Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Examining the effects of cumulative environmental stressors on Gulf Coast child and adolescent health

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Population and Environment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examines how community-level cumulative environmental stress affects child and adolescent emotional distress and chronic health conditions both directly and indirectly through stressors at the household, family, and individual levels. Data comes from the Women and their Children’s Health (WaTCH) Study, which sought to understand the health implications of exposure to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS) among a cohort of 596 mothers with children ages 10 to 17 in southeastern Louisiana. Community-level environmental stress was measured using a newly developed geospatial index. Household-level stressors included previous hurricane impacts, impacts of DHOS, degree of financial difficulty, and degree of housing physical decay. Family stressors included maternal depression, self-rated physical health, and degree of parenting stress. Child stress was based on perceived stress; child mental health was based on serious emotional disturbance; and child physical health was based on diagnosis of chronic illness. Structural equation modeling used weighted least squares means and variance and theta parameterization. Results showed a significant negative direct path between community-level cumulative environmental stress and child/adolescent serious emotional disturbance and chronic illness. However, the indirect relationship through household, family, and individual-level stressors was significant and positive for both child/adolescent serious emotional disturbance and chronic illness. These findings point to the centrality of the household and family in determining child and adolescent physical and mental health outcomes in communities exposed to frequent disasters and ongoing environmental stressors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are not publicly available. The data, are, however, available from authors upon reasonable request.

References

  • Abramson, D. M., Park, Y. S., Stehling-Ariza, T., & Redlener, I. (2010). Children as bellwethers of recovery: dysfunctional systems and the effects of parents, households, and neighborhoods on serious emotional disturbance in children after Hurricane Katrina. Disaster Medicine and  Public Health Preparedness, 4 Suppl 1(S1), S17–27. https://doi.org/10.1001/dmp.2010.7

  • Abramson, D. M., Grattan, L. M., Mayer, B., Colten, C. E., Arosemena, F. A., Bedimo-Rung, A., & Lichtveld, M. (2015). The resilience activation framework: A conceptual model of how access to social resources promotes adaptation and rapid recovery in post-disaster settings. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 42(1), 42–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-014-9410-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adrian, C., & Hammen, C. (1993). Stress exposure and stress generation in children of depressed mothers. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61(2), 354–359. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-006x.61.2.354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, A. S., Watson, K. H., Reising, M. M., Dunbar, J. P., Bettis, A. H., Gruhn, M. A., & Compas, B. E. (2021). Relations between maternal coping socialization, adolescents’ coping, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 30(3), 663–675. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01879-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashman, S. B., Dawson, G., Panagiotides, H., Yamada, E., & Wilkinson, C. W. (2002). Stress hormone levels of children of depressed mothers. Development and Psychopathology, 14(2), 333–349. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954579402002080

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ayers, T. S., Sandler, I. N., West, S. G., & Roosa, M. W. (1996). A dispositional and situational assessment of children’s coping: Testing alternative models of coping [Article]. Journal of Personality, 64(4), 923–958. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1996.tb00949.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baranyi, G., Di Marco, M. H., Russ, T. C., Dibben, C., & Pearce, J. (2021). The impact of neighbourhood crime on mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Social Science Medicine, 282, 114106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114106

  • Barnett, M. A. (2008). Economic disadvantage in complex family systems: Expansion of family stress models. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 11(3), 145–161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-008-0034-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, T. A., Ghenadenik, A. E., Van Hulst, A., Contreras, G., Kestens, Y., Chaix, B., Cloutier, M. S., & Henderson, M. (2021). Neighborhood built environment typologies and adiposity in children and adolescents. International Journal of Obesity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-021-01010-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beedasy, J., Petkova, E. P., Lackner, S., & Sury, J. (2020). Gulf Coast parents speak: Children’s health in the aftermath of the deepwater horizon oil spill. Environmental Hazards, 20(3), 248–263. https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2020.1772188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonanno, G. A., Brewin, C. R., Kaniasty, K., & Greca, A. M. (2010). Weighing the costs of disaster: Consequences, risks, and resilience in individuals, families, and communities. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 11(1), 1–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100610387086

