The Association Between the Type and Timing of Stress and Blood Pressure Outcomes in Young Adults (2012)

Undergraduate: Denise Mitchell

Faculty Advisor: Jon Hussey
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Chronic stress linked to overarching social environments is widely considered to be an important contributor to blood pressure (Morenoff et al., 2007). Despite increasing research on the topic, the pathways between blood pressure and contextual factors, such as neighborhood safety and perceived discrimination, “remain elusive” (Williams & Mohammed, 2009). Previous studies have often been cross-sectional, based on convenience samples, or restricted to one racial/ethnic group. This study addressed these gaps in the literature by modeling blood pressure in a large, diverse, and nationally representative longitudinal sample. Using data from Waves I and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), associations between young adult systolic blood pressure and both individual (e.g., perceived discrimination) and contextual (e.g. school, neighborhood, work) level stressors were estimated in a series of multivariate regression models. Our research will contribute new evidence on how the type and timing (i.e., adolescence, young adulthood, or both) of stress exposures influences chronic disease risk in 24-32 year olds.