Brain on stress: How the social environment gets under the skin

McEwen, Bruce S.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1121254109

Cited by 955 publications

(780 citation statements)

References 122 publications

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“…31 Chronic or cumulative stress such as that resulting from living in poor and unsafe neighborhoods may increase allostatic load (dysregulation of the adaptive system that can lead to disease) and alter allostasis, leading to alterations in immune functions and negative health outcomes. [32][33][34] Stress and its consequent psychological dysfunction (i.e., depressive symptoms) has been related to higher levels of systemic inflammation in pregnant women. [35][36][37] Systemic inflammation during pregnancy may lead to premature rupture of membranes, preterm labor, and ultimately PTD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighborhood Context and Preterm Delivery among African American Women: the Mediating Role of Psychosocial Factors

et al. 2016

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Preterm delivery (PTD), or birth before 37 completed weeks of gestation, is a serious public health issue, and racial disparities persist. In a recently published study, perceptions of the residential environment (or neighborhood context) were associated with PTD rates among urban African American women with low educational attainment (≤12 years); however, the mechanisms of these associations are unknown. Given this gap in the literature, we used data from the Life Influences on Fetal Environments Study of postpartum African American women from Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan (2009Michigan ( -2011 n = 399), to examine whether psychosocial factors (depressive symptomology, psychological distress, and perceived stress) mediate associations between perceptions of the neighborhood context and PTD. Validated scales were used to measure women's perceptions of their neighborhood safety, walkability, healthy food availability (higher=better), and social disorder (higher=more disorder). The psychosocial indicators were measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, Kessler's Psychological Distress Scale (K6), and Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale. Statistical mediation was assessed using an unadjusted logistic regression-based path analysis for estimating direct and indirect effects. The associations between perceived walkability, food availability, and social disorder were not mediated by psychosocial factors. However, perceptions of neighborhood safety were inversely associated with depressive symptoms which were positively associated with PTD rates. Also, higher perceived neighborhood social disorder was associated with higher PTD rates, net of the indirect paths through psychosocial factors. Future research should identify other mechanisms of the perceived neighborhood context-PTD associations, which would inform PTD prevention efforts among high-risk groups.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighborhood Context and Preterm Delivery among African American Women: the Mediating Role of Psychosocial Factors

et al. 2016

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“…Early childhood appears to be a sensitive period for the influence of maternal support on hippocampal growth rates (1,4). However, hippocampal plasticity endures throughout life in response to factors such as stress and physical exercise, as well as tasks that engage hippocampal activity (6). The evidence for the sensitive period in the Luby et al report (1) should not imply that hippocampal structure is no longer plastic beyond the preschool period, but simply that it no longer appears to reflect the influence of maternal support.…”

Section: Sensitive Periodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mother nurture and the social definition of neurodevelopment

Meaney

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…15,52 Recently, studies have investigated chronic stress or stress dysregulation as a physiological pathway linking environments to health outcomes. 53,54 For example, neighborhood blight has been shown to trigger a biological stress response. 36,[55][56][57] In response to an external stressor, the body activates a neuro-hormonal cascade that results in a Bfight or flight^response.…”

Section: Places and Health: Urban Blightmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature-Based Strategies for Improving Urban Health and Safety

2015

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Place-based programs are being noticed as key opportunities to prevent disease and promote public health and safety for populations at-large. As one key type of place-based intervention, nature-based and green space strategies can play an especially large role in improving health and safety for dwellers in urban environments such as US legacy cities that lack nature and greenery. In this paper, we describe the current understanding of place-based influences on public health and safety. We focus on nonchemical environmental factors, many of which are related to urban abandonment and blight. We then review findings from studies of nature-based interventions regarding impacts on health, perceptions of safety, and crime. Based on our findings, we suggest that further research in this area will require (1) refined measures of green space, nature, and health and safety for cities, (2) interdisciplinary science and cross-sector policy collaboration, (3) observational studies as well as randomized controlled experiments and natural experiments using appropriate spatial counterfactuals and mixed methods, and (4) return-on-investment calculations of potential economic, social, and health costs and benefits of urban greening initiatives. KEYWORDS Urban nature, Green space, Place-based interventions, Public health, CrimeThere is growing support of place-based programs to help prevent disease and promote public health and safety. [1][2][3][4][5] This movement is largely motivated by increasing findings that public health interventions targeted at individuals or behaviors have limited effect on health and safety outcomes at a population scale. 6 For example, educational programs that promote behavioral change among very specific, targeted population groups may not impact broader societal issues such as the actual contexts within which unhealthy behaviors like tobacco use, lack of exercise, poor diet, distracted driving, and violence occur. 7-9 Moreover, programmatic impact is rarely sustained beyond the small study populations that are targeted. When funding ends, program impact thus also often ends unless, in very rare instances, the program itself somehow becomes institutionalized or part of a larger social norm.Place-based programs rest on increasing evidence that in addition to biological and individual attributes, everyday environments have a potentially strong and Kondo is with the USDA-Forest Service, Northern Research Station,

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Brain on stress: How the social environment gets under the skin

Cited by 955 publications

References 122 publications

Neighborhood Context and Preterm Delivery among African American Women: the Mediating Role of Psychosocial Factors

Neighborhood Context and Preterm Delivery among African American Women: the Mediating Role of Psychosocial Factors

Mother nurture and the social definition of neurodevelopment

Nature-Based Strategies for Improving Urban Health and Safety

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