title: Ethnic/racial differences in the association between social support and levels of C-reactive proteins in the North Texas Heart Study.
abstract: Perceived social support has been reliably related to lower rates of morbidity and mortality. However, studies modeling C-reactive protein (CRP) as an important biological pathway linking social support to health have produced inconsistent results. Given purported ethnic/racial differences in sensitivity to social resources, the present study tested if ethnicity/race moderated the link between perceived support and CRP in a diverse community sample of 300 participants from the North Texas Heart Study. Consistent with prior research, there was no overall link between social support and CRP levels. However, the association between social support and high sensitivity (hs)-CRP levels was moderated by ethnicity/race as perceived support predicted lower hs-CRP levels primarily in African Americans. These results suggest the importance of considering how ethnicity/race may inform models on the complex biological mechanisms linking social support to health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
authors.forename: Bert N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Uchino
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Smyth
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Preventive Health, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, California, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Allison
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Chul
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ahn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology*; D000368:Aged; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012944:Social Support; D013781:Texas / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People / Q000208:ethnology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: C-reactive protein; Ethnicity/race; Inflammation; Social support