Ecological Stressors, PTSD, and Drug Use in Detroit: The Detroit Neighborhood Health Study (DNHS)

The Detroit Neighborhood Health Study (DNHS) is a prospective, representative longitudinal cohort study of predominantly African American adults living in Detroit, Michigan. The overall goal of the DNHS is to identify how genetic variation, lifetime experience of stressful and traumatic events, and features of the neighborhood environment predict psychopathology and behavior. Cohort participants were selected with a dual-frame probability design, using telephone numbers obtained from the U.S. Postal Service Delivery Sequence Files as well as a listed-assisted random-digit-dial frame. Individuals without listed landlines or telephones and individuals with only a cell phone listed were invited to participate through a postal mail effort. Participants completed a 40 minute, structured telephone interview annually between 2008-2012 to assess perceptions of participants' neighborhoods, mental and physical health status, social support, exposure to traumatic events, and alcohol and tobacco use; each participant was compensated $25USD. All survey participants were offered the opportunity to provide a specimen (venipuncture, blood spot, or saliva) for immune and inflammatory marker testing as well as genetic testing of DNA. Participants received an additional $25USD if they elected to give a sample. Informed consent was obtained at the beginning of each interview and again at specimen collection. The Institutional Review Board of the University of Michigan reviewed and approved the study protocol. The DNHS submission to dbGaP includes phenotype data from all five survey waves (n=856), all available GWAS data for participants who completed wave 4 (n=507), and methylation data for wave 1, wave 2, wave 4, and wave 5 participants (n = 456).

• Study Weblinks:
  • Detroit Neighborhood Health Study
• Study Design:
  • Prospective Longitudinal Cohort
• Study Type:
  • Cohort
  • Longitudinal
• dbGaP estimated ancestry using GRAF-pop
• Total number of consented subjects: 856
• Subject Sample Telemetry Report (SSTR)

In 2008, was resident of Detroit, Michigan, and aged 18 years or older.

Submission to dbGaP includes phenotype data collected from all five waves of the DNHS (years 2008-2013).

Funding for data collection with PhenX variables has been provided by the NHGRI PhenX RISING program.

• Primary Phenotype: Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

• BioProject
• PubMed
• MeSH
• PMC

• Principal Investigator
  • Allison E. Aiello, PhD, MS. University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
• Co-Investigator
  • Monica Uddin, PhD. University of South Florida College of Public Health, Tampa, FL, USA.
• Funding Source
  • R01 DA022720. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
  • R01 MD011728. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.