Chronic stress, autonomic dysregulation and prospective drug use among African American emerging adults.

Chronic stress is associated with increased vulnerability to drug use and may contribute to drug-related health disparities in the African American community. The underlying physiological mechanisms by which chronic stress confers this increased risk remain unclear. The present study aimed to characterize the impact of chronic and race-related stress exposure on regulatory mechanisms of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in response to acute stress, to examine John Henryism as potential moderator of this relationship, and to investigate the association between ANS reactivity and subsequent drug use among a sample of African American emerging adults (18-25 years old) in the Southern United States (U.S.).