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A Preliminary Study of Daily Interpersonal Stress and C-Reactive Protein Levels Among Adolescents From Latin American and European Backgrounds

From the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences (A.J.F., J.B., S.W.C., M.R.I.), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Department of Psychology (A.J.F., E.H.T., J.B.), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Department of Psychology (L.K.), Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Norman Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology (A.J.F., J.B., S.W.C., M.R.I.), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Department of Medicine (S.W.C.), Division of Hematology-Oncology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California; HopeLab Foundation (S.W.C.), Los Angeles, California; Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (S.W.C.); UCLA AIDS Institute (S.W.C.), Los Angeles, California; UCLA Molecular Biology Institute (S.W.C.), Los Angeles, California.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Andrew J. Fuligni, University of California, Los Angeles, 760 Westwood Plaza, Box 62, Los Angeles, CA 90024. E-mail: afuligni{at}ucla.edu

Objective: To examine the association between the experience of daily interpersonal stress and levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker that is a key indicator of cardiovascular risk, during the teenage years.

Methods: A total of 69 adolescents (M_age= 17.78 years) completed daily diary checklists each night for 14 days in which they reported their experience of negative interpersonal interactions in the domains of family, peers, and school (e.g., conflict with family and friends, peer harassment, punishment by parents and teachers). Blood samples were obtained an average of 8.63 months later and assayed for circulating levels of CRP, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Measures of body mass index (BMI), socioeconomic status (SES), substance use, stressful life events, rejection sensitivity, and psychological distress were obtained.

Results: A greater frequency of daily interpersonal stress was associated with higher levels of CRP, even after controlling for BMI, SES, substance use, life events, rejection sensitivity, psychological distress, and frequency of daily interpersonal stress 2 years earlier.

Conclusions: Experiencing a high frequency of interpersonal stressors that are typical of adolescent life is associated with higher levels of inflammation even among a normative, healthy sample of adolescents. Additional work should focus on other daily experiences during the adolescent period and their implications for elevated risk for later cardiovascular disease.

Key Words: C-reactive protein • inflammation • daily interpersonal stress • adolescence

Abbreviations: BMI = body mass index; CRP = C-reactive protein; CVD = cardiovascular disease.