Undergraduate Research Poster on Stress, Physical Activity and Inflammation in college students. A theoretical model for future research and methods paired with Anthropology Lab Methods course in the Human Biology Lab at UNC CH.

1. Association of Cultural Domains of Psychosocial Stress, Physical Activity, and Inflammation in
College Students
Robert Cochran, Michera Gentry, Supreet Goraya, Ieva Juzumaite, Vaishnavi Siripurapu
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Anthropology
Expected Results
● Increased inflammation with higher levels of stress due to prolonged
cortisol production
● Participant’s cortisol will show a large peak between saliva collected right
after waking and saliva collected thirty minutes after waking, but will
decrease the remainder of the day
● Physical activity is predicted to lower inflammation (resulting in lower CRP
and EBV)
● Intense and frequent physical activity can lead to more inflammation by
increasing the production of adiponectin
● High levels of inflammation can impact the immune system’s function by
causing cortisol resistance (result of chronic cortisol production) and lower
immunity
● This research hypothesizes that college students experience increased
stress leading to opportunities to develop chronic stress illnesses
Limitations
● Our population is modeled to represent all college students; may not
accurately represent the general population
● Difficulty keeping participants in the study at the beginning which could
disrupt the timeline of the data collection
● Limited number of equipment for participants
Acknowledgements
● UNC Office of Undergraduate Research URCT Program, the UNC-CH
students who have participated thus far, and Dr. Mark Sorensen
Research Goals
● Investigate variation in inflammatory biomarkers and the relationship with body
composition and cardiometabolic risk
● Examine associations between inflammation, psychosocial stress and physical
activity
● Identify and map the most prominent cultural domains of stress amongst college
students
● Understand the inflammatory response of college students to acute stress
through cytokines
Introduction
Previous studies have found that physical activity and psychosocial stress can
increase inflammation. This study examines the interaction between physical
activity and stress in college students. Physical activity levels and psychosocial
stress are all common lifestyle factors that have their own impact on cardiovascular
disease risk, but previous studies have not investigated how these factors interact
to impact cytokine production. This information would prove useful in public health
programming and recommendations in order to combat the growing instances of
cardiovascular episodes and disease rates in the United States. New preventive
measures would benefit from further understanding of the contributors to the
etiology of cardiovascular disease that begin from a young age.
Procedures
Physical Activity
AdiponectinCRP EBV
Psychosocial
Stress
HPA Axis
Cortisol
Inflammation
Cardiovascular
Disease Risk
Inflammation
Cardiovascular
Disease Risk
Up Regulation
Down
Regulation
Figure 1: Perceived Stress Scale Results
Figure 2: College Stressful Event Checklist Results
Figure 3: Top Ten Stressors of UNC College Students
Theoretical Background
Recruitment Requirements
Students were recruited in person
and through flyers, class
announcements, and listserv
emails.
Ethnographic Assessment
A variety of activities and semi-structured
interviews were conducted to assess the
prevalence and severity specific
psychosocial stress. This data was utilized
to identify the major cultural domains of
stress in the lives of UNC college students.
Biometric Data Collection
Participants will complete the
biometric data collection protocol over
7 days. They will visit the lab 2 times
to receive the required equipment and
collect dried blood post samples.
All participants were
currently enrolled at UNC
Chapel Hill
UNC student athletes
were excluded from the
study
Participants were between
the ages of 18 and 22
years.
Participants diagnosed with
diabetes, heart disease, or
suffer from any metabolic
disorders were excluded
from the study
Pregnant and
breastfeeding women
were also be excluded
from the study.
Freelisting asks informants to list
things that compose a category, or
domain of cultural knowledge.
Participants were asked to list factors
that caused them cause them
psychosocial stress and to rank them
by frequency and severity.
Pile sorting is used to collect
descriptive information and judged
similarity among large numbers of
objects. Participants were given index
cards (derived from the free listing data)
that contained objects that college
students most associated with stress.
Questionnaires were provided online to
ensure lack of fatigue and possible bias
when completing them in front of
facilitators. These surveys included the
Brief Coping, Resilience, Perceived
Stress Scale, IPAQ, SF-36, and College
Stressful Event checklist
Focus groups comprising of 10
individuals will be administered.
During these groups, one research
will ask open ended questions
regarding the cultural domains that
cause the most stress amongst
college students.
Dried blood spot collection
will be taken on both visits to
analyze C-Reactive Protein,
adiponectin, and EBV.
Anthropometric Measures
These measurements are important
for nutritional assessment and are
utilized to predict body fat
composition. Systolic and diastolic
blood pressure will also be taken at
the initial visit.
Saliva samples will be
collected five times per day for
three days to measure salivary
cortisol.
The Actigraph will be worn
without removal to analyze
physical activity patterns. The
Actigraph measures activity
levels in three dimensions.
The Garmin heart monitor will
also be worn without removal for
seven consecutive days to
measure heart rate variability as
an indicator of stress.
Cardiometabolic Syndrome
(CMS) is a combination of
metabolic issues that can
include diabetes, heart
disease, atherosclerosis, high
blood pressure.
Inflammation is part of the
body’s normal immune
response to combat injury.
Various cytokines are
released during the process
of inflammation.
Cortisol is a blood hormone
that has widespread effects,
some of which include
immune regulation,
metabolism, and regulation of
the stress response.
Adiponectin (ADP) is a
blood protein produced by
visceral fat. It has been
negatively correlated with
cardiometabolic disease
levels.
Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) is
one of the most common
human viruses. Once
infected the virus is dormant,
only becoming reactivated
during periods of chronic
stress.
C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is
a protein that is released into
the bloodstream in response
to inflammation or injury. High
levels of CRP can indicate
inflammation in the arteries or
heart.
Background Model
Results