Department of Public Health, Syracuse University.
Department of Exercise Science, Syracuse University.
Health Psychol. 2023 Sep;42(9):657-667. doi: 10.1037/hea0001300. Epub 2023 Jul 6.
Non-Hispanic Black Americans have a greater risk for certain subtypes of cardiovascular disease (CVD; e.g., stroke and heart failure) relative to non-Hispanic White Americans. Moreover, Black relative to White adults consistently show elevated cortisol, a CVD risk. The impact of race, environmental stress, and cortisol on subclinical CVD has yet to be fully researched in children.
We assessed diurnal salivary cortisol slopes and hair cortisol in a sample of 9- to 11-year-old children ( = 271; 54% female) with roughly half self-identifying as either Black (57%) or White (43%). Two subclinical CVD indicators were assessed: carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). We assessed numerous environmental stress indicators.
After adjusting for covariates, we found that Black children had significantly flatter diurnal cortisol slopes, higher hair cortisol, and thicker IMT than White children. Significant pathways were found: race → salivary cortisol slope → cfPWV (effect = -0.059, 95% CI [-0.116, -0.002]) and race → hair cortisol → cIMT (effect = -0.008, [-0.016, -0.002]). Black children also experienced significantly more environmental stress than White children; however, only income inequality served as a significant indirect pathway from race to salivary cortisol (effect = 0.029, [0.003, 0.060]).
Relative to White children, Black children had significantly greater hair cortisol and flatter diurnal slopes which, in turn, were associated with greater subclinical CVD. As suggested by a significant indirect pathway, income inequality might partially explain the race-cortisol association. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
与非西班牙裔白种美国人相比，非西班牙裔黑种美国人患某些心血管疾病（CVD；例如，中风和心力衰竭）的风险更高。此外，黑人成年人相对于白人成年人的皮质醇水平一直较高，而皮质醇是 CVD 的一个风险因素。种族、环境压力和皮质醇对儿童亚临床 CVD 的影响尚未得到充分研究。
我们评估了 9 至 11 岁儿童（= 271；54%为女性）的日间唾液皮质醇斜率和头发皮质醇，其中大约一半的儿童自我认定为黑人（57%）或白人（43%）。评估了两种亚临床 CVD 指标：颈动脉-股动脉脉搏波速度（cfPWV）和颈动脉内-中膜厚度（cIMT）。我们评估了许多环境压力指标。
在调整了协变量后，我们发现黑人儿童的日间皮质醇斜率明显更平坦，头发皮质醇水平更高，IMT 更厚。发现了显著的途径：种族→唾液皮质醇斜率→cfPWV（效应=-0.059，95%CI[-0.116，-0.002]）和种族→头发皮质醇→cIMT（效应=-0.008，[-0.016，-0.002]）。黑人儿童经历的环境压力也明显高于白人儿童；然而，只有收入不平等作为种族与唾液皮质醇之间的一个显著间接途径（效应=0.029，[0.003，0.060]）。
与白人儿童相比，黑人儿童的头发皮质醇明显更高，日间斜率更平坦，这反过来又与更大的亚临床 CVD 有关。正如一个显著的间接途径所表明的，收入不平等可能部分解释了种族与皮质醇之间的关联。
