Emerging adulthood may be a critical period in the development or mitigation of CVD risk for women.
The influence of stress and discrimination on blood vessel function
Emerging adulthood is defined as 18 to 25 years of age and is a transition period marked by significant physical, social, and cognitive changes. This period is shaped by three interrelated domains: 1) social determinants of health, 2) developmental transitions, and 3) behavioral and lifestyle behaviors. The transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood is increasingly recognized as a critical developmental window for cardiovascular health.
Women may be especially susceptible to the adverse cardiovascular effects of stress. While both men and women exhibit heightened sympathetic nervous system activity under stress, women appear more vulnerable to the long-term consequences of this sympathetic nervous system (SNS) hyperactivity.
Arterial stiffness is an indicator of vascular health and a strong predictor of future cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. There are large ethnic and racial disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. For example, non-Latino Black women have a higher burden of CVD risk factors than other gender and racial/ethnic groups. Underlying causes of these disparities are unclear but may include health behaviors, access to care, and stress from everyday lived experiences.
We measure arterial stiffness in the lab through evaluating the wave pulses of blood through the vessels. One bout of physical exercise is known to reduce blood pressure, improve affect, and reduce stress. A single bout of exercise may be one way to reduce arterial stiffness, but it is unclear whether this response occurs similarly in women of different levels of stress. Our work focuses on evaluating the effect of psychosocial stress on arterial stiffness in a diverse population of emerging adult women and the effect of one bout of exercise on arterial stiffness in this population.
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