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brennan, P. A., Le Brocque, R., & Hammen, C. (2003). Maternal depression, parent-child relationships, and resilient outcomes in adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(12), 1469–1477. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200312000-00014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Ecology of the family as a context for human development: Research perspectives. Developmental Psychology, 22(6), 723–742. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.22.6.723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bucci, M., Marques, S. S., Oh, D., & Harris, N. B. (2016). Toxic stress in children and adolescents. Advances in Pediatrics, 63(1), 403–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yapd.2016.04.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll-Scott, A., Gilstad-Hayden, K., Rosenthal, L., Peters, S. M., McCaslin, C., Joyce, R., & Ickovics, J. R. (2013). Disentangling neighborhood contextual associations with child body mass index, diet, and physical activity: The role of built, socioeconomic, and social environments. Social Science and Medicine, 95, 106–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.04.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clair, A. (2018). Housing: An under-explored influence on children’s well-being and becoming. Child Indicators Research, 12(2), 609–626. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-018-9550-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clay, L. A., & Abramson, D. M. (2021). Bowling together: Community social institutions protective against poor child mental health. Environment Justice, 14(3), 206–215. https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2020.0042

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S. (1988). Perceived stress in a probability sample of the United States. In The social psychology of health. (pp. 31–67). Sage Publications, Inc.

  • Crandall, A., Magnusson, B. M., Novilla, M. L., Novilla, L. K., & Dyer, W. J. (2017). Family financial stress and adolescent sexual risk-taking: The role of self-regulation. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0543-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daryanani, I., Hamilton, J. L., Abramson, L. Y., & Alloy, L. B. (2016). Single mother parenting and adolescent psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 44(7), 1411–1423. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-016-0128-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Decker, M. J., Isquick, S., Tilley, L., Zhi, Q., Gutman, A., Luong, W., & Brindis, C. D. (2018). Neighborhoods matter. A systematic review of neighborhood characteristics and adolescent reproductive health outcomes. Health & Place, 54, 178–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2018.09.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickerson, A. S., Rahbar, M. H., Han, I., Bakian, A. V., Bilder, D. A., Harrington, R. A., Pettygrove, S., Durkin, M., Kirby, R. S., Wingate, M. S., Tian, L. H., Zahorodny, W. M., Pearson, D. A., Moye, L. A., 3rd., & Baio, J. (2015). Autism spectrum disorder prevalence and proximity to industrial facilities releasing arsenic, lead or mercury. Science of the Total Environment, 536, 245–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, G. W., & Kim, P. (2007). Childhood poverty and health: Cumulative risk exposure and stress dysregulation. Psychological Science, 18(11), 953–957. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.02008.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, G. W., Saltzman, H., & Cooperman, J. L. (2016). Housing quality and children’s socioemotional health. Environment and Behavior, 33(3), 389–399. https://doi.org/10.1177/00139160121973043

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forehand, R., Biggar, H., & Kotchick, B. A. (1998). Cumulative risk across family stressors: Short- and long-term effects for adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 26(2), 119–128. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1022669805492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fothergill, A. (2017). Children, youth, and disaster. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fothergill, A., & Peek, L. (2015). Children of Katrina. University of Texas Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Garasky, S., Stewart, S. D., Gundersen, C., Lohman, B. J., & Eisenmann, J. C. (2009). Family stressors and child obesity. Social Science Research, 38(4), 755–766. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2009.06.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaston, S. A., Volaufova, J., Peters, E. S., Ferguson, T. F., Robinson, W. T., Nugent, N., Trapido, E. J., & Rung, A. L. (2017). Individual-level exposure to disaster, neighborhood environmental characteristics, and their independent and combined associations with depressive symptoms in women. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 52(9), 1183–1194. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-017-1412-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Elmore, C. A., & Montes de Oca, J. (2013). Maternal parenting behaviors and child coping in African American families. Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43), 27(4), 607–617. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033414

