Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114148

Jewell Brazelton, MSW¹, Sarah J. Gehlert, PhD¹, Christopher Masi, MD, PhD¹, Maria Ferrera, MA¹, Courtenay Savage, MA¹, Ann Pope, MSW¹, Tina K. Sacks, MA², and Priscilla Schwantes, MA¹. (1) Center for Interdisciplinary Health Disparities Research, The University of Chicago, 940 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, (773) 702-9968, jbrazelt@uchicago.edu, (2) National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway N.E., Mail Stop F-29, Atlanta, GA 30341

Researchers have concluded that social isolation and loneliness are major risk factors for psychological disturbances and morbidity and mortality from various causes. African Americans have been identified as one of the fastest growing segments of the population with negative health consequences from social isolation. The Center for Interdisciplinary Health Disparities Research - Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) project, through interviews, investigated factors that are likely to influence breast cancer rates in fifteen communities on the South Side of Chicago. Since social isolation has been associated with down-regulation of genes important in physiologic processes, the CBPR project was also interested in the association between neighborhood characteristics (e.g., collective efficacy, employment rate, crime rate) and the psychological characteristics of loneliness. Participants from community focus groups completed the Loneliness, Stress, and Social Support/Social Burden (LSSSSB) questionnaire that was developed for Cacioppo, McClintock, and colleagues' ongoing NIA-funded project. Items used to investigate levels of loneliness were: 1) how often do you feel that you lack companionship; 2) how often do you feel left out; and 3) how often do you feel isolated from others. Reponses to the three loneliness questions produced a mean score of 4.5 (SD=1.9) which is significantly lower than the mean for a national sample of 22,000 (x=6.0, SD=2.1). Contrary to findings in Klineberg's book: Heat wave: a social autopsy of disaster in Chicago, the results suggests that the predominantly African American, inner-city residents of this study are less socially isolated.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the presentation, the participant will be able to (
• understand possible ways that loneliness can contribute to health disparities in the targeted population; and (
• evaluate empirical evidence in Black and White health disparities.

Keywords: Breast Cancer, African American

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation