An Intervention to Reduce Psychosocial and Biological Indicators of Stress in African American Lupus Patients: The Balancing Lupus Experiences with Stress Strategies (BLESS) Study

Psychosocial stress is believed to be positively associated with lupus disease activity due to its ability to compromise immune function. Very little is known about the impact of psychosocial stress on underlying biological mechanisms, although data indicate that lupus patients differ from healthy controls in stress-induced immune responses. Even less is known about this phenomenon in African American lupus patients, although African American women display the highest rates of lupus. Due to the exposure of African Americans to a unique trajectory of stressors throughout the life course, it may be critical to understand the relationship between psychosocial stress and underlying biological mechanisms that influence disease activity and pathology in this high risk group. Linking a psychosocial stress intervention with clinical measures of stress in African American lupus patients will assess the utility of this method in reducing perceived stress, and provide the necessary preliminary steps toward future investigations of potential mechanisms. To begin to fill this research void, a stress intervention was piloted and both biological specimens and questionnaire responses collected to assess changes in stress state following the intervention in patients who participated in the intervention compared to those who did not participate in the intervention. Research activities were conducted among a cohort of African American lupus patients at the Medical University of South Carolina. Preliminary findings will be shared.