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Item Profiles of historical loss and childhood trauma as predictors of mental and cardiometabolic health in American Indian adults(Elsevier BV, 2023-12) John-Henderson, Neha A.; Ginty, Annie T.Cardiometabolic disease and mental health conditions are two major contributors to persistent inequities in health and life expectancy for American Indian adults. The atrocities associated with European colonization are linked to intergenerational psychological and emotional wounding (i.e., historical trauma) and high incidence of childhood trauma. Prior work has examined the independent relationships of childhood trauma and thoughts about historical loss with cardiometabolic and mental health in American Indians. In the current work, we used a data-driven approach to identify profiles of childhood trauma and frequency of thoughts about historical loss, and then examined how these profiles related to cardiometabolic and mental health in a sample of American Indian adults from across the United States (N = 727). We found that a profile characterized by high levels of childhood trauma and high frequency of thoughts about historical losses was associated with the greatest risk for mental health conditions. The profile characterized by the highest levels of childhood trauma and by moderate frequency of thoughts about historical losses was associated with the largest risk of cardiometabolic conditions. The findings represent an important first step towards understanding how childhood trauma and thoughts about historical loss may simultaneously inform enduring inequities in American Indian health.Item Childhood Trauma and Cortisol Reactivity: An Investigation of the Role of Task Appraisals(Frontiers Media SA, 2022-04) Counts, Cory J.; Ginty, Annie T.; Larsen, Jade M.; Kampf, Taylor D.; John-Henderson, Neha A.Background: Childhood adversity is linked to adverse health in adulthood. One posited mechanistic pathway is through physiological responses to acute stress. Childhood adversity has been previously related to both exaggerated and blunted physiological responses to acute stress, however, less is known about the psychological mechanisms which may contribute to patterns of physiological reactivity linked to childhood adversity. Objective: In the current work, we investigated the role of challenge and threat stress appraisals in explaining relationships between childhood adversity and cortisol reactivity in response to an acute stressor. Methods: Undergraduate students (n = 81; 61% female) completed an online survey that included general demographic information and the Risky Families Questionnaire 24 h before a scheduled lab visit. In the lab, a research assistant collected a baseline salivary cortisol sample. Following the baseline period, participants were read instructions for the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a validated psychological lab stressor. Next, they completed a challenge vs. threat task appraisal questionnaire and completed the speech and math portion of the TSST. Twenty minutes following the start of the TSST, a second salivary sample was collected to measure changes in salivary cortisol following the TSST. Results: Linear regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, childhood socioeconomic status (SES), and baseline cortisol levels, showed childhood adversity associated with changes in cortisol levels [B = –0.29 t(73) = –2.35, p = 0.02, R2=0.07]. Linear regression analyses controlling for age, sex, and childhood SES showed childhood adversity associated with both challenge [B = –0.52 t(74) = –5.04, p < 0.001, R2=0.24] and threat [B = 0.55 t(74) = 5.40, p < 0.001, R2=0.27] appraisals. Significant indirect effects of childhood trauma on cortisol reactivity were observed through challenge appraisals [B = –0.01 (95% confidence interval = –0.02, –0.003)], and threat appraisals [B = –0.01 (95% confidence interval = –0.01, –0.003)]. Conclusion: Childhood adversity may contribute to blunted cortisol reactivity, a pattern of response which is linked to obesity, addiction, and other behavior-related diseases. Our findings suggest that this relationship is in part a product of stress appraisals.Item COVID-19 and food insecurity in the Blackfeet Tribal Community(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2022-05) John-Henderson, Neha A.; Oosterhoff, Benjamin J.; Johnson, Lester R.; Lafromboise, Mary Ellen; Malatare, Melveena; Salois, EmilyTo examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food insecurity in the Blackfeet American Indian Tribal Community. American Indian adults residing on the Blackfeet reservation in Northwest Montana (n = 167) participated in a longitudinal survey across 4 months during the COVID-19 pandemic (August 24, 2020- November 30, 2020). Participants reported on demographics and food insecurity. We examined trajectories of food insecurity alongside COVID-19 incidence. While food insecurity was high in the Blackfeet community preceding the pandemic, 79% of our sample reported significantly greater food insecurity at the end of the study. Blackfeet women were more likely to report higher levels of food insecurity and having more people in the household predicted higher food insecurity. Longitudinal data indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated already high levels of food insecurity in the Blackfeet community. Existing programs and policies are inadequate to address this public health concern in AI tribal communities.Item American Indian young adults display diminished cardiovascular and cortisol responses to acute psychological stress(2020-04) John-Henderson, Neha A.; Gruman, Hannah E.; Counts, Cory J.; Ginty, Annie T.American Indian adults are at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease compared with non-Hispanic white adults. Scant research exists examining the underlying physiological and psychological mechanisms associated with these risks. This study aimed to examine possible psychological and physiological stress-related mechanisms related to cardiovascular disease risk in healthy American Indian and non-Hispanic white adults. Forty American Indian (60% female, Mean age = 19.93, SD = 2.08 years) and 45 non-Hispanic white (70% female, Mean age = 20.18, SD = 2.22 years) participants attended an in-person laboratory session. Salivary cortisol and cardiovascular activity were measured before (baseline), during, and after exposure to a 10-minute mental arithmetic task. Compared to non-Hispanic white participants, American Indian had diminished salivary cortisol (p < .001), blood pressure (p's < .001), and heart rate (p = .041) responses to acute psychological stress. These effects could not be accounted for by differences in task performance or self-reported engagement. Previous research has shown that exaggerated responses to stress are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, diminished responses to stress are associated with early childhood stress and future adverse behaviors (e.g., addiction, obesity). Diminished reactivity may influence behaviors that can impact future development of cardiovascular disease in American Indian populations.Item American Indian young adults display diminished cardiovascular and cortisol responses to acute psychological stress(2020-04) John-Henderson, Neha A.; Gruman, Hannah E.; Counts, Cory J.; Ginty, Annie T.American Indian adults are at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease compared with non-Hispanic white adults. Scant research exists examining the underlying physiological and psychological mechanisms associated with these risks. This study aimed to examine possible psychological and physiological stress-related mechanisms related to cardiovascular disease risk in healthy American Indian and non-Hispanic white adults. Forty American Indian (60% female, Mean age = 19.93, SD = 2.08 years) and 45 non-Hispanic white (70% female, Mean age = 20.18, SD = 2.22 years) participants attended an in-person laboratory session. Salivary cortisol and cardiovascular activity were measured before (baseline), during, and after exposure to a 10-minute mental arithmetic task. Compared to non-Hispanic white participants, American Indian had diminished salivary cortisol (p < .001), blood pressure (p’s < .001), and heart rate (p = .041) responses to acute psychological stress. These effects could not be accounted for by differences in task performance or self-reported engagement. Previous research has shown that exaggerated responses to stress are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, diminished responses to stress are associated with early childhood stress and future adverse behaviors (e.g., addiction, obesity). Diminished reactivity may influence behaviors that can impact future development of cardiovascular disease in American Indian populations.Item Childhood socioeconomic status and risk in early family environments: predictors of global sleep quality in college students(2018-03) Counts, Cory J.; Grubin, Fiona C.; John-Henderson, Neha A.Objective Low socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood associates with poor sleep quality in adulthood. Separately, childhood family environments shape health into adulthood. Here, we investigated whether these early life factors independently or interactively inform global sleep quality in college students. Design Cross-sectional. Participants College students at a state university (N = 391). Measurements As a measure of childhood SES, we asked participants to consider their families’ socioeconomic standing relative to the rest of the society during their childhood. We used the Risky Family questionnaire to measure adversity and the presence of warmth and affection in the family environment during childhood, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index as a measure of current global sleep quality. We used linear regressions adjusting for age and sex to examine relationships between childhood SES, risk in childhood family environments, and global sleep quality. Results Lower childhood SES and greater risk in childhood family environments independently predicted poor sleep quality. Importantly, in low-risk family environments, there was no significant difference in sleep quality as a function of childhood SES. However, students who were from low childhood SES backgrounds who also reported high levels of risk in their early family environments had the worst sleep quality. Conclusions Findings highlight the importance of considering socioeconomic and family environments in childhood as informants of sleep quality across the lifespan. Compromised sleep quality in college students could affect academic performance and health over time.Item Early life socioeconomic status associates with interleukin-6 responses to acute laboratory stress in adulthood(2018-05) Lockwood, Kimberly G.; John-Henderson, Neha A.; Marsland, Anna L.It is proposed that environmental exposures in early life influence immune programming. Specifically, socioeconomic disadvantage is thought to program an immune phenotype that is prone to inflammation and associated with increased risk for inflammatory disease later in life. Existing literature shows an inverse association of early childhood socioeconomic status (SES) with adult levels of systemic inflammation. Here, we extend that literature to examine whether early childhood SES also relates to the magnitude of inflammatory response to acute psychological stress in adulthood. Healthy volunteers (N = 110; 40–58 years; 59% female; 90% white) performed a laboratory stress protocol, with blood samples drawn at the end of a 30-min baseline, a 5-min speech task, and a 30-min recovery to assess interleukin (IL)-6 stress responses. An early childhood SES index was derived from reports of parental home and vehicle ownership, and number of bedrooms per child in the home across ages 1–2, 3–4, and 5–6. Regressions adjusted for current age, sex, race, and BMI showed that lower SES at age 1–2 was associated with larger IL-6 stress responses in adulthood (ΔR2 = 0.05, β = −0.24, p = .03). This association was independent of adult SES and task-evoked affective responses. No association was found between SES at ages 3–4 or 5–6 and IL-6 responses. These results provide initial evidence for a link between disadvantage in the first 2 years of life and heightened inflammatory response to stress in adulthood; this link may contribute to the increased disease risk that accompanies being raised in disadvantaged socioeconomic circumstances.