Ryon J Cobb
Ryon J. Cobb, Ph.D. an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the Rutgers University. He is an award-winning scholar of ethnoracial identification, religion, and the health implications of socially oppressive systems among adults in the United States. His 18 peer-reviewed articles and other publications appear in high-impact interdisciplinary outlets such as Ethnic and Racial Studies, the Journals of Gerontology: Series A, and the Sociology of Religion. He also disseminates his research findings at inter/national meetings and via expert panels sponsored by the Ford Foundation and Smithsonian Institute.
Several agencies within and outside the National Institutes of Health recognize his accomplishments and promise as a researcher. Early in his graduate career, Dr. Cobb acquired funding from the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, Louisville Institute, and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Recently, two signature NIH programs for early-career scholars selected him, through a competitive process, as an early-career faculty fellow. Both programs provide him with pilot funding and mentored training in grantsmanship to refine critical skills for writing NIH-level applications centered on reducing ethnoracial disparities and improving the renal health of older Black adults.
Supervisors: Jennifer Ailshire, Jill Quadagno, and Eileen Crimmins
Phone: 213.373.4553
Address: Rutgers University
School of Social Work
120 Albany Street, Tower One - Suite 200
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Website: https://socialwork.rutgers.edu/node/593
Several agencies within and outside the National Institutes of Health recognize his accomplishments and promise as a researcher. Early in his graduate career, Dr. Cobb acquired funding from the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, Louisville Institute, and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Recently, two signature NIH programs for early-career scholars selected him, through a competitive process, as an early-career faculty fellow. Both programs provide him with pilot funding and mentored training in grantsmanship to refine critical skills for writing NIH-level applications centered on reducing ethnoracial disparities and improving the renal health of older Black adults.
Supervisors: Jennifer Ailshire, Jill Quadagno, and Eileen Crimmins
Phone: 213.373.4553
Address: Rutgers University
School of Social Work
120 Albany Street, Tower One - Suite 200
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Website: https://socialwork.rutgers.edu/node/593
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Peer Reviewed Journal Articles by Ryon J Cobb
Methods: The data were from 10,973 respondents (ages 52-100) in the 2006/2008 Health and Retirement Study, an ongoing biennial nationally representative survey of older adults in the United States. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) derives from the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation. Our indicator of everyday discrimination is drawn from self-reports from respondents. Ordinary Least Squared regression (OLS) models with robust standard errors are applied to test hypotheses regarding the link between everyday discrimination and kidney function.
Results: Everyday discrimination was associated with poorer kidney function among respondents in our study. Respondents with higher everyday discrimination scores had lower eGFR after adjusting for demographic characteristics (B=-1.35, p<.05), and while attenuated, remained significant (B=-.79, p<.05) after further adjustments for clinical, health behavior, and socioeconomic covariates.
Conclusions: Our study suggests everyday discrimination is independently associated with lower eGFR. These findings highlight the importance of psychosocial factors in predicting insufficiency in kidney function among middle-aged and older adults.
METHODS. Data from the 2006/2008 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), an ongoing biennial nationally representative sample of older adults in the United States, was used to collect measures of self-reported instances of major discrimination and high-risk C-reactive protein (CRP), which was assayed from blood samples. Modified Poisson regression with robust standard errors was applied to estimate the prevalence ratios of self-reported instances of major discrimination, as it relates to high-risk CRP (CRP≥ 22 kg/m2), and test whether this relationship varies by race/ethnicity.
RESULTS. Respondents who experienced any instances of major discrimination had a higher likelihood of high-risk CRP (prevalence ratio [PR]: 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.07–1.22) than those who did not report experiencing any instances of major discrimination. The relationship between any self-reported instance of major discrimination and high-risk CRP was weaker for Blacks than Whites (PR: 0.81, 95% CI = 0.69–0.95).
CONCLUSIONS. Self-reported instances of major discrimination is associated with a higher likelihood of high-risk CRP among older adults; this association is especially pronounced among older Whites. Future studies should examine whether the interplay between self-reported instances of major discrimination, race/ethnicity, and high-risk CRP changes over time.
Design: This study uses data from the 1982 General Social Survey (N=1,689) data linked to the National Death Index until 2008. We use this data to examine the links between race, observed skin tone among blacks, and all-cause mortality. Piecewise exponential hazard modeling was used to estimate disparities in skin tone mortality among blacks, and relative to whites. The multivariate models control for age, education, gender, region, metropolitan statistical area, marital status, labor force status, and household income.
Results: Observed skin tone is a significant determinant of mortality among blacks and in relation to whites. Very light and very dark skinned blacks had the lowest mortality hazards among blacks, while respondents with medium and dark brown skin experienced significantly higher mortality. The observed skin tone mortality disparities covaried with education; there are significant mortality disparities across observed skin tone groups among black respondents with high school or more education, and nonsignificant disparities among those with less education.
