Socioeconomic Status, Daily Affective and Social Experiences, and Inflammation During Adolescence

Abstract

Objective To assess the relation between socioeconomic status (SES) and inflammation during adolescence and determine whether daily affective and social experiences across a 15-day period mediate this relation. Methods Adolescents (n = 316) completed daily diary reports of positive affect, negative affect, and negative social interactions for 15 days and provided whole blood spot samples for the assessment of C-reactive protein (CRP). Parents provided information on SES, including the highest level of education they and their spouses completed and household income. Results Lower parent education was associated with higher levels of adolescent CRP, controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, and body mass index (β = −.12; p = .031). Mean daily positive affect, negative affect, and negative social interactions were examined as potential mediators of this association. In these models, parent education was no longer associated with adolescent CRP (β = −.09; p = .12), and only positive affect was related to CRP (β = −.12; p = .025). Bootstrapping confirmed the mediating role of positive affect (indirect effect = −.015, 95% CI = [−.038, −.002]). Conclusions Adolescents with less educated parents tended to have higher levels of CRP, which may be explained by their lower levels of positive affect. Findings suggest that a lack of positive affect may be a pathway by which SES confers early risk for poor health in adulthood. It is possible that adolescents who display positive affect during daily life in circumstances of relatively adverse socioeconomic circumstances may have better health outcomes related to lower inflammatory factors.

Socioeconomic status inequalities in low-grade inflammation during childhood

“…Our income findings corroborate with another national-level study that found significant positive associations between family income and inflammation in children 3-16 years. 18 Our results for parental education are consistent with studies of older children in Los Angeles, 27 Ohio, 28 and 10-year olds in the UK. 29 Thus, we add to the growing literature that suggests low SES may be an important risk factor for low-grade inflammation in children.…”

Methyl mercury exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes in the Seychelles Child Development Study Main cohort at age 22 and 24years

“…As in previous recent analyses of this cohort (Davidson et al, 2011; van Wijngaarden et al, 2013b), child sex was a covariate for all outcomes and socioeconomic status (SES) at 9 years of age was included as a covariate for all outcomes except POMS because the association between SES and measures of positive and negative affect, especially as measured by POMS, is currently not clear (Chiang et al, 2015). We operationalized SES through the use of the Hollingshead Social Status Index modified for use in the Seychelles (Davidson et al, 1998; Hollingshead, 1975).…”

Adiposity moderates links from early adversity and depressive symptoms to inflammatory reactivity to acute stress during late adolescence

“…Youth and their parents completed a series of questionnaires, provided measures for several biomarkers, and completed a daily diary protocol at each wave. More details on the parent study can be found elsewhere (Chiang et al, 2015a, 2016). …”