title: Perceived Control Predicts Pulse Pressure in African American Men: The Baltimore Study of Black Aging.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Poorer health profiles among African American men throughout the life course evince greater rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and significantly earlier mortality compared with other groups. Despite growing emphasis on identifying how psychosocial factors influence disparate disease risk, little of this research has focused intently on African American men.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using hierarchical linear regression, we explored the additive influence of stress, depression, and perceived control on pulse pressure, an established marker of CVD risk, in a sample (N = 153) of African American men (mean age = 66.73 ± 9.29) from the Baltimore Study of Black Aging (BSBA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  After accounting for age and health status indicators, perceived control emerged as a significant predictor of pulse pressure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that greater belief in one's own efficacy is a protective factor for cardiovascular health among African American men. Future research should examine whether enhancing perceived control can have an appreciable impact on the immense CVD burden in this and other at-risk populations.
authors.affiliation: 1. Duke University Medical Center - Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development ; 2. Duke University - Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences ; 3. Duke University - Center on Biobehavioral Health Disparities Research.
authors.forename: LaBarron K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: 5. University of Delaware, School of Nursing.
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sims Wright
authors.affiliation: 3. Duke University - Center on Biobehavioral Health Disparities Research.
authors.forename: Adrienne T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Aiken-Morgan
authors.affiliation: 6. School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida.
authors.forename: Alyssa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gamaldo
authors.affiliation: 2. Duke University - Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences ; 3. Duke University - Center on Biobehavioral Health Disparities Research.
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: 3. Duke University - Center on Biobehavioral Health Disparities Research ; 4. Duke University - Department of Psychology and Neuroscience.
authors.forename: Keith E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Whitfield
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000208:ethnology*; D015142:Baltimore / Q000453:epidemiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000208:ethnology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception
keywords: African American Men; Cardiovascular Risk; Perceived Control; Pulse Pressure