Bert N. Uchino - US grants

THIS IS A SHANNON AWARD PROVIDING PARTIAL SUPPORT FOR THE RESEARCH PROJECTS THAT FALL SHORT OF THE ASSIGNED INSTITUTE'S FUNDING RANGE BUT ARE IN THE MARGIN OF EXCELLENCE. THE SHANNON AWARD IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO TEST THE FEASIBILITY OF THE APPROACH; DEVELOP FURTHER TESTS AND REFINE RESEARCH TECHNIQUES; PERFORM SECONDARY ANALYSIS OR AVAILABLE DATA SETS; OR CONDUCT DISCRETE PROJECTS THAT CAN DEMONSTRATE THE PI'S RESEARCH CAPABILITIES OR LEND ADDITIONAL WEIGHT TO AN ALREADY MERITORIOUS APPLICATION. THE ABSTRACT BELOW IS TAKEN FROM THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT SUBMITTED BY THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR. DESCRIPTION: Aging is typically associated with significant changes in cardiovascular function (e.g., increased blood pressure) that confer increased vulnerability to physical health problems. Research on chronological age and physiological function, however, suggests that physiological and chronological age are not isomorphic, and that social factors may play a role in the aging process. This application proposes to study the cardiovascular responses to laboratory stressors longitudinally for 144 men and women between the ages of 30 to 70. One aim of the proposal is to examine the influence of age on detailed invasive measures of resting cardiovascular function including systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, systolic time intervals, cardiac output, and total peripheral resistance. Although age-related differences in standard resting measures of cardiovascular function (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure) are well-documented, much less is known about the influence of age on cardiovascular responses to psychological stressors. Therefore, a second aim of this research is to examine age-related differences and changes in cardiovascular reactivity during acute psychological stress. A third, and major aim of this research, is to examine a general conceptual model of the influence of positive and negative aspects of social relationships (e.g., social support, social conflict, social ambivalence) on such age-related differences and changes in resting cardiovascular activity and cardiovascular reactivity during acute psychological stress. Based on the proposed conceptual model, these investigators will also examine more specific psychological and behavioral factors that may be mediating these relationships.

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's abstract): Social relationships have been reliably related to morbidity and mortality. However, the joint contribution of positive and negative aspects of social relationships, and its association to health, has not been adequately examined. In the proposed research, we present a general conceptual model suggesting that an individual's social network members may be heuristically categorized as sources of positivity (i.e., social support), sources of negativity (i.e., social aversion), or sources of both positivity and negativity (i.e., social ambivalence). The major aims of this research are to examine (a) the utility of this general conceptual framework for analyzing the health effects of social relationships and (b) potential mechanisms responsible for links between social relationships and health at differing levels of analysis (e.g.. health behaviors, psychological states, physiological function). We pursue these aims in 6 integrative studies. In our first two studies, we investigate the prevalence, mental health correlates, and ambulatory cardiovascular correlates of these different categories of social relationships. Studies 3 and 4 utilize laboratory paradigms to examine cardiovascular reactions to situations involving different categories of social relationships. In the first of these studies, we explore if the activation of a schemata associated with a supportive, aversive, or ambivalent network tie is associated with differences in cardiovascular reactivity. In our second laboratory study, we examine if supportive behaviors reduce cardiovascular reactivity to acute stress when the network member is a source of ambivalence. Study 5 investigates the developmental processes that may influence the formation of different social networks. Finally we examine an application of our model to a biologically significant outcome using an influenza vaccination paradigm (study 6). Importantly, our preliminary research provides evidence for the feasibility and potential of the proposed research.