Conclusion: It is crucial to identify the social processes driving racial disparities in health and mortality. The findings suggest that the nuanced social experiences of blacks with different observed skin tones markedly change the experience of racial inequality. Research on the nuanced social processes that connect differences in observed skin tone to health outcomes promises to better illuminate the experience of racial inequality and policy mechanisms we can use to undermine it.
Method. Drawing upon pooled data from the General Social Survey and the National Congregations Study, we fit binary logistic regression models to estimate the association between congregational diversity and the explanations of Black/White economic inequality among Black religious adherents.
Results. Findings from our study reveal that congregational diversity is one factor that accounts for intragroup differences in racial attitudes among Black religious affiliates. Relative to Blacks that attend religious services in overwhelmingly Black congregations, Blacks that attend religious services in congregations that are overwhelmingly White are significantly less likely to attribute Black/White socioeconomic gaps to a lack of educational opportunities.
Conclusion. Our study demonstrates that congregational diversity is a source of intragroup variation in racial attitudes among Black religious affiliates, which may attenuate the ability of such congregations to bridge racial divisions.
Book Chapters by Ryon J Cobb
Book Reviews by Ryon J Cobb
Papers by Ryon J Cobb
Methods: The data were from 10,973 respondents (ages 52-100) in the 2006/2008 Health and Retirement Study, an ongoing biennial nationally representative survey of older adults in the United States. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) derives from the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation. Our indicator of everyday discrimination is drawn from self-reports from respondents. Ordinary Least Squared regression (OLS) models with robust standard errors are applied to test hypotheses regarding the link between everyday discrimination and kidney function.
Results: Everyday discrimination was associated with poorer kidney function among respondents in our study. Respondents with higher everyday discrimination scores had lower eGFR after adjusting for demographic characteristics (B=-1.35, p<.05), and while attenuated, remained significant (B=-.79, p<.05) after further adjustments for clinical, health behavior, and socioeconomic covariates.
Conclusions: Our study suggests everyday discrimination is independently associated with lower eGFR. These findings highlight the importance of psychosocial factors in predicting insufficiency in kidney function among middle-aged and older adults.
METHODS. Data from the 2006/2008 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), an ongoing biennial nationally representative sample of older adults in the United States, was used to collect measures of self-reported instances of major discrimination and high-risk C-reactive protein (CRP), which was assayed from blood samples. Modified Poisson regression with robust standard errors was applied to estimate the prevalence ratios of self-reported instances of major discrimination, as it relates to high-risk CRP (CRP≥ 22 kg/m2), and test whether this relationship varies by race/ethnicity.
RESULTS. Respondents who experienced any instances of major discrimination had a higher likelihood of high-risk CRP (prevalence ratio [PR]: 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.07–1.22) than those who did not report experiencing any instances of major discrimination. The relationship between any self-reported instance of major discrimination and high-risk CRP was weaker for Blacks than Whites (PR: 0.81, 95% CI = 0.69–0.95).
CONCLUSIONS. Self-reported instances of major discrimination is associated with a higher likelihood of high-risk CRP among older adults; this association is especially pronounced among older Whites. Future studies should examine whether the interplay between self-reported instances of major discrimination, race/ethnicity, and high-risk CRP changes over time.
Design: This study uses data from the 1982 General Social Survey (N=1,689) data linked to the National Death Index until 2008. We use this data to examine the links between race, observed skin tone among blacks, and all-cause mortality. Piecewise exponential hazard modeling was used to estimate disparities in skin tone mortality among blacks, and relative to whites. The multivariate models control for age, education, gender, region, metropolitan statistical area, marital status, labor force status, and household income.
Results: Observed skin tone is a significant determinant of mortality among blacks and in relation to whites. Very light and very dark skinned blacks had the lowest mortality hazards among blacks, while respondents with medium and dark brown skin experienced significantly higher mortality. The observed skin tone mortality disparities covaried with education; there are significant mortality disparities across observed skin tone groups among black respondents with high school or more education, and nonsignificant disparities among those with less education.
Conclusion: It is crucial to identify the social processes driving racial disparities in health and mortality. The findings suggest that the nuanced social experiences of blacks with different observed skin tones markedly change the experience of racial inequality. Research on the nuanced social processes that connect differences in observed skin tone to health outcomes promises to better illuminate the experience of racial inequality and policy mechanisms we can use to undermine it.
Method. Drawing upon pooled data from the General Social Survey and the National Congregations Study, we fit binary logistic regression models to estimate the association between congregational diversity and the explanations of Black/White economic inequality among Black religious adherents.
Results. Findings from our study reveal that congregational diversity is one factor that accounts for intragroup differences in racial attitudes among Black religious affiliates. Relative to Blacks that attend religious services in overwhelmingly Black congregations, Blacks that attend religious services in congregations that are overwhelmingly White are significantly less likely to attribute Black/White socioeconomic gaps to a lack of educational opportunities.
Conclusion. Our study demonstrates that congregational diversity is a source of intragroup variation in racial attitudes among Black religious affiliates, which may attenuate the ability of such congregations to bridge racial divisions.