Doctoral Dissertation Research: Perception of water insecurity and epigenetic signatures of stress

博士论文研究：对水不安全的感知和压力的表观遗传特征

• 批准号: 2217691
• 负责人: Jacinta Beehner
• 金额: $ 3.12万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-15 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2217691&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Perception; water

Water insecurity is a worldwide problem and can be a major stressor that negatively impacts mental and physical health. Despite this burden, the connections between perceived water insecurity, psychological stress, and biological responses are not well understood. This doctoral dissertation project incorporates a biocultural approach to examine whether objective and/or perceived water insecurity are socio-environmental exposures that impact human biology. The study focuses on the experiences of women who often must cope with the burden of water insecurity, examining relationships between stress, resource insecurity and health that may be variable and mediated by culturally specific practices. The project findings may aid in the development of future policies addressing environmental and social inequality. Results from this research are shared with national and international communities through outreach activities, which strengthens international collaborations and can inform future studies exploring the short and long-term effects of resource insecurity. This study builds upon biocultural studies of embodiment and health, proposing that the subjective perception of resource insecurity, in this case water insecurity, and the practices derived from it are key factors contributing to health disparities. This project investigates the connections between perceived water insecurity, psychological stress, and DNA methylation in stress-related genes by comparing women from water-secure and water-insecure neighborhoods in a rapidly growing megacity. Perceived water insecurity and perceived stress are gauged using interview questionnaires. Saliva samples are collected to measure DNA methylation in stress-related genes. This mixed-methods approach can provide a critical biocultural understanding of the extent to which perception, anticipation, or fear of water insecurity may impact mental and physical health.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

水不安全是一个世界性问题，可能是对身心健康产生负面影响的主要压力源。尽管有这样的负担，但人们对水不安全感、心理压力和生物反应之间的联系还没有很好的了解。这个博士论文项目采用了生物文化的方法来研究客观和/或感知的水不安全是否是影响人类生物学的社会环境暴露。这项研究的重点是妇女的经验，她们往往必须科普水不安全的负担，审查压力、资源不安全和健康之间的关系，这些关系可能是可变的，并受特定文化习俗的影响。该项目的研究结果可能有助于制定未来解决环境和社会不平等问题的政策。这项研究的结果通过外联活动与国家和国际社会分享，这加强了国际合作，并可为今后探讨资源无保障的短期和长期影响的研究提供信息。本研究建立在生物文化研究的体现和健康，提出资源不安全的主观感受，在这种情况下，水不安全，以及由此产生的做法是造成健康差距的关键因素。该项目通过比较一个快速发展的大城市中水安全和水不安全社区的妇女，调查了感知水不安全，心理压力和压力相关基因中DNA甲基化之间的联系。感知水不安全和感知压力的测量使用访谈问卷。收集唾液样本以测量压力相关基因中的DNA甲基化。这种混合方法的方法可以提供一个关键的生物文化的理解，在何种程度上的感知，预期，或对水不安全的恐惧可能会影响身心健康。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。