Allostatic Load Among Non-Hispanic Whites, Non-Hispanic Blacks, and People of Mexican Origin: Effects of Ethnicity, Nativity, and Acculturation

摘要

Objectives . We investigated ethnic differences in allostatic load in a population-based sample of adults living in Texas City, TX, and assessed the effects of nativity and acculturation status on allostatic load among people of Mexican origin. Methods . We used logistic regression models to examine ethnic variations in allostatic load scores among non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Blacks, and people of Mexican origin. We also examined associations between measures of acculturation and allostatic load scores among people of Mexican origin only. Results . Foreign-born Mexicans were the least likely group to score in the higher allostatic load categories. Among individuals of Mexican origin, US-born Mexican Americans had higher allostatic load scores than foreign-born Mexicans, and acculturation measures did not account for the difference. Conclusions . Our findings expand on recent research from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey with respect to ethnicity and allostatic load. Our results are consistent with the healthy immigrant hypothesis (i.e., newer immigrants are healthier) and the acculturation hypothesis, according to which the longer Mexican immigrants reside in the United States, the greater their likelihood of potentially losing culture-related health-protective effects. Adverse social circumstances, such as exposure to social and economic stressors, have been found to be associated with a variety of poor health outcomes in different ethnic and age groups, both internationally and in the United States. 1 – 6 However, the pathways through which these effects are transmitted have not been clearly elucidated. It has been postulated that persistent adversity over the long term leads to changes in the physiological stress response apparatus and that these physiological changes are responsible for deleterious health consequences. 7 , 8 The capacity of individuals' physiological systems to adapt to challenges and stressors, or allostasis, is a necessary part of healthy functioning. 9 – 11 However, the accumulated consequences of repeated, frequent adaptation to stressors throughout the life course lead to dysregulation of these same physiological systems, referred to with a number of different terms, including weathering , 12 , 13 allostatic load , 7 , 8 cumulative physiological dysregulation , 14 and biological risk profile , 15 all measured in very similar ways. Here we refer to this phenomenon as allostatic load.