Threat vigilance and socioeconomic disparities in metabolic health

Abstract

A quarter of the global population meets diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome (MetS). MetS prevalence stratifies by socioeconomic status (SES), such that low SES is associated with higher MetS risk starting in childhood. Despite this trend, some low-SES children maintain good metabolic health across the life span, but the factors responsible for their resilience are not well understood. This study examined the role of threat vigilance as either a moderator or a mediator of the effects of low early life SES on adult metabolic risk. Three hundred twenty-five Canadians aged 15-55 participated (M = 36.4 years, SD = 10.7; 55.4% female). We coded parental occupational status between the ages of 0 and 5 to index early life SES. We used the International Diabetes Federation case definition for MetS based on waist circumference, blood pressure, triglyceride levels, HDL cholesterol, and glycosylated hemoglobin measures. Threat vigilance was assessed using the Weapons Identification Procedure, a visual discrimination paradigm that captures implicit perceptions of threat. Analyses supported the moderator hypothesis: low early life SES was associated with MetS diagnosis exclusively among those with high levels of threat vigilance. This suggests that low early life SES environments that heighten vigilance to threat might be particularly detrimental for metabolic health. Conversely, low threat vigilance may buffer against the metabolic risks associated with socioeconomic disadvantage.

Protective factors for youth confronting economic hardship: Current challenges and future avenues in resilience research.

“…hood. However, these excess risks were not apparent for low-SES participants who had relatively low threat vigilance (Hostinar, Ross, Chan, Chen, & Miller, 2017).…”

“…Consistent with the role of buffered threat responsivity as a protective factor, one study found that low childhood SES was associated with higher rates of metabolic syndrome in adulthood. However, these excess risks were not apparent for low-SES participants who had relatively low threat vigilance (Hostinar, Ross, Chan, Chen, & Miller, 2017).…”

Early life adversity, inflammation, and immune function: An initial test of adaptive response models of immunological programming

“…For example, much research finds links between exposure to recurrent psychological stress due to ELA and modifications to the activities of the HPA axis (Kircanski et al, 2019;Janusek et al, 2017;Shakiba et al, 2019;Timothy et al, 2019;Trickett et al, 2010) such as those resulting in an attenuated cortisol response to stress (Bunea et al, 2017). Although these modifications may themselves guide psychological and behavioral tradeoffs that promote survival and reproductive success in adverse environments (Del Giudice et al, 2011;Gatzke-Kopp, 2011;Hostinar et al, 2017), recurrent and intense HPA activation has been found to inhibit the anti-inflammatory properties of GCs (Cohen et al, 2012;Miller et al, 2014).…”

Anxious to see you: Neuroendocrine mechanisms of social vigilance and anxiety during adolescence

“…Socioeconomic status is a proxy measure of social position in human society and is linked to behavioral, cognitive and neural indices of vigilance to social threat in childhood (Boyce et al, 2012;Chen & Matthews, 2001), adolescence (Chen, Langer, Raphaelson, & Matthews, 2004;Inderbitzen, Walters, & Bukowski, 1997) and adulthood (Cundiff, Smith, Baron, & Uchino, 2016;Gianaros et al, 2008;Kraus, Horberg, Goetz, & Keltner, 2011). Importantly, some evidence suggests that low socioeconomic status may be associated with heightened vigilance to only social and not non-social threats (Hostinar, Ross, Chan, Chen, & Miller, 2017). Furthermore, loneliness (i.e.…”