Associations between psychological stress and smoking, drinking, obesity, and high blood pressure in an upper middle‐income country in the African region

Abstract

The direction and magnitude of the associations between cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) and psychological stress continue to be debated, and no data are available from surveys in the African region. In this study, we examine the associations between CVRFs and psychological stress in the Seychelles, a rapidly developing small island state in the African region. A survey was conducted in 1,240 adults aged 25-64 years representative of the Seychelles. Participants were asked to rank psychological stress that they had experienced during the past 12 months in four domains:work, social life, financial situation, and environment around home. CVRFs (high blood pressure, tobacco use, alcohol drinking, and obesity) were assessed using standard procedures. Psychological stress was associated with age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Overall, there were only few consistent associations between psychological stress and CVRFs, adjusting for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Social stress was associated with smoking, drinking, and obesity, and there were marginal associations between stress at work and drinking, and between financial stress, and smoking and drinking. Psychological stress was not associated with high blood pressure.These findings suggest that psychological stress should be considered in cardiovascular disease prevention and control strategies.

Problematic Internet Use and Perceived Quality of Life: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study Investigating Work-Time and Leisure-Time Internet Use

“…This may be due to an interaction of perceived stress and smoking or alcohol status [71]. Previous studies have indicated that smokers may be smoking to relieve perceived stress [72], but this relief is temporary; smoking was found to lead to higher perceived stress overall [72]. Similarly, some individuals exhibiting problematic internet use may spend more time on the internet to escape perceived stress, but end up experiencing higher perceived stress.…”

Is Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Effective for People with Hypertension? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 30 Years of Evidence

“…Additional behavioral targets, including stress reduction, have been proposed [10]. Stress is a pathological process resulting from psychophysiological responses triggered by threats to homeostasis [11], and chronic psychosocial stress leads to an increase in BP and the risk of developing hypertension [12][13][14]. Moreover, it is now established that chronic conditions frequently present with various types of psychopathology such as depressive aspects, cognitive-behavioral disorders, sleep disorders, and extremely high levels of stress [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27].…”

Psychological pathway from racial discrimination to the physical consequences of alcohol consumption: Religious coping as a protective factor

“…In conjunction with Harrell's (2000) model, other models such as the tension-reduction model (Conger, 1956) and affect regulation model (Cooper, Frone, Russel, & Mudar, 1995) similarly contend that AAs may consume alcohol in problematic ways to cope (e.g., avoidance coping) with racism-related stress. Heavy, stressrelated drinking can consequently generate vulnerabilities for alcohol-related illnesses such as cardiovascular disease (Chamik, Viswanathan, Gedeon, & Bovet, 2018). Thus, it is tenable to earmark RD as a contributor to racial health inequities that can accelerate health deterioration by increasing the risk for physical consequences tied to heavy alcohol consumption for AA emerging adults.…”