Police-related stress may have an impact on Black women's heart health, according to new research out of North Carolina State University.
The study followed more than 400 Black women living in the Atlanta area and examined how police-related stress is associated with cardiovascular disease risk. Researchers analyzed women’s personal experiences with police harassment, as well as their concern for family members and children.
Participants were then grouped into three profiles based on their levels of police exposure and vigilance for themselves and their children. Women who reported high concern for their children showed higher levels of carotid artery thickness, a common indicator of early cardiovascular disease.
In contrast, women who reported higher personal exposure to police harassment but lower concern for children showed lower cardiovascular risk markers.
Dr. Lori Hoggard is an author of the study and an assistant professor at N.C. State.
“Their personal experiences didn’t seem to matter,” Hoggard said. “In the context of this study, for these 422 women, what really seemed to matter was the vigilance for their children.”
She said those pressures are deeply rooted in history - with Black women also often feeling pressure to step into the role of a caregiver and provider.
“Having to embody many of these traits and characteristics that are adaptive and helpful in many aspects, can also be harmful at the same time,” Hoggard said.
The study accounted for income, neighborhood safety, family size, age, and blood pressure. The differences in cardiovascular risk remained even after those factors were considered.
Hoggard said these findings show the importance of developing policy-level solutions, such as steps towards dismantling systemic racism in law enforcement and improving relations between law enforcement and Black communities.
“There's been increased discourse around community policing and these alternative programs in which communities police themselves, which would therefore minimize over policing and the presence of the police and proactive policing within neighborhoods where there are large concentrations of African American and black residents,” Hoggard said.
She said future research will examine whether policy changes aimed at reducing police-related stress could help mitigate health disparities.