  • Goodman, R., Ford, T., Simmons, H., Gatward, R., & Meltzer, H. (2003). Using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to screen for child psychiatric disorders in a community sample. International Review of Psychiatry, 15(1–2), 166–172. https://doi.org/10.1080/0954026021000046128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, S. H., Rouse, M. H., Connell, A. M., Broth, M. R., Hall, C. M., & Heyward, D. (2011). Maternal depression and child psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 14(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-010-0080-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammen, C., Brennan, P. A., & Shih, J. H. (2004). Family discord and stress predictors of depression and other disorders in adolescent children of depressed and nondepressed women. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43(8), 994–1002. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.chi.0000127588.57468.f6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansel, T. C., Osofsky, J. D., Osofsky, H. J., & Friedrich, P. (2013). The effect of long-term relocation on child and adolescent survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26(5), 613–620. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21837

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hochschild, A. R. (2016). Strangers in their own land: Anger and mourning on the American Right. The New Press.

  • Hoffmann, J. P., & Jones, M. S. (2020). Cumulative stressors and adolescent substance use: A review of 21st-century literature. Trauma Violence Abuse, 0(0), 1524838020979674. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838020979674

  • Juarez, P. D., Matthews-Juarez, P., Hood, D. B., Im, W., Levine, R. S., Kilbourne, B. J., Langston, M. A., Al-Hamdan, M. Z., Crosson, W. L., Estes, M. G., Estes, S. M., Agboto, V. K., Robinson, P., Wilson, S., & Lichtveld, M. Y. (2014). The public health exposome: A population-based, exposure science approach to health disparities research. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 11(12), 12866–12895. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph111212866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, S., Arora, M., Fernandez, C., Landero, J., Caruso, J., & Chen, A. (2013). Lead, mercury, and cadmium exposure and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children. Environmental Research, 126, 105–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2013.08.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lafortune, S., Laplante, D. P., Elgbeili, G., Li, X., Lebel, S., Dagenais, C., & King, S. (2021). Effect of natural disaster-related prenatal maternal stress on child development and health: A meta-analytic review. International Journal of Environment Research and  Public Health, 18(16). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168332

  • Lampert, R., Tuit, K., Hong, K. I., Donovan, T., Lee, F., & Sinha, R. (2016). Cumulative stress and autonomic dysregulation in a community sample. Stress, 19(3), 269–279. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253890.2016.1174847

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leth-Steensen, C., & Gallitto, E. (2016). Testing mediation in structural equation modeling: The effectiveness of the test of joint significance. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 76(2), 339–351. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164415593777

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, Y. C., & Seo, D. C. (2017). Cumulative family risks across income levels predict deterioration of children’s general health during childhood and adolescence. PLoS One, 12(5), e0177531. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177531

  • Loeys, T., Moerkerke, B., & Vansteelandt, S. (2015). A cautionary note on the power of the test for the indirect effect in mediation analysis [Original Research]. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1549. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01549

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maldonado, J. K. (2018). Seeking justice in an energy sacrifice zone: Standing on vanishing land in Coastal Louisiana. Taylor & Francis. https://books.google.com/books?id=IrJqDwAAQBAJ

  • Malik, A. O., Peri-Okonny, P. A., Gosch, K., Thomas, M., Mena, C., Hiatt, W. R., Jones, P., Provance, J., Labrosciano, C., Spertus, J., & Smolderen, K. (2019). Abstract 13646: Higher perceived stress levels are associated with an increased long-term mortality risk: A landmark analysis in patients with peripheral artery disease. Circulation, 140(Suppl_1), A13646-A13646. https://doi.org/10.1161/circ.140.suppl_1.13646

  • Marcal, K. (2022). Pathways from food and housing insecurity to adolescent behavior problems: The mediating role of parenting stress. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01565-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masarik, A. S., & Conger, R. D. (2017). Stress and child development: A review of the family stress model. Current Opinion in Psychology, 13, 85–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2016.05.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masten, A. S., Shaffer, A., Clarke-Stewart, A., & Dunn, J. (2006). How families matter in child development: Reflections from research on risk and resilience. In A. Clarke-Stewart & J. Dunn (Eds.), Families Count (pp. 5–25). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511616259.002

