The Relationship Between Positivity, Stress, Inflammation and Socioeconomic Status in Adolescence

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Topic - Biological Processes: Psychophysiology

Abstract

Lower socioeconomic status (SES), often operationalized as parental educational attainment, is associated with heightened levels of inflammation. Prior research has found that middle-aged men and women whose parents had less educational attainment exhibit higher levels of inflammation (Mendall et al., 2000; Pollitt et al., 2007). SES has also been inversely associated with cardiovascular mortality, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular disease risk factors (Salonen, 1982; Rose and Marmot, 1981; Sobal and Stunkard, 1989). Furthermore, chronic inflammation in adolescence has been linked to a myriad of negative health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease in adulthood and premature mortality (Kantor et al., 2019). These adverse health outcomes may be a result of the increased exposure to stress experienced by adolescents of low SES as well as a negative appraisal of stressors (Reiss et al., 2019; Hartanto et al., 2019). A potential psychological tool to buffer against these stressors is positive affect (Fredrickson, 2004). Few studies have examined the relationship between positivity, stress, inflammation, and SES in adolescents of minority populations, especially Latinx and Asian adolescents. Examining ethnic minorities is particularly important because of their vulnerability to poor health outcomes and lack of representation in research (Hussain-Gambles, 2004).
The present study seeks to identify the relationship between positive affect, stress, inflammation, and SES in adolescents of diverse ethnic backgrounds. We hypothesize that adolescents with lower levels of SES will have higher levels of inflammation. We also hypothesize that stress will mediate the relationship between SES and CRP. Lastly, we hypothesize that positivity will moderate this mediation, such that increased positivity is associated with decreased feelings of stress. Data will be analyzed from the UCLA Study of Family Health, a longitudinal study designed to examine the impact of daily experience on health and health risk in adolescence. Three-hundred adolescents (Mage = 16.4) completed an adapted version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Parental education levels and blood samples to measure C-reactive protein (a biomarker of inflammation) were also collected. Hypotheses will be tested using a linear regression analysis in SPSS by entering CRP values (mg/L) as the outcome and parental education as the main predictor of interest, while controlling for age, sex, and ethnicity. We will also run a moderation-meditation analysis using the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2013) for SPSS to examine if positivity moderates the mediation between SES, stress, and CRP. It is feasible that data analysis will be completed by the conference date given that data collection and cleaning are already done and we are currently analyzing the data.
Understanding the links between SES and inflammation may help explain the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in individuals with low SES. It may also shed light on positive psychological resources that could have a beneficial impact on adolescent health. Findings ways to foster more positive affect may be an accessible, inexpensive way to improve physical well-being, regardless of SES. Findings ways to decrease inflammation at a young age may have long-lasting effects as adolescents transition into adulthood.

Authors

• Daniela Sarmiento, University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author

• Maira Karan, University of California - Los Angeles
  Non-Presenting Author

• Andrew J Fuligni, University of California - Los Angeles
  Non-Presenting Author