Neighborhood Disadvantage, Identity-based Resilience, and Hypertension: The Healthy Aging with Resilient Identities (HARI) Study

The HARI study examined the relationship between perceived neighborhood problems (such as safety concerns and limited resources) and hypertension. The research included 4 participant groups stratified by race and gender: Black women, Black men, White women, and White men. Results showed that higher perceived neighborhood problems were associated with increased hypertension odds among White women and men, but not consistently among Black women and men. The key finding was that identity-based resilience (measured by Identity Vitality Pathology score) moderated this relationship particularly among Black women - each one-unit increase in the score was associated with 59% lower odds of hypertension at the highest level of neighborhood problems. The study suggests that identity resilience may be a modifiable protective factor for individuals living in disadvantaged communities at increased hypertension risk.