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Associations Between Socioeconomic Status and Catecholamine Levels Vary by Acculturation Status in Mexican-American Women

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Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with poorer health, possibly through activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

Purpose

This study aimed to examine the association between SES and catecholamine levels, and variations by acculturation.

Methods

Three hundred one Mexican-American women underwent examination with a 12-h urine collection. Analyses tested associations of SES, acculturation (language and nativity), and their interaction with norepinephrine (NOREPI) and epinephrine (EPI).

Results

No main effects for SES or the acculturation indicators emerged. Fully adjusted models revealed a significant SES by language interaction for NOREPI (p < .01) and EPI (p < .05), and a SES by nativity interaction approached significance for NOREPI (p = .05). Simple slope analyses revealed that higher SES related to lower catecholamine levels in Spanish-speaking women, and higher NOREPI in English-speaking women. Although nonsignificant, similar patterns were observed for nativity.

Conclusions

Associations between SES and catecholamines may vary by acculturation, and cultural factors should be considered when examining SES health effects in Hispanics.

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Fig. 1

Notes

  1. We thank an anonymous reviewer for the suggestion of controlling for perceived stress as a potential confounder. Analyzing the data including a measure of overall perception of stress burden within the past 30 days [26] as a covariate did not substantively change results; consequently, for parsimony, these analyses are not presented.

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Acknowledgments

Support for this study was provided by1R01HL081604 (NHLBI/NIH), and trainees were supported by 1T32HL079891-01A2 and F31HL087732 from the NHLBI/NIH.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

    Jessica A. Jiménez M.A.

  2. San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

    Smriti Shivpuri M.S., Karla Espinosa de los Monteros Ph.D. & Linda C. Gallo Ph.D.

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Karen A. Matthews Ph.D.

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0804, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0804, USA

    Jessica A. Jiménez M.A. & Paul J. Mills Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Jessica A. Jiménez M.A.
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  2. Smriti Shivpuri M.S.
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  3. Karla Espinosa de los Monteros Ph.D.
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  4. Karen A. Matthews Ph.D.
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  6. Linda C. Gallo Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jessica A. Jiménez M.A..

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Jiménez, J.A., Shivpuri, S., de los Monteros, K.E. et al. Associations Between Socioeconomic Status and Catecholamine Levels Vary by Acculturation Status in Mexican-American Women. ann. behav. med. 44, 129–135 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-012-9365-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-012-9365-6

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