Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Market Integration, Stress, and Child Health among the Tsimane' of the Bolivian Amazon

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

Given the rapid pace and expanding reach of globalization, stress may represent an important biological pathway by which economic and cultural transition affects health and reflects changes in quality of life. A focus on children is particularly important in studying the health consequences of stress because many stress-related diseases/disorders have their origins during growth and development. Individual differences in the stress response may, in turn, influence how well children adapt to a rapidly-changing ecological and sociocultural environment in the face of globalization. This study will provide a critical piece of this puzzle, by testing whether increased integration into the regional market economy and associated cultural and lifestyle changes are associated with increased stress among Tsimane' children of the Bolivian Amazon. The specific objectives of this study are: to document variation in the stress response of Tsimane' children; to explore the effect of market integration, culture change, and family environment on differential patterns in the stress response and; to investigate stress levels as a predictor of downstream health outcomes of infection and growth. By using objective biomarkers of the stress response and innovative cognitive anthropological methods to define culturally-salient sources of stress, this study will elucidate how the shifting social-cultural contexts of culture change "get under the skin" to affect stress and health in Tsimane' children. The Tsimane' are an ideal population in which to study the associations between market integration, stress, and health because there is a range of variation across villages in regard to proximity, exposure to, and involvement in market activities, subsistence practices, household economic resources, and changes in lifestyle associated with culture change. By employing multiple measures of stress and culture change beyond strictly ecological comparisons, this research will illuminate the nuances of the transition to the market economy that have the most significant implications for child stress and contribute to our understanding of the health consequences of globalization. This study will present a framework for studying stress and health that links culture, the individual, and biology and will provide a 'roadmap' to understanding the impact of immediate stressors as well as child-level factors in differential patterns of the stress response, permitting a privileged glimpse into the social challenges in the everyday lives of children. In addition, this developmental perspective will shed light on how children's' mental and physiologic faculties adapt to the stresses of a changing ecological, cultural, and political-economic milieu. This research will contribute to the infrastructure of science by providing hands-on training and completion of the co-PI's dissertation research. In addition to providing the opportunity for collaboration with an international community of scholars from South America, Europe, and the United States, this work will also promote the local scientific infrastructure of Bolivia through collaboration with local indigenous scholars. This research will be among the first to explore potential developmental stress mechanisms through which rapid culture change may erode health and biological function, and is well-positioned to inform global policy related to child health.