Social Disparities, Stress and Health
Racial Disparities in School Belonging and Long-Term Health Profiles
What are the implications of students’ sense of belonging in school on their health outcomes? In a study published in JAMA Pediatrics, IPR health psychologist Edith Chen, former IPR graduate research assistant and Carnegie Mellon University professor Phoebe Lam, and their colleagues, investigate whether racial disparities in students’ sense of belonging at school are associated with cardiometabolic health in adulthood. Chen and her colleagues analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health that spanned from 1994–2008, focusing on 4,830 Black and White students between seventh and twelfth grade. The research team examined school-wide questionnaires that students completed to determine average sense of belonging by racial groups at schools across the U.S. The researchers then analyzed blood samples collected from the 4,830 participants when they were between the ages of 24 and 32 years old in 2008 to evaluate the connection between gaps in school belonging across racial groups and the risk for diabetes in adulthood. The researchers discovered that Black students who attended a school where, on average, Black students felt that they belonged less than White students were more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes in adulthood and they also displayed more risk factors for metabolic syndrome, a condition which increases risk of heart disease and stroke in adulthood. The researchers argue that U.S. schools that foster a more equitable and inclusive sense of school belonging among different racial groups may help reduce health disparities among students. Chen is the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Psychology.
Learning From ‘Garbage-Dump’ Baboons
A diet high in simple sugars and fats but low in fiber is known to have significant health effects, many of which may operate through changes in the collection of microorganisms in the gut, known as microbiota. In Scientific Reports, anthropologist and IPR associate Katherine Amato and her colleagues examine the gut microbiota in wild baboons that have access to trash containing processed food high in sugar and fat in Rwanda’s Akagera National Park. Baboons’ gut microbiota are like human ones, making them a good model for understanding the impact of diet. The researchers divided the park baboons into three groups, according to their access to human food: animals with unlimited access—“garbage-dump baboons”—those with limited access, and those with no access. Feces samples from each group, which ranged from 24 to 41 or more individuals, were collected and analyzed for microbes. Results indicated that baboons with unlimited access to human food had lower microbial diversity and fewer microorganisms involved in breaking down fiber and in producing short chain fatty acids (SCFA), which protect the gut. Baboons with limited access, however, showed only minimal changes in their gut microbiota. The findings suggest that eating processed food can change the gut microbiota among baboons, but, importantly, the amounts must be of a certain magnitude or frequency to have a strong impact. The researchers conclude that a similar “dosing threshold” could also exist for humans eating processed foods.
A Multidisciplinary Roadmap for Global Mental Health
Mental health issues are on the rise around the globe, despite tens of billions of dollars of research funding that has gone toward addressing them over the past several decades. In Nature Mental Health, IPR psychologist Robin Nusslock and his colleagues present a model for addressing mental health on a global scale that is targeted, personalized, and scalable. The researchers developed an approach they call the “circuits-to-communities model,” which aligns six disciplines to create targeted and personalized mental health interventions. The six disciplines are neuroscience, cognitive science, developmental science, social science, intervention science, and implementation science. They propose that bridging knowledge in these areas is key to creating more precise treatments and argue that the framework considers neurocognitive circuits and functions and the way social and environmental stressors affect emotions for a more holistic approach to mental health problems. For example, a mental health professional might ask patients suffering from depression to record their symptoms in an app, which also includes information about their life stage, any early adversity, and their ongoing stressors. This type of model can lead to alignment across disciplines, which can help scholars and healthcare providers understand the causes, prevention, and treatment of mental health problems.
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Eating Duration and Meal Timing
Eating breakfast has been connected with better cardiometabolic health, and cardiometabolic diseases are disproportionately experienced by minority groups. In Nutrients, anthropologist and IPR associate Kristen Knutson and her colleagues explore the racial and ethnic differences in meal timing and meal duration. Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected between 2011–18, they examined the responses of 13,084 participants, which are representative of the U.S. population. In the survey, the participants were asked to record what they ate for two non-consecutive 24-hour periods and include the time of their first and last meal. Overall, 68% of the participants were White and had some college education, and 55% were female. Compared to White adults, all the other racial and ethnic groups eat their first meal of the day significantly later, but the delay was larger during weekdays. The researchers also find that for Black and Hispanic Americans, the average time between their first and last meal was shorter than for White Americans. Because research shows that eating earlier in the day is linked to better health and late-night eating has been associated with poor metabolic health, these results highlight how meal timing could play a role in disparities in cardiometabolic health. They researchers argue that future research should examine the role of meal timing and racial and ethnic disparities in cardiometabolic health.
Racial Disparities in Sleep
Previous research shows racial disparities in sleep, but few studies have examined whether psychological distress is the pathway linking discrimination and rest. Anthropologist and IPR associate Kristen Knutson and Northwestern University postdoctoral fellows Michael Mead and Emily Vargas examine whether experiences of discrimination and psychological distress contribute to racial disparities in sleep in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Knutson and her colleagues analyzed data collected in 2010 from the Health Retirement Study, a nationally representative longitudinal aging study. They focused on a group of 7,749 Black and White respondents who filled out a questionnaire asking about everyday discrimination, loneliness, ongoing chronic stressors, depressive symptoms, and self-reported sleep health. On average, participants were 67 years old, and the majority were White (82.9%) and female (58.4%). Black respondents reported higher experiences of discrimination, which in turn was associated with greater psychological distress and linked to poorer sleep quality. The evidence shows that discrimination may be uniquely detrimental to sleep, even after accounting for psychological distress. This study builds on previous research by demonstrating that racial disparities in sleep can be explained by greater experiences of discrimination, contributing to greater psychological distress. The researchers suggest that future research continue to examine how discrimination impacts sleep duration, continuity, and timing, and how psychological distress plays into those relationships.