Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Biological and Perceived Chronic Stress: Does Group Identification Matter?

Objective: Hair cortisol has been recently identified as a biological index of stress via long-term alterations in HPA activity, although population norms and relationships to perceived stress measures have not yet been established. In the present study, 135 adults (ages 18-66; M = 30.26, SD = 12.80; 87 females) from the diverse UMass Boston campus participated in a study assessing chronic stress (via hair cortisol), perceived stress (via self-reported indices), and health indictors (WHR and blood pressure). Since hair grows on average 1cm per month, we captured approximately 3 months of retrospective cortisol levels. Results: Hair cortisol was uncorrelated with subjective stress indices, unless collapsed into a composite across several domains. Differences in objective and subjective stress measures were found for sociodemographic factors including racial/ethnic identity, sex, and SES. Specifically, highest hair cortisol levels were found by gender (males were higher) and race (minorities were higher), whereas subjective stress was positively associated with race (minorities were higher), and negatively associated with SES and age. Subjective stress was not significantly different by gender. Examining interactions of predictors, results obtain that Race by SES predicted hair cortisol, perceived stress, well-being, and health indicators but in unexpected directions. Minorities in high SES had the greatest hair cortisol, subjective stress, systolic blood pressure, waist cm, and lower reported well-being, compared to the non-minority high SES group The unexpected findings of deleterious outcomes for high SES minorities suggest the necessity of further studies examining social identity, the prevalence of discrimination in high SES, and potential protective factors. Moreover, these findings give evidence that hair cortisol, as a biomarker of long-term HPA activity, may not always be correlated with perceptions of stress across specific domains, but rather may provide a broad non-specific assessment of chronic stress, where objective and subjective indices may be uncoupled

Physiological and Social Stress on Cognitive Performance

Humans are highly social creatures and this provides us with a number of benefits, such as protection and support, but it also brings new avenues for stress from social sources. Basic and translational neuroendocrine research has yielded a rich set of findings and a general understanding of how acute and chronic stress can result in reduced health, earlier aging, and earlier death. Although stress can be indexed by level of cortisol, the major stress hormone in humans, many interrelated physiological systems are involved in a stress response, including the cardio and vascular systems. Research toward greater understanding of stress buffering mechanisms holds value for improved human health in the face of entrenched social stressors. In particular, acute and chronic stress have consistently been found to impair cognitive performance, Many adults in high stress environments also face a changing social landscape during college years: changes in living partners, less control over noise, sleep, exercise, and nutrition. In this pilot investigation, we are interested in measuring the influences of acute stress on cognitive performance and whether social support, a factor that is modifiable, would be protective on the multi-systems relationships between stress and cognition. Broadly, we found (1) that higher levels of cortisol measured in saliva was associated with a faster return to resting levels of salivary cortisol (a measure of flexible, adaptive functioning of the central HPA stress system) after the stressor is removed and may also be associated with lower cortisol in the initial response to the stressor. In parallel, we found (2) that higher levels of cortisol were associated with impaired cognitive performance after the stress task, (3) finally, we found that those reporting high social support showed faster recovery to baseline in the cardiovascular systems and greater social support produced some buffering of stress response on their post-stress cognitive performance

Stressing the Hormone: Biological and Psychosocial Factors associated with Chronic Stress

Chronic stress has been associated with a constellation of deleterious psychological and physical health outcomes. We collected cortisol from hair (CORT) to assess chronic stress retrospectively for 3 months’ time (3cms). Over two studies from the UMass Boston campus and the local community, we recruited in t1: 134 adults (ages 18-67; M = 29.49, SD = 12.48) and t2: 145 adults (ages18-30, M = 22.56, SD = 3.54) to participate on two studies assessing objective biological stress (via hair cortisol), subjective perceived stress (via self-reports), psychosocial factors, and health indicators. In follow-up Study 2, we also included indices of perceived discrimination, cardiovascular parameters, and affective vigilance. Results: t1: CORT levels were positively associated with Total perceived stress and one health indicator: systolic blood pressure. An SES by Race interaction predicted both higher CORT and perceived stress, although higher SES did not always confer the expected benefit of higher SES: minorities in high SES had the greatest CORT, systolic blood pressure, and lowest self-rated health. Results: t2: Perceived stress measures and new measures of discrimination were negatively associated with well-being and health. Higher racial/ethnic pride was associated with better health, but also increased daily discrimination and waist-to-hip ratio. The SES by Race interaction was again associated with Total perceived stress and minorities in higher SES reported greatest Total stress. Minorities also showed the greatest vigilance. Specifically, African-Americans had the longest latencies for social devaluation words during a modified Stroop, the greatest city stress, and the greatest pride/identity for heritage group

