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

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来源。尽管有这样的负担，但人们对感知到的水不安全、心理压力和生物反应之间的联系还没有很好的理解。这一博士论文项目结合了生物文化方法，以检查客观和/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历，她们往往必须应对水不安全的负担，研究压力、资源不安全和健康之间的关系，这些关系可能是可变的，并受到特定文化做法的影响。该项目的调查结果可能有助于制定解决环境和社会不平等问题的未来政策。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不安全的短期和长期影响的研究提供信息。这项研究建立在体现与健康的生物文化研究的基础上，提出对资源不安全的主观看法，在这种情况下是水不安全，以及由此产生的做法是造成健康差距的关键因素。该项目通过比较来自快速发展的特大城市中水安全和水不安全社区的妇女，调查了感知到的水不安全、心理压力和压力相关基因的DNA甲基化之间的关系。感受到的水不安全和感受到的压力是通过访谈问卷来衡量的。采集唾液样本以测量压力相关基因的DNA甲基化。这种混合方法可以提供对水不安全的感知、预期或恐惧可能影响身心健康程度的关键生物文化理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.