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RACIAL DISPARITIES IN LONGITUDINAL CHANGES IN METABOLIC SYNDROME SEVERITY ACROSS TWO DECADES BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE WOMEN: EARLY LIFE SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND HEIGHTENED VIGILANCE AS CORRELATES
Abstract   Open access

RACIAL DISPARITIES IN LONGITUDINAL CHANGES IN METABOLIC SYNDROME SEVERITY ACROSS TWO DECADES BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE WOMEN: EARLY LIFE SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND HEIGHTENED VIGILANCE AS CORRELATES

Agus Surachman, Nancy Adler, Barbara Laraia and Elissa Epel
Psychosomatic medicine, v 84(5), pp A93-A94
01 Jun 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001095
PMID: 35653612
url
http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/110127/1/Abstract_CFS_final%5B5%5D.pdfView
SubmittedOpen Access (License Unspecified),  Open

Abstract

Background: Systemic racism is linked to racial disparities in health through differences in socioeconomic status (SES) and non-SES-related factors. The goal of this analysis was to examine whetherearly life SESand non-SES-related factors, including everyday discrimination and heightened vigilance, were associated with longitudinal changes in metabolic syndrome (MetS) severity among Black and white women.Methods: Data were from 531 participants who self-identified as non-Hispanic Black (n=263) and non-Hispanic white(n=268) in the National Growth and Health Study (NGHS). Information about parental education, a proxy of childhood SES, was collected during the baseline survey when participants were 9. Information regarding MetS severity were collected during year-7 (Mage=16), year-10 (Mage=19), and year-30 (Mage = 39) follow-up studies. Current SES, everyday discrimination, and heightened vigilance were also collected during the year-30 follow-up study. The associations between early life SES, everyday discrimination, heightened vigilance, and longitudinal changes of MetS severity were tested using multilevel modeling.Results: Black compared to white participants showed significantly higher levels of MetS severity during year-30, but not during year-7 and year-10 follow-up studies. Controlling for baseline body mass index, smoking status, and marital status, Blackparticipants showed a faster increase in MetS severity across two decades. Early life SES (b=.03,SE=.01,p<.05),independent of current SES, was associated with Black-white disparities in MetS severity longitudinal changes. Furthermore, higher heightenedvigilance (b=-.01,SE=.005,p<.05), but not everyday discrimination, was associated with a faster increase in MetS severity among Black relative to white women. Results remained in a full model that included bothearly life SESand non-SES-related factors.Discussion:In this sample of early midlife women, non-Hispanic Black relative to non-Hispanic white participants showed signs of accelerated aging, indicated by a faster increase in MetS severity across two decades. These disparities can be attributed to both racial differences in SES and non-SES-related factors, especially early life SES and heightened vigilance.

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