Examination Date

11-7-2023

Degree

Dissertation

Degree Program

Community Health Science

Examination Committee

Stephanie T. Broyles; Denise M. Danos; Tung Sung Tseng; Katherine T. Theall; Amanda E. Staiano

Abstract

Background: Chronic psychosocial stress exposure has been linked to stress response and hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction. A dysfunctional stress response is implicated in the development of obesity, cardiometabolic disease risk, and more rapid biological aging. This dissertation examined the relationships among neighborhood-based chronic stress exposures, obesity and cardiometabolic disease risk, and biological aging in a sample of 342 adolescents aged 10 to 16 years. Methods: The Translational Investigation of Growth and Everyday Routines in Kids (TIGER Kids) study provided questionnaires, anthropometry, body imaging, and blood for cardiometabolic disease risk factors and leukocyte telomere length while objective neighborhood data were acquired from the American Community Survey. The primary neighborhood-based chronic stress exposures were neighborhood disadvantage and perceived neighborhood disorder. Leukocyte telomere length was examined as the telomere to single copy gene (T/S) ratio, and multilevel regression was employed. Results: First, neighborhood-based measures of chronic stress exposure were associated with excess adiposity during adolescence, and relationships were most consistent among adolescents living in the most disadvantaged and disordered neighborhoods. The second study found race differences in telomere xi length with Black adolescents having longer leukocyte telomere length than White adolescents. Greater adiposity was associated with lower telomere length, and relationships were most consistent among girls and Black adolescents though relationships did not significantly differ by race or sex. Finally, neighborhood disadvantage and disorder were not associated with leukocyte telomere length, and only BMI percentage of the 95th percentile (BMIp95) was a significant mediator between the neighborhood social environment and leukocyte telomere length while other adiposity indicators were not. Conclusions: Adolescents living in neighborhoods characterized by chronic stressors had higher adiposity, and adiposity was inversely associated with leukocyte telomere length, a potential biomarker for more advanced biological aging. No association was found between neighborhood-based chronic stress exposures and telomere length; however, BMIp95 may act as a partial mediator through which neighborhood disadvantage impacts telomere length. Future research should account for the influences of the neighborhood environment on adiposity, and the impact of adiposity on biological aging, to improve the health and development of adolescents faced with chronic stress and adversity.

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