  • Masten, A. S. (2018). Resilience theory and research on children and families: Past, present, and promise. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 10(1), 12–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathieu-Nolf, M. (2002). Poisons in the air: A cause of chronic disease in children. Journal of Toxicology - Clinical Toxicology, 40(4), 483–491. https://doi.org/10.1081/clt-120006751

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayne, S. L., Morales, K. H., Williamson, A. A., Grant, S. F. A., Fiks, A. G., Basner, M., Dinges, D. F., Zemel, B. S., & Mitchell, J. A. (2021b). Associations of the residential built environment with adolescent sleep outcomes. Sleep, 44(6). https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsaa276

  • Mayne, S. L., Mitchell, J. A., Virudachalam, S., Fiks, A. G., & Williamson, A. A. (2021a). Neighborhood environments and sleep among children and adolescents: A systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 57, 101465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101465

  • McEwen, C. A., & McEwen, B. S. (2017). Social structure, adversity, toxic stress, and intergenerational poverty: An early childhood model. Annual Review of Sociology, 43(1), 445–472. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-060116-053252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merdjanoff, A. A., & Piltch-Loeb, R. (2021). Hurricanes and health: Vulnerability in an age of climate change. In K. E. Pinkerton & W. N. Rom (Eds.), Climate Change and Global Public Health (pp. 339–351). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54746-2_15

  • Merdjanoff, A. A., Abramson, D. M., Piltch-Loeb, R., Findley, P., Peek, L., Beedasy, J., Park, Y. S., Sury, J., & Meltzer, G. Y. (2021). Examining the dose–response relationship: Applying the disaster exposure matrix to understand the mental health impacts of hurricane sandy. Clinical Social Work Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-021-00814-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merdjanoff, A. A., Piltch-Loeb, R., Friedman, S., & Abramson, D. M. (2018). Housing transitions and recovery of older adults following hurricane sandy. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 74(6), 1041–1052. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gby126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Messer, L. C., Jagai, J. S., Rappazzo, K. M., & Lobdell, D. T. (2014). Construction of an environmental quality index for public health research. Environmental Health, 13(1), 39. https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-069X-13-39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2017). Mplus User’s Guide. In (Version 8) Muthén & Muthén.

  • Nguyen, T. Q., Webb-Vargas, Y., Koning, I. M., & Stuart, E. A. (2016). Causal mediation analysis with a binary outcome and multiple continuous or ordinal mediators: Simulations and application to an alcohol intervention. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 23(3), 368–383. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2015.1062730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noffsinger, M. A., Pfefferbaum, B., Pfefferbaum, R. L., Sherrib, K., & Norris, F. H. (2012). The burden of disaster: Part I. Challenges and opportunities within a child’s social ecology. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 14(1), 3–13. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23156957

  • Norris, F. H., & Murrell, S. A. (1988). Prior experience as a moderator of disaster impact on anxiety symptoms in older adults. American Journal of Community Psychology, 16(5), 665–683. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00930020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osofsky, J. D., & Osofsky, H. J. (2013). Lessons learned about the impact of disasters on children and families and post-disaster recovery. In A. M. Culp (Ed.), Child and Family Advocacy (pp. 91–105). Springer New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7456-2_7

  • Peek, L. (2008). Children and disasters: Understanding vulnerability, developing capacities, and promoting resilience; an introduction. Children, Youth and Environments, 18(1), 1–29. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.18.1.0001

  • Peres, L. C., Trapido, E., Rung, A. L., Harrington, D. J., Oral, E., Fang, Z., Fontham, E., & Peters, E. S. (2016). The deepwater horizon oil spill and physical health among adult women in Southern Louisiana: The women and their children’s health (WaTCH) study. Environmental Health Perspectives, 124(8), 1208–1213. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters, E. S., Rung, A. L., Bronson, M. H., Brashear, M. M., Peres, L. C., Gaston, S., Sullivan, S. M., Peak, K., Abramson, D. M., Fontham, E. T. H., Harrington, D., Oral, E., & Trapido, E. J. (2017). The Women and Their Children’s Health (WaTCH) study: methods and design of a prospective cohort study in Louisiana to examine the health effects from the BP oil spill. BMJ Open, 7(7), e014887. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014887

