Gupta Shaan, Bélanger Emmanuelle, Phillips Susan P
Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Institut de Recherche en Santé Publique, Université de Montréal, Montreal, ON, Canada.
J Cross Cult Gerontol. 2019 Mar;34(1):15-24. doi: 10.1007/s10823-018-9362-8.
John Henry (JH) theory provides a framework for understanding the physiological toll exerted on low socioeconomic status (SES) individuals as they overcome psychosocial stressors imposed by their environments. This theory suggests that resilience, a seemingly positive social adaptation, may in fact be physically deleterious. JH theory has been well-described in low-SES rural male African Americans, however it is currently unclear whether validity of this theory extends to women, other races and outside the rural US. We assessed whether, in individuals with low income, there is an association between self-mastery/resilience and either blood pressure or depressive symptoms that is different from the association seen in individuals with higher income. Data were obtained from 1353 older men and women participants of the International Mobility in Aging Study (IMIAS). Across 3 countries and 4 sites, higher self-mastery/resilience was associated with lower depressive symptoms in both low and high income groups. In low income individuals from Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, higher self-mastery/resilience was associated with both higher mean systolic blood pressure (n = 240, β = 0.135, p ≤ 0.05) and higher mean diastolic blood pressure (n = 240, β = 0.241, p ≤ 0.0001). In the high income group of Saint-Hyacinthe, no such associations were observed. The findings in the Saint-Hyacinthe cohort (but not the other settings), are consistent with the John Henry hypothesis, and demonstrates this effect extends beyond a rural African American population. This finding indicates that in certain populations, the positive psychological effects of resilience come with a cost to physical health.
约翰·亨利（JH）理论提供了一个框架，用于理解社会经济地位低下（SES）的个体在克服环境施加的心理社会压力源时所承受的生理代价。该理论表明，复原力，一种看似积极的社会适应能力，实际上可能对身体有害。JH理论在社会经济地位低下的美国农村非洲裔男性中已有详尽描述，但目前尚不清楚该理论是否适用于女性、其他种族以及美国农村以外的地区。我们评估了在低收入个体中，自我掌控/复原力与血压或抑郁症状之间的关联是否与高收入个体中观察到的关联不同。数据来自国际老年迁移研究（IMIAS）的1353名老年男性和女性参与者。在3个国家和4个地点，无论低收入组还是高收入组，较高的自我掌控/复原力都与较低的抑郁症状相关。在魁北克省圣亚森特的低收入个体中，较高的自我掌控/复原力与较高的平均收缩压（n = 240，β = 0.135，p≤0.05）和较高的平均舒张压（n = 240，β = 0.241，p≤0.0001）相关。在圣亚森特的高收入组中，未观察到此类关联。圣亚森特队列中的研究结果（但其他地点未观察到）与约翰·亨利假说一致，并表明这种效应不仅限于美国农村非洲裔人群。这一发现表明，在某些人群中，复原力的积极心理效应是以身体健康为代价获得的。
