Ezemenari M. Obasi Investigates Stress and Drug Use Vulnerability in the African American Community - University of Houston
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Ezemenari M. Obasi Investigates Stress and Drug Use Vulnerability in the African American Community

Ezemenari ObasiDepartment of Psychological, Health, & Learning Sciences (PHLS) chair, Ezemenari M. Obasi is investigating stress and drug use vulnerability in the African American community.  His research entitled The relationship between alcohol consumption, perceived stress, and CRHR1 genotype on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis  in rural African Americans has been published in frontiers in Psychology.  January 1, 2016 began year four of a five year study.

The impact that drug use has on health disparities which adversely affect African Americans are grossly understudied. While there is strong evidence linking drug use to poor health and problem behaviors in the African American community, the progression of drug abuse is inconsistent (i.e., relatively late initiation and lower use until the 30s) with national norms and remains unclear.

The study pursues three primary aims: (1) To investigate HPA reactivity to acute stress as a predictor of current drug use severity. (2) To investigate trajectories of HPA regulation (level and circadian rhythm) as a predictor of drug use vulnerability across time. (3) To investigate delay discounting as a moderator between trajectories of HPA regulation and drug use vulnerability across time.

In this longitudinal research study, Obasi is examining how stress physiology interacts with drug use to predict long-term negative health outcomes in the African American community.  “This research is important to PHLS because it investigates how social determinants of health – for example, experiences of race-related stress – get under the skin and have a deleterious effect on health outcomes,” said Obasi. “Moreover, it provides an investigation into the cross-talk between genetics and stress physiology in identifying mechanisms that can explain drug-related health disparities in the African American community.”

Obasi and his team have concluded from the research that perceived stress and alcohol consumption had a detrimental effect on the HPA-Axis. Furthermore, genotype predicted level of cortisol production throughout the day. These findings support the need to further investigate the relationship between stress dysregulation, drug-use vulnerability, and associated health disparities that affect this community.

Obasi feels the outcomes from the research will certainly impact the community. “We plan to use our research to design and implement culturally informed prevention and intervention strategies that reduce and ultimately eliminate drug-related health disparities in at-risk and underserved populations,” he said. 

Andrew Daire, associate dean of research believes Obasi’s research is a great example of research that bridges the hard sciences and social sciences.  “It is cross disciplinary in nature, and research that is innovative with broad impact towards a more scientific understanding of alcohol consumption and stress in the African-American community,” said Daire.

The PHLS department has created a video describing the research: PHLS Research Overview: Stress and Drug Use