School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
J Natl Med Assoc. 2011 Feb;103(2):116-22. doi: 10.1016/s0027-9684(15)30260-1.
African Americans are disproportionately affected by hypertension. The goal here was to better understand the relationship between well-being and environmental factors and their influence on hypertension. It was hypothesized that there would be a positive association among perceived stress, depression, and hypertension mediated by social support.
Data from 2 sample populations were included: the Carolina African American Study of Aging (N = 395) and the Baltimore Study of Black Aging (N = 602) provided information on demographics, perceived stress, social support, depression, and hypertension. Regression analysis was used to examine the hypothesis.
Significant relationships were found between perceived stress/depression and hypertension. The relationship between depression and hypertension was partially mediated by social support (given), while the relationship between depression and hypertension was not.
Our findings suggest that the impact of stress and hypertension is mediated by individual coping strategies. Given the excess stress and hypertension experienced by African Americans, coping may be a particularly salient factor in longevity. Future research should provide insight about specific aspects of coping and other personal characteristics that facilitate and limit the effect of coping on hypertension.
非裔美国人受高血压的影响不成比例。本研究旨在更好地了解幸福感和环境因素之间的关系及其对高血压的影响。假设感知压力、抑郁和高血压之间存在正相关，而社会支持则起中介作用。
本研究纳入了两个样本人群的数据：卡罗来纳非裔美国人衰老研究（N=395）和巴尔的摩黑人衰老研究（N=602），提供了人口统计学、感知压力、社会支持、抑郁和高血压的信息。回归分析用于检验假设。
发现感知压力/抑郁与高血压之间存在显著关系。社会支持（给予）部分中介了抑郁与高血压之间的关系，而抑郁与高血压之间的关系则没有中介。
我们的研究结果表明，压力和高血压的影响是由个体应对策略介导的。考虑到非裔美国人面临的过度压力和高血压，应对可能是长寿的一个特别重要的因素。未来的研究应该提供关于应对的具体方面和其他个人特征的见解，这些特征促进和限制了应对对高血压的影响。
