Gestational exposure to neighborhood police-reported crime and early childhood blood pressure in Durham, NC

Evans K Lodge; Zakiya Haji-Noor; Carmen M Gutierrez; Allison E Aiello; Cathrine Hoyo; Michael E Emch; Chantel L Martin

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102800

Gestational exposure to neighborhood police-reported crime and early childhood blood pressure in Durham, NC

Health Place. 2022 May:75:102800. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102800. Epub 2022 Apr 8.

Authors

Evans K Lodge¹, Zakiya Haji-Noor², Carmen M Gutierrez³, Allison E Aiello⁴, Cathrine Hoyo⁵, Michael E Emch⁶, Chantel L Martin⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. Electronic address: evans_lodge@med.unc.edu.
² Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
³ Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Public Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Human Health and the Environment, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
⁶ Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

Abstract

Gestational exposure to police-reported crime is associated with adverse birth outcomes, but no previous research has evaluated the effects of gestational crime exposure on early childhood health or attempted to disentangle the health effects of neighborhood crime from the effects of neighborhood policing. Using data from 672 Newborn Epigenetics Study participants, we evaluate the effects of gestational exposure to violent crime and racialized drug policing on early childhood blood pressure. We demonstrate that violence and drug policing are consistently associated with increased blood pressure among children born to Black participants but not White or Latinx participants.

Keywords: Blood pressure; Crime; Early childhood health; Neighborhood environment; Policing; Violence.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Blood Pressure
Child
Child, Preschool
Crime*
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Police*
Residence Characteristics
Violence

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding