Racial Discrimination and Metabolic Syndrome in Young Black Adults.

Importance: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a common health condition that predisposes individuals to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and disproportionately affects Black and other racially and ethnically minoritized people. Concurrently, Black individuals also report more exposure to racial discrimination compared with White individuals; however, the role of discrimination in the development of MetS over time and associated mediators in these pathways remain underexplored. Objective: To evaluate the association between racial discrimination and MetS in rural Black individuals transitioning from late adolescence into early adulthood and to identify potential mediating pathways. Design, Setting, and Participants: This longitudinal cohort study included Black adolescents enrolled in the Strong African American Families Healthy Adults (SHAPE) Project between June 2009 and May 2021. Families resided in rural counties of Georgia, where poverty rates are among the highest in the nation. Analyses included 322 of the 500 participants who originally enrolled in SHAPE and who were eligible to participate. Guardians provided information about socioeconomic disadvantage. Analyses were conducted in April 2023. Exposures: Youths reported exposure to racial discrimination annually from ages 19 to 21 years. Main Outcomes and Measures: MetS was the main health outcome and was measured at ages 25 and 31 years. MetS was diagnosed according to the International Diabetes Federation guidelines, which requires central adiposity (ie, waist circumference ≥94 cm for males and ≥80 cm for females) and at least 2 of the 4 additional components: signs of early hypertension (ie, systolic blood pressure ≥130 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥85 mm Hg); elevated triglyceride levels (ie, >150 mg/dL); elevated fasting glucose level (ie, ≥100 mg/dL); or lowered high-density lipoprotein levels (ie, <40 mg/dL in men and <50 mg/dL in women). At age 25 years, markers of inflammatory activity (ie, soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor [suPAR]) and sleep problems were collected to consider as potential mediators. Results: In 322 participants (210 [65.2%] female) ages 19 to 21 years, more frequent exposure to racial discrimination was associated with higher suPAR levels (b = 0.006; 95% CI, 0.001-0.011; P = .01) and more sleep problems at age 25 years (b = 0.062; 95% CI, 0.028-0.097; P < .001) as well as a 9.5% higher risk of MetS diagnosis at age 31 years (odds ratio [OR], 1.10; 95% CI, 1.01-1.20; P = .03). Both suPAR (b = 0.015; 95% CI, 0.002-0.037) and sleep problems (b = 0.020; 95% CI, 0.002-0.047) at age 25 years were significant indirect pathways. No significant interactions between sex and discrimination emerged. Conclusions and Relevance: This study suggests that racial discrimination in late adolescence is associated with MetS among Black young adults through biobehavioral pathways. Thus, health interventions for MetS in Black adults will need to contend with sleep behaviors and inflammatory intermediaries as well as address and reduce exposure to racial discrimination to narrow disparities and promote health equity.

Family Disadvantage, Education, and Health Outcomes Among Black Youths Over a 20-Year Period.

Importance: Upward mobility (via educational attainment) is highly valued, but longitudinal associations with mental and physical health among Black youths are less understood. Objective: To examine associations of childhood family disadvantage and college graduation with adult mental and physical health in Black youths followed up into adulthood. Design, Setting, and Participants: This longitudinal, prospective cohort study of Black youths from the state of Georgia who were studied for 20 years (ages 11 to 31 years) was conducted between 2001 and 2022. Participants for this study were drawn from the Strong African American Healthy Adults Program. Data analysis was conducted from April 2023 to January 2024. Exposures: Family economic disadvantage (measured during the adolescent years) and college graduation (indicating upward mobility). Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes included mental health, substance use, and physical health. Mental health included a composite of internalizing and disruptive problems (anxiety, depression, anger, aggressive behaviors, and emotional reactivity). Substance use included a composite of smoking, drinking, and drug use. Physical health included metabolic syndrome (MetS) and proinflammatory phenotypes (immune cells mounting exaggerated cytokine responses to bacterial challenge and being insensitive to inhibitory signals from glucocorticoids). Mental and physical health measures were taken at age 31 and during the adolescent years. Linear and logistic regression analyses, as well as mediated moderation analyses, were conducted. Results: The study population consisted of 329 Black youths (212 women [64%]; 117 men [36%]; mean [SD] age at follow-up, 31 [1] years). Compared with those who did not graduate college, those who graduated from college had 0.14 SD fewer mental health problems (b = -1.377; 95% CI, -2.529 to -0.226; ß = -0.137; P = .02) and 0.13 SD lower levels of substance use (b = -0.114; 95% CI, -0.210 to -0.018; ß = -0.131; P = .02). Residualized change scores revealed that college graduates showed greater decreases from age 16 to 31 years in mental health problems (b = -1.267; 95% CI, -2.360 to -0.174; ß = -0.133; P = .02) and substance use problems (b = -0.116; 95% CI, -0.211 to -0.021; ß = -0.136; P = .02). For physical health, significant interactions between childhood family disadvantage and college completion emerged in association with MetS (OR, 1.495; 95% CI, 1.111-2.012; P = .008) and proinflammatory phenotype (b = 0.051; 95% CI, 0.003 to 0.099; ß = 0.131; P = .04). Among youths growing up in disadvantaged households, college completion was associated with a 32.6% greater likelihood of MetS (OR, 3.947; 95% CI, 1.003-15.502; P = .049) and 0.59 SD more proinflammatory phenotype (mean difference, 0.249, 95% CI, 0.001 to 0.497; P = .049). Conversely, among those from economically advantaged backgrounds, college completion was correlated with lower MetS and less proinflammatory phenotype. Findings held after controlling for body mass index at age 19 years. Conclusions and Relevance: In this longitudinal cohort study of Black youths, graduating from college was associated with an adult profile of better mental health but poorer physical health among those from economic disadvantage. These findings suggest that developing interventions that foster healthy outcomes across multiple life domains may be important for ensuring that striving for upward mobility is not accompanied by unintended cardiometabolic risk.

Exposure to parental depression in adolescence and proinflammatory phenotypes 20 years later.

Although the biological embedding model of adversity proposes that stressful experiences in childhood create a durable proinflammatory phenotype in immune cells, research to date has relied on study designs that limit our ability to make conclusions about whether the phenotype is long-lasting. The present study leverages an ongoing 20-year investigation of African American youth to test research questions about the extent to which stressors measured in childhood forecast a proinflammatory phenotype in adulthood, as indicated by exaggerated cytokine responses to bacterial stimuli, monocyte insensitivity to inhibitory signals from hydrocortisone, and low-grade inflammation. Parents reported on their depressive symptoms and unsupportive parenting tendencies across youths' adolescence. At age 31, youth participants (now adults) completed a fasting blood draw. Samples were incubated with lipopolysaccharide and doses of hydrocortisone to evaluate proinflammatory processes. Additionally, blood samples were tested for indicators of low-grade inflammation, including IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF-α, and soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor. Analyses revealed that parental depression across youths' adolescence prospectively predicted indicators of proinflammatory phenotypes at age 31. Follow-up analyses suggested that unsupportive parenting mediated these associations. These findings suggest that exposure to parental depression in adolescence leaves an imprint on inflammatory activity that can be observed 20 years later.

Socioeconomic disadvantage and high-effort coping in childhood: evidence of skin-deep resilience.

BACKGROUND: Low socioeconomic status (SES) is a risk factor for poor outcomes across development. Recent evidence suggests that, although psychosocial resilience among youth living in low-SES households is common, such expressions of resilience may not extend to physical health. Questions remain about when these diverging mental and physical health trajectories emerge. The current study hypothesized that skin-deep resilience - a pattern wherein socioeconomic disadvantage is linked to better mental health but worse physical health for individuals with John Henryism high-effort coping - is already present in childhood. METHODS: Analyses focus on 165 Black and Latinx children (Mage = 11.5) who were free of chronic disease and able to complete study procedures. Guardians provided information about their SES. Children reported on their John Henryism high-effort coping behaviors. They also provided reports of their depressed and anxious mood, which were combined into a composite of internalizing symptoms. Children's cardiometabolic risk was captured as a composite reflecting high levels of systolic or diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, HbA1c, triglycerides, and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. RESULTS: Among youth who reported using John Henryism high-effort coping, SES risk was unrelated to internalizing symptoms and was positively associated with cardiometabolic risk. In contrast, for youth who did not engage in high-effort coping, SES risk was positively associated with internalizing symptoms and was unrelated to cardiometabolic risk. CONCLUSIONS: For youth with high-effort coping tendencies, socioeconomic disadvantage is linked to cardiometabolic risk. Public health efforts to support at-risk youth must consider both mental and physical health consequences associated with striving in challenging contexts.

Mental Health During Early Adolescence and Later Cardiometabolic Risk: A Prospective Study of US Latinx Youth.

PURPOSE: Rising rates of cardiometabolic risk and mental health problems are serious public health concerns for US adolescents, particularly those of Latinx origin. This research examines how Latinx youth's internalizing symptoms during early adolescence are related to sleep problems, overweight/obesity, sedentary behavior, physical activity, healthy diet, and hypertension or diabetes risk during middle and late adolescence. METHODS: Participants included 547 adolescents listed as "Hispanic" on 2017-18 middle school enrollment lists in a suburban Atlanta, GA school district. Survey data collected at baseline (2018) and four years later (2022) were analyzed using Structural Equation Model. Path estimates from baseline internalizing symptoms to later health behaviors and physical health outcomes adjusted for demographics, the follow-up measure of internalizing symptoms, and correlations among outcome variables. Missing data were handled using Full Information Maximum Likelihood. RESULTS: At baseline, the 244 (44.6%) male and 303 (55.4%) female participants had a mean (standard deviation) age in years of 13.31 (0.97). Early adolescent internalizing symptoms were associated positively with later sleep problems (ß = 0.36 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.24-0.48]), overweight/obesity (adjusted odds ratio, 2.57; 95% CI, 1.29-5.15), sedentary behavior (ß = 0.19 [95% CI, 0.09-0.30]), and internalizing symptoms (ß = 0.48 [95% CI, 0.39-0.56]) and inversely with later physical activity (ß = -0.16 [95% CI, -0.27 to -0.05]) and a healthy diet (ß = -0.21 [95% CI, -0.32 to -0.09]). DISCUSSION: Latinx youth's internalizing symptoms during early adolescence not only track into later adolescence, but they also relate to health behaviors and outcomes underlying cardiometabolic risk during middle and late adolescence.

The benefits of nurturant-involved parenting for children's internalizing symptoms and cardiometabolic health in high-risk contexts.

Despite evidence that nurturant-involved parenting is linked with children's social, psychological, and physiological development, less is known about the specific contexts in which nurturant-involved parenting is most beneficial for children's mental and physical health. The present study examined how associations between nurturant-involved parenting and children's internalizing symptoms and cardiometabolic risk varied as a function of children's stress and discrimination. Participants included 165 Black and Latinx children (Mage = 11.5 years) and their guardians. Children reported on their ongoing stress, experiences of discrimination, and internalizing symptoms (depression and anxiety). Guardians provided information about their nurturant-involved parenting practices. Children's cardiometabolic risk was assessed as a composite reflecting a high level of systolic or diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, HbA1c, triglycerides, and low HDL cholesterol. Regression analyses indicated that among youth who reported high levels of stress and discrimination, nurturant-involved parenting was negatively associated with cardiometabolic risk. Although children's stress and discrimination were significantly associated with their internalizing symptoms, neither stress nor discrimination moderated the relation between nurturant-involved parenting and internalizing symptoms. Results highlight the significant role that parents play in shaping children's health, particularly among youth experiencing high levels of stress and discrimination.

The protective role of parental vigilance in the link between risky childhood environments and health.

Growing up in a risky environment is associated with poor lifespan physical and mental health. However, promotive factors that have protective or compensatory effects (i.e., buffer against negative outcomes or promote positive ones in the context of risk) allow individuals to remain healthy despite adverse upbringings. Parental vigilance, including parents' efforts to set boundaries and limitations and/or monitor and have knowledge of children's daily lives, has been shown to buffer and protect against negative health outcomes among individuals who grow up in risky environments. Conversely, some aspects of parental vigilance have been shown to be maladaptive for, or unrelated to, health among individuals who are raised in low-risk environments. The current study leveraged longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 97 (NLSY97; https://www.nlsinfo.org/content/cohorts/nlsy97) to explore the link between environmental risk in adolescence and indices of physical and mental health in young adulthood, and whether parental vigilance (limit-setting and knowledge) buffered these associations (n = 4829). Results indicated that childhood environmental risk predicted a greater likelihood of experiencing physical health limitations at age 29 but was not significantly associated with mental health symptoms at approximately age 34. Further, there was evidence that parental limit-setting (but not knowledge) buffered the relation between childhood risk and physical health limitations, such that the association between risk and physical limitations became slightly less pronounced at greater levels of parental limit-setting. Additionally, maternal knowledge was associated with fewer mental health symptoms in young adulthood among all participants. Results highlight the importance of parental limit-setting in reducing physical health consequences associated with childhood risk and suggest that there may be long-term mental health benefits of maternal knowledge of adolescents, regardless of childhood risk exposure.

