Goal-striving stress and repeated measures of adiposity in the Jackson heart study

Psychosocial stressors are determinants of increases in adiposity. Both psychosocial stressors and adiposity are higher among African Americans (AAs). Therefore, clarifying the stress-obesity link in AAs is important. The stress associated with goal striving is particularly relevant to AAs because opportunity for upward mobility is not always equal. Goal-striving stress (GSS) has not been assessed with adiposity, a potential result of GSS. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine whether GSS would be associated with repeated measures of adiposity [body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHR)] in AAs. Linear mixed models were used to assess the relationship between GSS with repeated measures of adiposity across three exam periods among 2902 AAs, and sex was assessed as a moderator. Models were adjusted for demographics, health behaviours, morbidities, and daily discrimination. GSS was positively associated with repeated measures of adiposity in women but not men: WC [estimate (standard error) p-value] [0.003 (0.001) p < 0.01] and WHR [0.003 (0.0007) p < 0.01]. This suggests that high stress due to goal striving may contribute to greater increases in adiposity in AA women over time. Community-based interventions should continue to consider focused support group models as viable options for goal-striving related stress reduction.