The Contribution of Chronic Stress and Psychosocial Resources on Aging in Young and Early Midlife Black Women

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Project Abstract In the United States, Black men and women develop hypertension (HTN) at younger ages and have the highest prevalence, 58% and 57%, compared to aged-matched White men and women 51% and 41%. Early onset HTN among early midlife Black women (BW) 35-44 years old is also linked to a higher burden of HTN- mediated organ damage and cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. The exact cause of these disparate outcomes remains unknown but may be due to a greater burden of distinct stressors, i.e., racial, gender, financial, job, and social network, experienced by BW regardless of socioeconomic position (SEP), causing weathering and accelerated biological aging. The impact of social and environmentally influenced stressors are theorized to override the cardioprotective effects of endogenous estrogen in BW and may also underlie a key mechanism linking stress to acceleration of the aging process and poor cardiovascular health in this subgroup. Chronic stress is considered a potent risk factor of accelerated aging and age-related diseases, while aging is considered a potent risk factor of CVD and is linked with arterial stiffness, a predictive marker of subclinical CVD and mortality risk. Mounting evidence suggests that moderating resources such as resilience, the process or outcome of successful adaptation despite adversity, may modify the relationship between chronic stress and aging. Yet, resilience may not be uniformly beneficial and may enhance the adverse effects of stress. Aligned with the National Institute of Nursing Research high-priority focus on social determinants of health with an emphasis on the embodiment of social inequalities and health equity, the K23 training aims of this mixed-method cross sectional study of n=85 BW are: 1) Examine the associations between chronic stress burden (CSB) overall and each stressor separately on biologic age (BA) and carotid femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) stratified by socioeconomic position (SEP); 2) Examine the effects of SEP and resilience on BA and cf-PWV and whether resilience modifies the effect between CSB and BA, as well as arterial stiffness 3) Describe perceived sources of CSB and how they influence resilience using semi-structured interviews with a subsample of 18 women consisting of the highest (n=9) and lowest (n=9) combined tertiles for BA and cf-PWV. Specific training activities during the K23 award are to obtain: 1) expertise in psychoneuroimmunology, stress, and health; 2) conduct and interpret cf-PWV measurements; 3) Phlebotomy, lab assay processing and storage; 4) proficiency and acquisition of skills in mixed-methodology research; 5) conduct advanced biostatistical linear regression methods to measure biological aging. My long-term goal is to apply the knowledge and skills obtained under this K23 to establish a longitudinal cohort examining the role of SEP, chronic stress, and health protective resources that may enhance or mitigate physiologic dysregulation and CVD risk over time.