Grantee Research Project Results
2013 Progress Report: Community Stressors and Susceptibility to Air Pollution in Urban Asthma
EPA Grant Number: R834576Title: Community Stressors and Susceptibility to Air Pollution in Urban Asthma
Investigators: Clougherty, Jane E. , Spengler, John D. , Kubzansky, Laura D. , Carr Shmool, Jessie L , Ito, Kazuhiko , Dotson-Newman, Ogonnaya , Shepard, Peggy
Current Investigators: Clougherty, Jane E. , Spengler, John D. , Kubzansky, Laura D. , Carr Shmool, Jessie L , Onokpise, Oghenekome U. , Ito, Kazuhiko , Shepard, Peggy
Institution: University of Pittsburgh , West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT for Environmental Justice) , Harvard University , New York University
Current Institution: University of Pittsburgh , Harvard University , New York University School of Medicine , West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT for Environmental Justice)
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: March 1, 2011 through February 28, 2015 (Extended to February 28, 2016)
Project Period Covered by this Report: March 1, 2013 through March 1,2014
Project Amount: $1,250,000
RFA: Understanding the Role of Nonchemical Stressors and Developing Analytic Methods for Cumulative Risk Assessments (2009) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Human Health
Objective:
This project aims to understand relative spatial distributions in key community-level psychosocial stressors and air pollution exposures across New York City and to examine their separate and synergistic effects of childhood asthma exacerbation.
Progress Summary:
Building on Years 1 and 2 collection and examination of publicly-available indicators of community social stressors (Table 1), we have applied GIS-based methods to identify three spatially-distinct suites of stressors in NYC. These factors do not all correlate strongly with socioeconomic status in NYC; as such, our data suggests that using poverty as a proxy for social stress may be misleading, and may inadvertently confound spatially and conceptually distinct exposures. To better understand and validate these statistical analyses, we implemented two methods for assessing perceptions of stressors: 1) community focus groups and 2) a spatially-stratified citywide survey of New York City resident adults. We conducted fourteen (14) focus groups across NYC’s five boroughs to identify key community social and physical stressors. Using insights from these focus groups, we developed and implemented a systematic city-wide survey for adult NYC residents (n=1549), to capture individual-level perceived stress, mental health, and asthma outcome data. During Year 3, we used survey data to identify those community-level social stressor indicators which best predict individual stress experience. We successfully validated community-level indicators of violent crime (e.g., felony assault), but not property-related crime, physical disorder (e.g., rental unit housing violations), noise disruption, and low socioeconomic position (SEP) (e.g., less than High School education), which will be used to assess stress-related susceptibility to air pollution exposure in an epidemiologic investigation of childhood asthma hospitalizations.
During Year 3, WE ACT convened the New York City Community Air Network (NYCCAN) to engage diverse stakeholders, including community-based organizations (CBOs), environmental health advocates, academic researchers, and government agencies, for an on-going discussion around issues of social stress and chemical exposures, toward shaping research agenda and environmental health science translation. Our community-based participatory research strategy, and early scientific learnings were presented and discussed among NYCCAS stakeholders at two meetings in NYC.
Future Activities:
Together, these data will enable us to systematically examine the association between validated community-level stressor indices (e.g., poverty or crime rates) and individual stress experience. In Year 4, we will build multi-level and case-crossover epidemiological models of social stressor and air pollution exposure on child asthma hospitalizations (2005-2012) across New York City.
Journal Articles on this Report : 3 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 53 publications | 7 publications in selected types | All 7 journal articles |
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Clougherty JE, Shmool JLC, Kubzansky LD. The role of non-chemical stressors in mediating socioeconomic susceptibility to environmental chemicals. Current Environmental Health Reports 2014;1(4):302-313. |
R834576 (2013) R834576 (2014) R834576 (Final) |
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Shmool JLC, Kubzansky LD, Newman OD, Spengler J, Shepard P, Clougherty JE. Social stressors and air pollution across New York City communities: a spatial approach for assessing correlations among multiple exposures. Environmental Health 2014;13:91. |
R834576 (2012) R834576 (2013) R834576 (2014) R834576 (Final) |
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Shmool JL, Yonas MA, Newman OD, Kubzansky LD, Joseph E, Parks A, Callaway C, Chubb LG, Shepard P, Clougherty JE. Identifying perceived neighborhood stressors across diverse communities in New York City. American Journal of Community Psychology 2015;56(1-2):144-155. |
R834576 (2012) R834576 (2013) R834576 (2014) R834576 (Final) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
community stressors, psychosocial stress, synergistic effects, nonchemical stressors, traffic-related air pollution, childhood asthma exacerbation, differential susceptibility, spatial epidemiology, GISRelevant Websites:
http://www.pitt.edu/~jcloughe/Research.htm Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.