  • Ponnet, K. (2016). Financial stress. In Encyclopedia of Adolescence (pp. 1–4). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_801-1

  • Ponnet, K. (2014). Financial stress, parent functioning and adolescent problem behavior: An actor-partner interdependence approach to family stress processes in low-, middle-, and high-income families. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(10), 1752–1769. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0159-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3), 385–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rung, A. L., Gaston, S., Oral, E., Robinson, W. T., Fontham, E., Harrington, D. J., Trapido, E., & Peters, E. S. (2016). Depression, mental distress, and domestic conflict among Louisiana women exposed to the deepwater horizon oil spill in the WaTCH study. Environmental Health Perspectives, 124(9), 1429–1435. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rung, A. L., Gaston, S., Robinson, W. T., Trapido, E. J., & Peters, E. S. (2017). Untangling the disaster-depression knot: The role of social ties after Deepwater Horizon. Social Science and Medicine, 177, 19–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.01.041

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rung, A. L., Oral, E., Fontham, E., Harrington, D. J., Trapido, E. J., & Peters, E. S. (2019). The long-term effects of the deepwater horizon oil spill on women’s depression and mental distress. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 13(2), 183–190. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2018.14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shonkoff, J. P., Garner, A. S., & Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of, C., Family, H., Committee on Early Childhood, A., Dependent, C., Section on, D., & Behavioral, P. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232-246. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-2663

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silverman, W. K., & La Greca, A. M. (2002). Children experiencing disasters: Definitions, reactions, and predictors of outcomes. In Helping Children Cope with Disasters and Terrorism. (pp. 11–33). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10454-001

  • Singh, G. K., Siahpush, M., & Kogan, M. D. (2010). Neighborhood socioeconomic conditions, built environments, and childhood obesity. Health Affairs (millwood), 29(3), 503–512. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slack, T., Kroeger, R. A., Stroope, S., Keating, K. S., Sury, J., Brooks, J., Chandler, T., & Beedasy, J. (2020). Deepwater horizon oil spill exposure and child health: A longitudinal analysis. Population and Environment, 42(4), 477–500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-020-00354-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smeekens, S., Riksen-Walraven, M., & Bakel, H. (2007). Cortisol reactions in five-year-olds to parent-child interactions: The moderating role of ego-resiliency. Biological Psychology, 48, 649–656.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M. T., McHale, C. M., & de la Rosa, R. (2019). Using exposomics to assess cumulative risks from multiple environmental stressors. In S. Dagnino & A. Macherone (Eds.), Unraveling the Exposome (pp. 3–22). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89321-1_1

  • Sokol, R. L., Qin, B., & Poti, J. M. (2017). Parenting styles and body mass index: A systematic review of prospective studies among children. Obesity Reviews, 18(3), 281–292. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5436909/pdf/nihms856194.pdf

  • Stroope, S., Kroeger, R. A., Slack, T., Keating, K. S., Beedasy, J., Chandler, T., Sury, J. J., & Brooks, J. (2022). Parental education and child physical health following the BP deepwater horizon oil spill. American Journal of Health Promotion, 0(0), 8901171211041424. https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171211041424

  • Stroope, S., Slack, T., Kroeger, R. A., Keating, K. S., Beedasy, J., Sury, J. J., Brooks, J., & Chandler, T. (2021). Deepwater horizon oil spill exposure, industry sector, and child health. Population Research and Policy Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-021-09639-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, S. M., Peters, E. S., Trapido, E. J., Oral, E., Scribner, R. A., & Rung, A. L. (2016). Assessing mediation of behavioral and stress pathways in the association between neighborhood environments and obesity outcomes. Preventive Medicine Reports, 4, 248–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2016.06.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, S. M., Peters, E. S., Trapido, E. J., Oral, E., Scribner, R. A., & Rung, A. L. (2018). Neighborhood environment measurements and anthropometric indicators of obesity: Results from the Women and Their Children’s Health (WaTCH) Study. Environment and Behavior, 50(9), 1032–1055. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916517726827

