Disentangling the Stress Process: Race/Ethnic Differences in the Exposure and Appraisal of Chronic Stressors Among Older Adults

Lauren L Brown, Uchechi A Mitchell, Jennifer A Ailshire and Deborah Carr

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2020, vol. 75, issue 3, 650-660

Abstract: ObjectivesExposure to stressors is differentially distributed by race/ethnicity with minority groups reporting a higher stress burden than their white counterparts. However, to really understand the extent to which some groups bear a disproportionate stress burden, we need to consider race/ethnic differences in stress appraisal, specifically how upsetting stressors may be, in addition to stress exposure. We examine racial/ethnic differences in both the number of reported chronic stressors across five domains (health, financial, residential, relationship, and caregiving) and their appraised stressfulness among a diverse sample of older adults.MethodData come from 6,567 adults ages 52+ from the 2006 Health and Retirement Study.ResultsResults show older blacks, U.S. and foreign-born Hispanics report more chronic stress exposure than whites and are two to three times as likely to experience financial strain and housing-related stress. Socioeconomic factors fully explain the Hispanic–white difference in stress exposure, but black–white differences remain. Despite experiencing a greater number of stressors, blacks and U.S.-born Hispanics are less likely to be upset by exposure to stressors than whites. U.S.-born Hispanics are less upset by relationship-based stressors specifically, while blacks are less upset across all stress domains in fully-adjusted models. Foreign-born Hispanics are only less upset by caregiving strain.DiscussionThe distinction between exposure and appraisal-based measures of stress may shed light on important pathways that differentially contribute to race/ethnic physical and mental health disparities.

Keywords: Coping; Diverse aging; Health and Retirement Study; Minority aging; Stress appraisal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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The Journals of Gerontology: Series B is currently edited by Psychological Sciences - S. Duke Han, PhD and Social Sciences - Jessica A Kelley, PhD, FGSA

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