR, Gelaye B, Borba CPC.
Community Ment Health J. 2020 08. 56(6):1188-1200. PMID: 32385585
Patterns of care and dropout rates from outpatient mental healthcare in low-, middle- and high-income countries from the World Health Organization's World Mental Health Survey Initiative.
Fernández D, Vigo D, Sampson NA, Hwang I, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Al-Hamzawi AO, Alonso J, Andrade LH, Bromet EJ, de Girolamo G, de Jonge P, Florescu S, Gureje O, Hinkov H, Hu C, Karam EG, Karam G, Kawakami N, Kiejna A, Kovess-Masfety V, Medina-Mora ME, Navarro-Mateu F, Ojagbemi A, O'Neill S, Piazza M, Posada-Villa J, Rapsey C, Williams DR, Xavier M, Ziv Y, Kessler RC, Haro JM.
Psychol Med. 2020 Apr 28. 1-13. PMID: 32343221
A Structural Model of Social Determinants of the Metabolic Syndrome.
Smith KW, Krieger N, Kosheleva A, Urato M, Waterman PD, Williams DR, Carney DR, Chen JT, Bennett GG, Freeman E.
Ethn Dis. 2020. 30(2):331-338. PMID: 32346279
Pervasive Discrimination and Allostatic Load in African American and White Adults.
Van Dyke ME, Baumhofer NK, Slopen N, Mujahid MS, Clark CR, Williams DR, Lewis TT.
Psychosom Med. 2020 04. 82(3):316-323. PMID: 32108740
Objective Measures of Sleep Apnea and Actigraphy-Based Sleep Characteristics as Correlates of Subjective Sleep Quality in an Epidemiologic Study: The Jackson Heart Sleep Study.
Johnson DA, Javaheri S, Guo N, Champion CL, Sims JF, Brock MP, Sims M, Patel SR, Williams DR, Wilson JG, Redline S.
Psychosom Med. 2020 04. 82(3):324-330. PMID: 31860528
Corrigendum to "The epidemiology of alcohol use disorders cross-nationally: Findings from the World Mental Health Surveys" [Addict. Behav. 102 (2020) 106128].
Glantz MD, Bharat C, Degenhardt L, Sampson NA, Scott KM, Lim CCW, Al-Hamzawi A, Alonso J, Andrade LH, Cardoso G, De Girolamo G, Gureje O, He Y, Hinkov H, Karam EG, Karam G, Kovess-Masfety V, Lasebikan V, Lee S, Levinson D, McGrath J, Medina-Mora ME, Mihaescu-Pintia C, Mneimneh Z, Moskalewicz J, Navarro-Mateu F, Posada-Villa J, Rapsey C, Stagnaro JC, Tachimori H, Have MT, Tintle N, Torres Y, Williams DR, Ziv Y, Kessler RC.
Addict Behav. 2020 Jul. 106:106381. PMID: 32209298
Trajectories of Online Racial Discrimination and Psychological Functioning Among African American and Latino Adolescents.
Tynes BM, English D, Del Toro J, Smith NA, Lozada FT, Williams DR.
Child Dev. 2020 09. 91(5):1577-1593. PMID: 31943164
Assessing the Role of Health Behaviors, Socioeconomic Status, and Cumulative Stress for Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Obesity.
Cuevas AG, Chen R, Slopen N, Thurber KA, Wilson N, Economos C, Williams DR.
Obesity (Silver Spring). 2020 01. 28(1):161-170. PMID: 31858741
News
The Age of Trauma
A global pandemic. Horrific acts of police violence. Political upheaval. The climate crisis.The opioid epidemic. With sources of stress piling up and intersecting in new ways, a growing number of mental health experts are looking to root-cause solutions.
More education usually means better health—but less so for Black men
Rising education levels typically lead to better health, but Black men in the U.S. are not benefiting as much as other groups, according to recent research.
Faculty News
Faculty awards and honors, appointments and promotions.
How racism chips away at health
Racism is having devastating effects on Black Americans’ physical and mental health, according to sociologist David Williams.
