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Autonomy, Social Integration, and Emotional Distress in Relation to Inflammatory Risk in Older Chilean Adults
Laura C Rodríguez-González1,2, Paula B Repetto1, Manuel S Ortiz3
1Escuela de Psicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Behavioral Medicine (Washington, D.C.)
|July 6, 2026
Summary
Social status impacts health via stress. In Chile, older adults with perceived discrimination and emotional burden showed higher inflammatory risk (CRP), especially men, indicating psychosocial factors linked to health.
Area of Science:
- Social epidemiology
- Psychosocial factors and health
- Aging and health in Latin America
Background:
- Social status influences health via stress pathways, but evidence from Latin America is scarce.
- The status syndrome framework posits links between psychosocial factors and physiological health outcomes.
- Older adults in Latin America face unique socioeconomic and health challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the status syndrome framework in Chilean adults aged 50+.
- To examine associations between psychosocial indicators and physiological risk markers.
- To identify psychosocial correlates of inflammatory risk and blood pressure in older adults.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 386 Chilean adults aged 50 and older.
- Assessed psychosocial indicators: autonomy, social integration, emotional distress, perceived discrimination.
- Measured physiological risk markers: C-reactive protein (CRP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP).
- Used multinomial logistic regression to analyze associations with physiological risk categories.
Main Results:
- No significant associations were found between psychosocial factors and mean arterial pressure (MAP).
- Higher C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, indicating inflammatory risk, were associated with perceived discrimination and emotional burden.
- Emotional burden's association with CRP was stronger in men than in women, suggesting sex-specific effects.
Conclusions:
- Perceived discrimination and emotional burden are psychosocial correlates of inflammatory risk in older Chilean adults.
- Findings highlight the importance of psychosocial factors in understanding health disparities in Latin America.
- Sex-specific patterns in the association between emotional burden and inflammation warrant further investigation.
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