The role of childhood unpredictability in adult health.

This research differentiated childhood unpredictability (i.e., perceptions of uncertainty or instability due to turbulent environmental changes) from other related constructs to identify its role in adult health. Study 1 (N = 441) showed that, beyond other childhood adversity variables (poverty and adverse childhood experiences or ACEs) and demographic characteristics, perceptions of unpredictability were associated with greater functional disability and worse health-related quality of life (assessed via the CDC's HRQOL Healthy Days measure and the RAND SF-36). Study 2 (N = 564) replicated those findings in a more racially diverse sample and showed that associations with childhood unpredictability held while also controlling for the Big 5 personality traits. Findings suggest that effects of unpredictability were especially pronounced among Hispanic (in Study 1), and Black/African American and low-income participants (in Study 2). Experiencing childhood environments that are perceived to be uncertain, unstable, or uncontrollable may put children on a path toward poor health outcomes in adulthood. Findings advance theories of child adversity and health and identify childhood unpredictability as a potentially valuable target for intervention.

Emotional Distress, Targeted Rejection, and Antibody Production After Influenza Vaccination in Adolescence.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore how both ongoing emotional distress and the experience of a targeted rejection over the past 6 months are associated with adolescents' antibody response to influenza virus vaccination. We predicted that experiencing a targeted rejection would amplify the hypothesized negative association between emotional distress and antibody response after vaccination. METHODS: Adolescent participants (N = 148) completed two study visits (mean [standard deviation] days between visits = 27.4 [1.8]). At the first visit, they provided blood samples, were administered the seasonal (2018-2019) quadrivalent influenza vaccine (Fluzone, Sanofi Pasteur), completed questionnaires, and participated in a semistructured interview. At the second visit, they provided another blood sample. Hemagglutination-inhibition assays were conducted to determine prevaccination and postvaccination antibody titers. Targeted rejection experiences were coded from adolescents' interviews. RESULTS: The emotional distress by targeted rejection interaction predicted antibody response to the two A strains and the composite of all vaccine strains (b values = -0.451 to -0.843, p values < .05), but not the two B strains. Results suggested that, among adolescents who experienced a targeted rejection over the past 6 months, emotional distress was negatively associated with vaccine response (however, this finding did not reach statistical significance). Conversely, among adolescents who did not experience a targeted rejection, emotional distress was positively associated with vaccine response (b = 0.173, p = .032). CONCLUSIONS: The current study highlights the importance of evaluating both acute life events and ongoing distress as they relate to adaptive immune functioning in adolescence.

Neighborhood poverty, allostatic load, and changes in cellular aging in African American young adults: the moderating role of attachment.

Attachment experiences are thought to contribute to physical health across the lifespan. Evidence suggests that attachment style may serve as a protective factor for individuals' physical health by mitigating the negative effects of social and environmental risk factors. In the present study, we evaluated how attachment styles may moderate the link between African American adolescents' exposure to neighborhood poverty and accelerated cellular aging in young adulthood. Analyses revealed that allostatic load at age 19 mediated the association between neighborhood poverty in adolescence and changes in cellular aging from age 20 to 27. Notably, attachment avoidance (but not attachment anxiety) moderated this association, such that allostatic load was only associated with faster cellular aging for individuals who were high in avoidance. These findings suggest that allostatic load may give rise to faster cellular aging, but these detrimental effects of allostatic load can be offset by young adults' effective use of attachment figures.

Recalled Neighborhood Environments, Parental Control, and Cytokine-Mediated Response to Viral Challenge.

OBJECTIVE: Neighborhood risk in childhood is associated with poor health across the life span. However, many people who are reared in risky neighborhoods remain healthy in adulthood. In the context of high-risk neighborhoods, parenting practices that are controlling might promote better physical health outcomes later in life. The current study used a viral challenge paradigm to examine whether parental control throughout childhood moderated the association between recalled neighborhood risk and cytokine-mediated cold susceptibility. METHODS: A sample of 209 healthy adults completed questionnaires to assess recalled neighborhood risk and parental control over the first 15 years of life, were exposed to a common cold virus, and were quarantined for 6 days. Researchers assessed nasal proinflammatory cytokine production and objective markers of illness. Participants were diagnosed with a clinical cold if they met the infection and objective illness criteria. RESULTS: A significant Neighborhood Risk by Parental Control interaction emerged to predict proinflammatory cytokine production. Furthermore, parental control moderated the cytokine-mediated association between neighborhood risk and cold diagnosis (index = -0.073, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.170 to -0.016), likelihood of infection (index = -0.071, 95% CI = -0.172 to -0.015), and meeting the objective symptom criteria (index = -0.074, 95% CI = -0.195 to -0.005). Specifically, there was a negative association between neighborhood risk and objective cold diagnosis and infection status at higher levels of parental control, but a nonsignificant association at lower levels of parental control. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that the degree to which recalled neighborhood risk is related to adult health varies as a function of parental control throughout childhood.

