Adverse childhood experiences among previously homeless African American women

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marin Schmitt ◽  
Anne Dressel ◽  
Maria Del Carmen Graf ◽  
Belinda Pittman ◽  
Emily Deal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
American Women ◽  
Adverse Childhood

scholarly journals Heart Rate Variability and Inflammatory Stress Response in Young African American Men: Implications for Cardiovascular Risk

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina Tell ◽  
Robert L. Burr ◽  
Herbert L. Mathews ◽  
Linda Witek Janusek
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
African American ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
African American Men ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
Response To Stress

Background: African American men have a disproportionately higher incidence of and suffer greater severity and earlier death from cardiovascular disease (CVD). A common feature of many diseases, which disproportionately afflict disadvantaged African Americans, is inflammation. In particular, inflammation plays a decisive role in the pathogenesis of CVD in that persistent inflammation contributes to plaque evolution and destabilization. Adverse childhood experiences increase the risk for adult inflammatory based disease, particularly cardiovascular disease. This inflammatory burden becomes evident during stressful events and may be related to alterations in autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity. We previously reported that African American men who experienced childhood adversity exhibited a greater inflammatory (IL-6) response to acute stress challenge (Trier Social Stress Test – TSST). The purpose of this study was to determine whether altered ANS activity, as measured by heart rate variability (HRV), contributes to a greater proinflammatory response to stress in those exposed to childhood adversity.Methods: Thirty-four African American adult males underwent the TSST while instrumented with Holter monitors to record continuous heart rate for HRV determination. HRV was calculated as the low frequency (LF) to high frequency (HF) heart rate ratio (LF/HF), with higher LF/HF ratios corresponding to higher sympathetic vs. parasympathetic activity. Salivary samples were collected pre- and post-TSST to measure the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6. Childhood adversity was assessed by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.Results: Hierarchical linear modeling demonstrated that higher levels of physical abuse were related to a steeper rise in LF/HF ratio during the TSST. Further, a higher LF/HF ratio, in combination with greater exposure to emotional and physical abuse was associated with a greater IL-6 response to the TSST.Conclusions: These findings suggest that adverse childhood experiences associate with an adult phenotype characterized by an altered ANS response to stress as well as a greater proinflammatory (IL-6) response to an acute stressor. Elevations in salivary inflammatory markers have been associated with increased CVD risk. In conclusion, these findings suggest a role for the ANS in the underlying neuro-biological processes whereby childhood adversity predisposes to a more intense inflammatory response to stressful challenge during adulthood.

Structural Power, Systemic Poverty, and Entrenchment Among African American Males

2022 ◽  
pp. 200-223
Author(s):  
Kevin Granderson
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
African American Males ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Social Force ◽  
Social Constructs ◽  
Structural Power ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
Ace Model

Poverty and structural power are immensely broad phenomena shaping economic and social architectures of societies globally. However, among the depth of complex mechanisms covertly functioning to perpetuate poverty, this chapter identifies structural power as one of the critical social constructs influencing systemic poverty. To explore structural power as a social force influencing systemic poverty, as a conceptual framework, and as means to support the overtone of social injustice, throughout this chapter an adaptation of the adverse childhood experiences (ACE) model is used. Through a more narrowed approach, the researcher uses the ACE model to explore structural power and systemic poverty through four experiential factors: educational, social, physical, and psychological. The experiences are motived by structural power and defined within the context of systemic poverty to explore the influence of those experiences on entrenchment of African American males later in adulthood.

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