Objective and Subjective Stress Differences: Foreign-Born and U.S. Native Adults in Boston Communities

This study compares two high-risk populations: foreign- and US-born adults residing in the same Boston neighborhoods noted for high violence, low income, and greater morbidity and mortality for several chronic diseases (Health of Boston, 2010). The aims of the study are to improve community engagement and to identify stress-related differences between foreign and US-born adults and the interrelations between physiological and subjective stress indices in these populations. This presentation is part of the mini-symposium titled: How Community-Academic Partnership Initiatives Can Contribute to Translational Research

Psychophysiology of Microaggressions

Stressors can be small but mightyKymberlee O’Brien• Kymberlee O’Brien has won a grant to investigate microaggressions and physiological stress responses as they relate to minority, international, and other students.O’Brien, an assistant teaching professor of social science and policy studies, hopes the project will result in follow-up research examining ways people can be educated and informed on the topic of microaggressions as chronic stressors.O’Brien notes the attention that overt discrimination—due to factors such as race, culture, gender, income level, or bodily ability—has been identified as a chronic stressor in our society. But it’s the seemingly smaller, subtler, and likely ambiguous incidents that can, ultimately, result in poor health over the course of a lifetime. And those, says O’Brien, can contribute to the disparity in the area of health among the disadvantaged in the U.S.So, what is a micro-aggressor?Where overt discrimination is more blatant—a racial slur, different treatment based on cultural differences, inaccessibility of a building to those with physical limitations—microaggression is much less noticeable, outwardly, O’Brien says.“They are more subtle mechanisms and may be very difficult to home in on,” she says. They may even mask themselves as a back-handed compliment.An example, she says, is saying to someone, “You speak English so well,” or “What are you?” in inquiring about someone’s country of origin, when they are, actually, a human being. “‘You look so exotic; what are you?’ while not meant to be offensive, comes from a need to categorize very quickly,” says O’Brien. “It’s something we do.”Another example of a micro-aggression, she adds, is if someone says, “Oh, don’t worry, I’m color blind.” It is still calling attention to the difference in color between the speaker and subject, just in a more camouflaged manner, she notes.The effects of such microaggressions include a cardiovascular response, change in blood pressure, and an increase in the stress hormone cortisol. Severity depends on how frequent such microaggressive interactions are happening. O’Brien also points out that waiting for the next one to occur is a stressor all its own.“Every day it’s a fight-or-flight response,” she says. “It’s a serious state of toxic alertness,” just wondering when the next micro-aggression will occur, where, and with whom.SURVEY SUBJECTS NEEDEDO’Brien will be looking for survey subjects for her research this summer.Some of the survey’s sample questions:Were you discouraged by a teacher or advisor from seeking higher-paying work?Were you hassled by police?The survey also asks responders to qualify these statements in terms of the level of truth for them:Someone told me that all people like me look alike.I observed people like me portrayed positively in magazines.“I am a social psychologist by training,” says O’Brien, “and I’m looking to simulate the experience and see how microaggressions psychologically and from a physiology standpoint take a toll on people: their mood, how they feel … I am trying to capture this natural moment,” she says.With data from this research, O’Brien hopes to investigate how to educate others—that even when not intended to be harmful, microaggressions exist and can be toxic.“Hand in hand with that,” she says, “would be to investigate tools for those receiving microaggressions: what factors can be protective, for example; what emotion regulation strategies might be better titrated to these types of subtle social stressors.”Kymberlee O’Brien can be contacted by email at [email protected].– BY SUSAN SHALHOU

Under Stress, Are We Morally Congruent? Physiological And Psychological Influences On Moral Judgments

Empirical work on moral decision-making strongly suggests that multi-system processes are involved, including affective, cognitive, and physiological mechanisms. While extensive neuroscientific research exists on the neurological correlates of high-conflict moral judgments, little psychophysiological research has investigated whether stress reactivity, as biological processes, may influence judgments that are explicitly socio-moral in nature

Mediating factors of perceived discrimination: physiological and affective markers.