Maltreatment exposure across childhood and low-grade inflammation: Considerations of exposure type, timing, and sex differences.

Links between child maltreatment and low-grade inflammation in adulthood are well documented, but these studies often rely on adults to report retrospectively on experiences of childhood abuse. Furthermore, these findings raise questions about whether exposure to childhood maltreatment needs time to "incubate," only giving rise to nonresolving inflammation in adulthood, or whether heightened inflammation may be observable in childhood, closer in time to the maltreatment exposure. The present study examined this question in a sample of 155 low-income children (ages 8-12), half of whom had been exposed to maltreatment. Trained coders evaluated case reports to classify maltreatment based on timing and exposure type. Blood samples from children assessed C-reactive protein and cytokines, which were used to form a composite of low-grade inflammation. Analyses revealed a marginally significant Maltreatment Exposure × Sex interaction, which suggested that maltreatment exposure was associated with higher inflammation for girls but not boys. Additionally, analyses focused on the accumulation of maltreatment experiences (through multiple forms of maltreatment or across multiple time points) revealed that girls with greater diversity in their maltreatment experiences and those who experienced maltreatment at multiple time points were at greatest risk. Finally, examination of timing of first onset of maltreatment suggested that girls whose exposures occurred before the age of 5 had the highest low-grade inflammation. These findings add new evidence linking maltreatment to inflammation in childhood, which could increase the risk for mental and physical health problems across the lifespan.

How does the social world shape health across the lifespan? Insights and new directions.

Decades of research highlight the connections between stressful life experiences-particularly those experienced in childhood-and physical health across the lifespan. In recent years, studies at the intersection of social and biomedical science have provided intriguing insights into the biological mechanisms that might explain how chronic and acute stressors give rise to health problems, sometimes decades later in life. To date, efforts to understand these connections have relied on a handful of study designs, and these studies have revealed important observations about how stressful experiences are thought to shape health. At the same time, these study designs have some drawbacks that limit the conclusions that can be drawn about the role of the social world for health. This article provides an overview of research on social determinants of health and includes a discussion of conceptual and methodological directions for the field to consider. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Beyond Early Adversity: The Role of Parenting in Infant Physical Health.

OBJECTIVE: Although ample evidence indicates that child health is compromised by early adversity (e.g., abuse and poverty), less is known about the contribution of parenting in low-stress contexts to child health, especially in infancy. This longitudinal study extends previous research on early adversity to ask the question: Does quality of parental care predict infant health in a low-risk community sample? METHOD: Participants were 187 healthy mothers and their full-term infants (86 girls) from the Netherlands, followed from birth to age 1. Home observations of mothers' behavior were conducted during a naturalistic task (bathing session) when infants were 5 weeks old. Trained researchers interviewed mothers about the infants' health and prescribed antibiotic use every month for 12 months. Infant health problems were categorized into 4 domains according to the International Classification of Primary Care to capture a range of outcomes: respiratory, digestive, skin, and general illnesses and symptoms. RESULTS: Controlling for health-related covariates (e.g., maternal smoking and breastfeeding), maternal sensitivity predicted reduced rates of infant respiratory symptoms and skin conditions and marginally lower prescribed antibiotic use over the first year. Maternal behavior was unrelated to infant digestive and general illnesses. CONCLUSION: Even in the absence of adversity, quality of maternal care may have implications for the development of physical health, beginning as early as the first year of life. That such findings emerge in a low-risk sample helps rule out potential confounders and underscores the importance of parenting for physical and psychological health outcomes.