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Social relationships have been reliably related to lower cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Most of this research has been interpreted as reflecting the beneficial influences of social support. However, the joint contribution of positive and negative aspects of relationships in the context of support processes has hot been adequately considered. In addition, little is known of the mechanisms linking relationships to cardiovascular outcomes. In the present research we propose a conceptual model that makes salient the separability of positive and negative aspects of relationships during support. This framework suggests that an individual's social support network can be heuristically classified as sources of positivity (i.e., support), negativity (i.e., aversion), or both positivity and negativity (i.e., ambivalence). This framework, combined with existing relationships and health models, makes salient mechanisms linking relationships to health at different levels of analysis. Thus, the major aims of this application are to (a) examine the utility of this model for analyzing the health effects of relationships, and (b) to elucidate basic psychological, behavioral, and physiological mechanisms linking relationships to cardiovascular outcomes. We pursue these aims in five integrative studies. In three studies, we investigate the links between differing relationships and cardiovascular reactivity and recovery in response to acute stress by utilizing social-cognitive paradigms that (a) manipulate perceptions of relationship quality and (b) disrupt or activate psychological processes associated with existing relationships. A fourth study will address the generalizability of these lab-based protocols by testing the association between social relationships and daily life ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) following work in married couples. A final study will examine the links between relationships and recent immune markers of inflammation that confer increased risk for cardiovascular disease in an older, more health-relevant population of married couples. All of the above studies will assess basic mechanisms to help elucidate the processes by which relationships may influence cardiovascular function in each paradigm. Importantly, our preliminary research provides evidence for the feasibility and potential of the proposed research. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The quality and quantity of one's social relationships are reliably related to physical health outcomes. For instance, there is strong evidence linking social support to lower overall disease morbidity and mortality. Given links between relationships and mortality across different diseases, a focus on more general biological pathways that may be responsible for such links is important. Such research would complement existing disease-specific approaches, and highlight potentially important integrative mechanisms. This application attempts to forge such links by examining the association between relationships and novel indicators of biological aging at the cellular level (i.e., telomere length, telomerase activity). Thus, the primary aim of this R21 exploratory / developmental grant is to examine links between relationships and aspects of cellular aging thought to influence general susceptibility to disease. A second aim of this grant is to examine such links in the context of a general conceptual model that highlights the joint influence of positive and negative aspects of social relationships on health (i.e., supportive, aversive, and ambivalent). A final aim will be to examine the potential pathways responsible for links between relationships and health. Thus, we will investigate potential psychological and behavioral mechanisms linking relationships to indicators of cellular aging. We pursue these aims in an initial study of 180 healthy men and women between the ages of 50 to 70. We will utilize this sample as middle-aged and older adults comprise a growing segment of the population and identification of factors that promote greater resiliency or risk in such populations is an important public health agenda. Measures of social relationships, telomere length, telomerase activity, and conceptually- relevant psychological and behavioral mediators will be obtained. We predict that social support (as well as other relationship processes) will be associated with these indicators of cellular aging; and these associations will be mediated by relevant behavioral and psychological processes (see application for specific predictions). It is our hope that this exploratory research can serve as the basis for the development of longitudinal studies that are able to (a) link social ties to actual changes in cellular aging (i.e., telomere lengthening or shortening), (b) model plausible mechanisms at multiple levels of analysis, (c) provide more direct links to the development and exacerbation of disease processes, and (d) inform relevant interventions aimed at promoting health through relationship processes. Determining the factors that influence the biological aging process is important to inform theory and relevant interventions. In this R21 application, we test links between social ties and aspects of cellular aging using a more comprehensive model of relationships and by modeling relevant psychological and behavioral pathways. This project will provide preliminary evidence on the plausibility of such links, and the levels of analysis (e.g., social, biological) that could be targeted as potential entry points for interventions. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]

Of the psychosocial risk factors, positive and negative aspects of relationships are two of the most reliable predictors of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, most prior work has examined positive and negative aspects of relationships in isolation. Such a practice ignores the possibility that these dimensions can co-occur (i.e., ambivalence) in specific ties. Our prior work has shown that ambivalent ties are common (close to 50% of important network ties) and stable over time. More important is the fact that perceptions of relationship ambivalence are related to increased cardiovascular risk, including greater ambulatory blood pressure, cardiovascular reactivity, inflammation, and coronary artery calcification. This proposal will thus pursue three major aims to tackle the issue of why such links occur based on the social ambivalence and disease (SAD) model. Aim 1 will test the antecedent factors that influence the development of ambivalent ties and link them to health (i.e., harsh early family environment, concurrent positive and negative relationship interactions). Aim 2 will examine the factors that influence the maintenance of ambivalent ties (i.e., commitment, indirect coping strategies, implicit relationship representations) and if they moderate links to health. Finally, aim 3 will seek to directly model the mechanisms linking these ambivalence factors to cardiovascular risk as specified by the SAD model. In order to pursue these major aims, 3 integrative studies will be conducted. These studies utilize different protocols and health-relevant cardiovascular assessments which capitalize on our prior work. Study 1 will test if the early family environment is linked to relationship ambivalence and cardiovascular health. Study 2 will track the development of ambivalence in early dating relationships and corresponding links to cardiovascular function. Study 3 will examine if relationship commitment, indirect coping strategies, and implicit relationship representations moderate the links between ambivalent ties and health in longer-term married couples. Finally, each of these studies will directly model relevant mechanisms based on a novel theoretical framework (i.e., SAD model). Importantly, these studies represent critical theoretical steps in linking relationships to health and our prior studies provide evidence for the feasibility and potential of the proposed work.