Early life adversity influences later health and may be mediated by psychosocial, affective, and physiological stress and immune factors. We report evidence from MIDUS biomarker project (N = 845, age 34-84, M = 55.09, SD = 11.70) confirming the predicted relationship between early adversity and frequency of diagnosed chronic illnesses (M = 2.8, SD =1.2). Specific psychosocial and physiological variables were tested as mediators. Lifetime (M = .95, SD = 1.5) and daily (M = 12.8, SD = 1.2) discrimination, urinary cortisol (M = 1.1, SD = 1.2 ug/dL), IL-6 (M =2.8, SD = 2.8 pg/mL) (all ps\u3c.001), and affect solidarity (M = 3.4, SD = .29; p\u3c.05) all mediated the observed relationship. Higher discrimination and IL-6 and lower uCORT were associated with greater chronic illnesses. Higher affect solidarity was associated with fewer chronic illnesses. Early adversity can influence chronic illnesses; however, disease trajectories are open to diverse mediating factors

THE INFLUENCE OF MATERNAL EDUCATION ON LIFETIME VULNERABILITIES FOR CHRONIC STRESS AND HEIGHTENED PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIONS TO STRESSORS

We examined parental education as predictors of vulnerability to biological and perceived chronic stressors into adulthood. Measures included hair cortisol (hCORT) and cardiovascular parameters as indicators of chronic stress and overall health. The community subjective social status ladder was included to examine relationships between maternal education and assessments of social standing in adult offspring. Participants (N = 107; ages 18-30; M =22.23, SD = 3.01; 50.4% female) were recruited from an urban public university and residents of surrounding low-income areas in Boston, MA. Maternal and paternal education were positively associated with change in sympathetic nervous system (SNS) recovery after a cognitive challenge task (rM =.22, p \u3c .05, rP = .45, p \u3c .001). Maternal education also predicted SNS resting and reactivity changes before and after the cognitive challenge (lower maternal education, higher resting SNS) (SymREST: F(2, 90) = 3.46, p \u3c .05); and increased SNS reactivity during a cognitive stress task (SymTASK: F(2, 89) = 2.06, p \u3c .05). Maternal education was negatively associated with hCORT (B =-.215, t(1, 104) =2.24, p \u3c .05) (higher maternal education, lower hCORT). Additionally, maternal education predicted one’s present subjective status (higher maternal education, higher reported status on the SSS ladder) (F(2, 106) = 3.20, p \u3c .05). These findings support work that finds parental education is a unique predictor that may influence vulnerabilities across biological and perceived domains in adulthood and call for analysis of underlying developmental mechanisms. [Supported by NIMHD 5P20MD002290 and Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences at University of Massachusetts Medical School

Self-esteem Influences on Multiple Domains: Stress, Health, Mood, and Social Identity

The present investigation assessed self-esteem effects on biological and subjective chronic stress measures, including cardiovascular parameters, health indicators, and mood. Moderators were examined, including vagal tone and social identity. High self-esteem was associated with higher baseline positivity, lower baseline negativity, and lower subjective stress across numerous domains including: city stress, chaos at home, and perceived stress (all p\u3c.05). Vagal tone moderated the relationship between self-esteem and the chronic stress measure: hair cortisol (p\u3c.05). The high self-esteem group showed lower cortisol, particularly when coupled with high vagal tone. Individuals with low vagal tone had the highest cortisol; for those individuals, high self-esteem does not appear to buffer this relationship. Vagal tone also moderated the relationship between self-esteem and resting heart rate (p\u3c.05). Individuals with low vagal tone showed higher resting heart rate and high self-esteem did not appear to buffer this effect. Social identity, specifically positive race/ethnic identity, moderated the relationship between self-esteem and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Specifically, individuals with low self-esteem and low social identity showed the highest WHR. For those with low social identity and high self-esteem, however, WHR was decreased. These findings indicate that high self-esteem may be related to health, mood, and lower subjective stress. High self-esteem may not be sufficient, however, to buffer physiological indicators of chronic stress in individuals with low vagal tone. Additionally, personal self-esteem may more strongly influence health in individuals who do not have strong social identity. Future directions include investigating psychosocial factors that increase vagal tone to improve mood and well-being.