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Theall, K. P., Drury, S. S., & Shirtcliff, E. A. (2012). Cumulative neighborhood risk of psychosocial stress and allostatic load in adolescents. American Journal of Epidemiology, 176 Supplement 7(suppl_7), S164–174. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kws185

  • Theron, L. C., Abreu-Villaca, Y., Augusto-Oliveira, M., Brennan, C., Crespo-Lopez, M. E., de Paula Arrifano, G., Glazer, L., Gwata, N., Lin, L., Mareschal, I., Mermelstein, S., Sartori, L., Stieger, L., Trotta, A., & Hadfield, K. (2022). A systematic review of the mental health risks and resilience among pollution-exposed adolescents. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 146, 55–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.12.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turney, K. (2020). Cumulative adverse childhood experiences and children’s health. Children and Youth Services Review, 119, 105538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105538

  • Vanaken, G. J., & Danckaerts, M. (2018). Impact of green space exposure on children’s and adolescents’ mental health: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(12), 2668. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15122668

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, K., Zhang, A., Zheng, H., Kim, Y., & Padilla, Y. (2020). Proximal Social determinants of adolescents’ health: The importance of everyday life circumstances. Youth & Society, 53(6), 913–933. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118x20918436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weitzman, M., Baten, A., Rosenthal, D. G., Hoshino, R., Tohn, E., & Jacobs, D. E. (2013). Housing and child health. Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care, 43(8), 187–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cppeds.2013.06.001

  • World Health Organization. Regional Office for, E., European Centre for, E., & Health. (2005). Effects of air pollution on children’s health and development : A review of the evidence. In: Copenhagen : WHO Regional Office for Europe.

  • Wright, R. O., Amarasiriwardena, C., Woolf, A. D., Jim, R., & Bellinger, D. C. (2006). Neuropsychological correlates of hair arsenic, manganese, and cadmium levels in school-age children residing near a hazardous waste site. Neurotoxicology, 27(2), 210–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuro.2005.10.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, X., Lynch, J. G., & Chen, Q. (2010). Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and truths about mediation analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(2), 197–206. https://doi.org/10.1086/651257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman, M. A., Stoddard, S. A., Eisman, A. B., Caldwell, C. H., Aiyer, S. M., & Miller, A. (2013). Adolescent resilience: Promotive factors that inform prevention. Child Development Perspectives, 7(4), 215–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

The WaTCH study was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grant number 1U01ES021497. Dr. Meltzer is funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grant number 5T32ES007322-21. Dr. Merdjanoff is funded by the National Institute on Aging grant number 1K01AG076974-01.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA

    Gabriella Y. Meltzer

  2. Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, New York University School of Global Public Health, New York, NY, USA

    Alexis A. Merdjanoff & David M. Abramson

  3. Department of Biostatistics, New York University School of Global Public Health, New York, NY, USA

    Shu Xu

  4. Department of Epidemiology, New York University School of Global Public Health, New York, NY, USA

    Robyn Gershon

  5. School of Public Administration & National Center for Integrated Coastal Research, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    Christopher T. Emrich

Authors
  1. Gabriella Y. Meltzer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alexis A. Merdjanoff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shu Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Robyn Gershon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Christopher T. Emrich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. David M. Abramson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceptualization: Gabriella Meltzer; methodology: Gabriella Meltzer, Alexis Merdjanoff, Shu Xu, and David Abramson; formal analysis and investigation: Gabriella Meltzer; writing—original draft preparation: Gabriella Meltzer; writing—review and editing: Alexis Merdjanoff, Robyn Gershon, and David Abramson; funding acquisition: David Abramson; resources: Christopher Emrich and David Abramson; supervision: Alexis Merdjanoff and David Abramson.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gabriella Y. Meltzer.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Meltzer, G.Y., Merdjanoff, A.A., Xu, S. et al. Examining the effects of cumulative environmental stressors on Gulf Coast child and adolescent health. Popul Environ 45, 21 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-023-00436-1

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-023-00436-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation