title: Race/ethnic and socioeconomic differences in stress and immune function in The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
abstract: Stress and immune function may be important mediators of the strong association between social factors and health over the life course, but previous studies have lacked the data to fully explore these links in a population-based sample. This study utilizes data from Waves I-IV of the U.S. National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to test the associations of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) with levels of perceived stress and exposure to stressful life events (SLE) among 11,050 adult respondents aged 24-32 in 2008-2009. We further tested whether race/ethnicity and SES were associated with Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) specific IgG antibodies, an indirect marker of cell-mediated immune function. Finally, we tested whether measures of stress were associated with EBV IgG and whether there was evidence that they explain any associations between race/ethnicity, SES and EBV IgG. We found strong associations between lower SES and higher levels of perceived stress (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.73-2.48 for < high school vs. college or above) and a high level of stressful life events (OR 7.47, 95% CI 5.59-9.98 for < high school vs. college or above). Blacks had higher odds of a high level of stressful life events compared to whites (OR 2.00, 95% CI 1.63-2.47), but not higher perceived stress (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.96-1.28). Blacks also had significantly higher EBV levels compared to whites (β = 0.136, p < 0.01), but lower SES was not associated with higher EBV IgG. We found no evidence that stressful life events or perceived stress were associated with EBV IgG in this sample, and thus did not account for racial differences in EBV IgG. These results suggest consistent race/ethnic and SES differences in stressful life events, and confirm race/ethnic differences in markers of immune function that may have health implications across the life course.
authors.affiliation: CUNY School of Public Health, Hunter College, 2180 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10035, USA; CUNY Institute for Demographic Research (CIDR), One Bernard Baruch Way, New York, NY 10010, USA. Electronic address: jdowd@hunter.cuny.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Dowd
authors.affiliation: Program in Public Health, Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University (SUNY), Health Sciences Center 3-071, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA. Electronic address: tia.palermo@stonybrookmedicine.edu.
authors.forename: Tia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Palermo
authors.affiliation: Cells to Society: The Center on Social Disparities and Health, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, 2040 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. Electronic address: laurachyu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chyu
authors.affiliation: School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, 2120 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; Cells to Society: The Center on Social Disparities and Health, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, 2040 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. Electronic address: ek-adam@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Adam
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, 1810 Hinman Avenue, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; Cells to Society: The Center on Social Disparities and Health, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, 2040 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. Electronic address: t-mcdade@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: McDade
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity / Q000502:physiology*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D063588:National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health; D012923:Social Class; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult; D001741:Black or African American
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G
keywords: Epstein–Barr virus (EBV); Herpesviruses; National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health); Race/ethnicity; Socioeconomic status; Stress, immunity; U.S.