A study of 422 Black women ages 30–46 examined links between worry about police and a physical marker of cardiovascular risk. Participants answered questions about their experiences with law enforcement, their worries about personal future interactions with police, and concerns about their children’s possible interactions. Based on responses, the researchers classified participants into three groups with different combinations of child vigilance and personal exposure to police.
Investigators measured carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) by ultrasound. Carotid IMT is the thickness of the inner layers of the carotid artery and is widely used as a marker of cardiovascular risk because thicker measurements are associated with greater likelihood of future cardiovascular problems.
The study found that women who reported concern for their children’s possible encounters with police had thicker IMT than women who had experienced first-hand police harassment but did not report child-focused vigilance. Hoggard noted that the No Child Vigilance–High Personal Exposure group, who had direct harassment, showed lower IMT than the other groups. The researchers controlled for age, income and other demographic and medical factors, and stressed the results show correlation, not causation. They also observed that the increased IMT in the High Child Vigilance and Moderate Child Vigilance groups was comparable, raising questions about a possible stress threshold linked to cardiovascular risk. The authors noted that Black women generally have higher rates of cardiovascular disease and earlier diagnosis, and suggested child-focused vigilance may contribute to this pattern.
- Journal: Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine
- Coauthors from several universities
- Support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD
Difficult words
- vigilance — careful attention to possible danger or problemschild vigilance, child-focused vigilance, High Child Vigilance, Moderate Child Vigilance
- harassment — aggressive or hostile behaviour repeated toward someonepolice harassment, direct harassment
- intima-media thickness — measurement of the artery inner layer thicknesscarotid intima-media thickness
- correlation — a relationship where two things vary together
- causation — a situation where one thing directly causes another
- cardiovascular — relating to the heart and blood vesselscardiovascular risk, cardiovascular problems, cardiovascular disease
- threshold — a level or point that causes a changestress threshold
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Why might worry about children’s possible encounters with police affect health differently than personal exposure? Give reasons based on the article.
- What actions could researchers or public health officials take to investigate whether child-focused vigilance contributes to higher cardiovascular disease rates?
- How does the fact that the researchers controlled for age, income and other factors affect how we interpret their findings?
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