Harsh parenting and youth systemic inflammation: Modulation by the autonomic nervous system.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to test the role of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in modulating the impact of family stress induced by harsh parenting on youths' inflammation. First, we examined the direct effect of severity of adverse parenting behaviors on two serum biomarkers of systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein and interleukin-6) among youth. Second, we tested the moderating role of ANS reactivity in response to laboratory-induced stress in the association between harsh parenting and inflammation among these youth. METHOD: The sample included 101 low-income children (75.2% African American) between 9 and 12 years of age (Mage = 10.9; SDage = 1.2) who participated in a conflict task with their primary caregiver in a laboratory setting. Heart rate variability reactivity (HRV-R), skin conductance level reactivity (SCL-R), and preejection period reactivity (PEPr-R) were used to index parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system reactivity. Markers of low-grade inflammation (C-reactive protein and interleukin-6) were obtained from serum. RESULTS: After adjusting for confounding variables, ANS activity moderated the associations between family stress and systemic inflammation. Specifically, elevated HRV-R buffered the effect of family stress on youths' inflammation, whereas elevated PEPr-R and SCL-R exacerbated the effect. CONCLUSION: These findings show that self-regulatory capacity and threat sensitivity, as indicated by ANS function, may have an impact on the associations between family stress and systemic inflammation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Preventive parenting intervention during childhood and young black adults' unhealthful behaviors: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Lifestyle variables such as drug use and excessive weight gain contribute to adult morbidity and mortality. This study was designed to determine whether participation in a preventive intervention designed to enhance supportive parenting can reduce drug use and body mass index (BMI) in young Black adults from disadvantaged neighborhoods. METHOD: This study was conducted in the rural southeastern United States. Black parents and their 11-year-old children (517 families) were assigned randomly to the Strong African American Families (SAAF) prevention trial or a control condition. Data assessing neighborhood socioeconomic status and supportive parenting were obtained when the youths were ages 11 and 16. When youths were ages 19-21 and 25, drug use and BMI were measured. RESULTS: As hypothesized, significant three-way interactions were detected among neighborhood disadvantage, prevention condition, and gender for BMI (B = 3.341, p = .009, 95% CI [0.832, 5.849]) and substance use (B = -0.169, p = .049, 95% CI [-0.337, -0.001]). Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood during adolescence was associated with increased drug use among young men in the control group (simple-slope = 0.215, p < .003) but not among those in the SAAF condition (simple-slope = 0.030, p = .650). Neighborhood disadvantage was associated with elevated BMI among young women in the control group (simple-slope = 3.343, p < .001), but not in the SAAF condition (simple-slope = 0.204, p = .820). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that participation during childhood in a preventive intervention to enhance supportive parenting can ameliorate the effects of life in a disadvantaged neighborhood on men's drug use and women's BMI across ages 19-25 years. These findings suggest a possible role for parenting enhancement programs in narrowing health disparities.

A preliminary investigation of attachment style and inflammation in African-American young adults.

Individuals' social experiences are associated with their mental health, physical health, and even mortality. Over the last 30 years, researchers have examined the ways in which these social experiences might be associated with chronic inflammation - a component underlying many of the chronic diseases of aging. Little research, however, has examined the role of adults' attachment style as a specific social component that might be associated with inflammation. In the present study, we utilized data from a sample of 59 African-American adults from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study (MADICS) to examine the links between attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety and C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin (IL)-6. After controlling for demographic characteristics, body mass index, and depressive symptoms, attachment avoidance and anxiety were associated with IL-6 but not CRP. This study adds to the growing body of research identifying the wide range of social experiences associated with inflammation and further suggests that attachment relationship experiences may have implications for biological processes relevant to many chronic diseases of aging.

The Profundity of the Everyday: Family Routines in Adolescence Predict Development in Young Adulthood.

PURPOSE: The current study was designed to investigate the unique, long-term effects of family routines during adolescence on multiple developmental domains in young adulthood for rural African-Americans. METHODS: Prospective data were collected annually for 6 years from 504 rural African-American youth and their parents, beginning when the youth were 16 years of age. RESULTS: Results indicated that youth whose primary caregivers reported more family routines during adolescence (e.g., regularly eating together as a family, consistent bedtime) reported less alcohol use, greater emotional self-regulation, lower epinephrine levels, and higher rates of college/university enrollment in young adulthood. These effects were evident for all outcomes controlling for socioeconomic risk, sex, and available baseline (age 16 years) measures; for a subset of outcomes, the effects of family routines persisted even after taking into account levels of supportive parenting, harsh parenting, and household chaos. CONCLUSIONS: Findings substantiate the benefits of consistent, predictable family environments for healthy development and suggest that family routines constitute an important, yet understudied, factor for adolescents' long-term development.