Socioeconomic Status, John Henryism and Hypertension Risk in Blacks

May 12, 2016 updated by: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
To investigate psychosocial and dietary influences on blood pressure in Blacks.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

BACKGROUND:

Socioeconomic status as measured by education, income and/or occupation is generally inversely associated with hypertension-risk. John Henryism research is designed to test the psychosocial stress hypothesis that low SES Blacks who are strongly predisposed to overcome difficult life circumstances through effortful active coping might have higher blood pressure than their more relaxed neighbors and that John Henryism and anger suppression are positively correlated in Blacks.

The first two years of the project analyzed data collected on 1,548 Black and white men and women in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. The Edgecombe County data were collected in 1983 to provide data for a representative sample of households to be used in evaluating the effectiveness of a community high blood pressure control program. Approximately 50 percent of the sample was Black and 56 percent women. In the first year, measurements were made in all four race-sex groups of the effect-modifying role of John Henryism on education and on alternative measures of SES. In the second year, analyses were conducted on the degree to which job security, marriage, and socioeconomic mobility predict blood pressure in each race-sex group.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

A survey was conducted of 2,017 Black men and women in Pitt County, North Carolina. Study variables included age, sex, marital status, socioeconomic status (SES), John Henryism (behavioral predisposition to cope actively with psychosocial environmental stressors), social support, anger-coping style, social desirability, dietary variables including sodium, potassium, calcium and alcohol, blood pressure, height, weight, and pregnancy. In the cross-sectional study, blood pressure was the continuous outcome as measured by linear regression. Three years after baseline all normotensive persons were re-examined in order to measure changes in blood pressure from baseline after exposure to selected psychosocial and dietary factors. The study provided an estimate of the degree to which John Henryism, social support, anger-coping and dietary factors modify the association between SES and blood pressure in Blacks.

The study was renewed in 1993 to re-examine the 1,429 respondents (571 men, 912 women) with untreated, mean diastolic blood pressure < 95 mmHg at baseline, and again at follow-up, on changes in blood pressure during the intervening four to five years (1988-1992/93). The social variables included socioeconomic status, John Henryism, stress, and social support; the dietary variables included alcohol, sodium, potassium, and calcium; and the anthropometric variables included body mass index (BMI) and waist/hip ratio (WHR). With an emphasis on SES, physical activity, dietary habits, and cigarette smoking, the predictors of weight gain, and changes in patterning of body fat were also examined. Multiple linear regression was the primary analytic tool used to study these longitudinal relationships. In cross-sectional analyses which controlled for physical activity and other important variables, the roles of insulin resistance in mediating associations between obesity and blood pressure, and stress and blood pressure, were also examined.

The study completion date listed in this record was obtained from the "End Date" entered in the Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS) record.

Study Type

Observational

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

No older than 100 years (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Male

Description

No eligibility criteria

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Investigators

  • John Sherman, University of Michigan

Publications and helpful links

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General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

December 1, 1984

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 1997

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 25, 2000

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 25, 2000

First Posted (Estimate)

May 26, 2000

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

May 13, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 12, 2016

Last Verified

August 1, 2004

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 1047
  • R01HL033211 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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