Status Variations in Stress Exposure: Implications for the Interpretation of Research on Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Gender

Turner, R. Jay; Avison, William R.

doi:10.2307/1519795

Cited by 572 publications

(558 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Whereas many of the adversities had no net impact on mental health, it is important to keep in mind current sociological understandings of stressors as structurally (not randomly) generated (Aneshensel, Rutter, & Lachenbruch, 1991;Pearlin, 1989) and, as such, logically interrelated micro-level events within the social system. Evidence indicates that many of these kinds of adversities are more probable for low-SES youth and their families, so it is not surprising to find that severe events, such as personally violent and injurious events, appear to be embedded in a range of lesser-impact but potentially harmful exposures (e.g., having parents separate, getting injured, parental unemployment) (e.g., (Turner & Avison, 2003;Turner & Lloyd, 1999). As noted earlier, evidence indicates that severe childhood adversities are likely to affect mental health and behavior in adolescence and the transition to adulthood (See (Gore, Aseltine, & Schilling, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of cumulative childhood adversity on young adult mental health: Measures, models, and interpretations

Schilling

Aseltine

Gore

2008

Social Science & Medicine

256

216

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Research studies investigating the impact of childhood cumulative adversity on adult mental health have proliferated in recent years. In general, little attention has been paid to the operationalization of cumulative adversity, with most studies operationalizing this as the simple sum of the number of occurrences of distinct events experienced. In addition, the possibility that the mathematical relationship of cumulative childhood adversity to some mental health dimensions may be more complex than a basic linear association has not often been considered. This study explores these issues with 2 waves of data drawn from an economically and racially diverse sample transitioning to adulthood in Boston, USA. A diverse set of childhood adversities were reported in high school and 3 mental health outcomes--depressed mood, drug use, and antisocial behavior--were reported 2 years later during the transition to adulthood Our results suggest that both operationalization and statistical modeling are important and interrelated and, as such, they have the potential to influence substantive interpretation of the effect of cumulative childhood adversity on adult mental health. In our data, total cumulative childhood adversity was related to depressive symptoms, drug use, and antisocial behavior in a positive curvilinear manner with incremental impact increasing as adversities accumulate, but further analysis revealed that this curvilinear effect was an artifact of the confounding of high cumulative adversity scores with the experience of more severe events. Thus, respondents with higher cumulative adversity had disproportionately poorer mental health because of the severity of the adversities they were exposed to, not the cumulative number of different types of adversities experienced. These results indicate that public health efforts targeting prevention of childhood adversities would best be aimed at the most severe adversities in order to have greatest benefit to mental health in young adulthood. KeywordsUSA; cumulative adversity; transition to adulthood; depression; drug use; antisocial behavior; adolescents; mental healthCorresponding Author E-Mail: eschilling@uchc.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptRecent research has documented the strong association between cumulative childhood adversity (CCA) and a variety of mental health outcomes including: adult major depression and depressive symptoms (Chapman, Whitfield, Felitti, Dube, Edwards, & Anda, 2004;Hammen, Henry, & ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of cumulative childhood adversity on young adult mental health: Measures, models, and interpretations

Schilling

Aseltine

Gore

2008

Social Science & Medicine

256

216

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“…Although far less is known about the role of social adversity in socioeconomic disparities in alcohol (and other health) problems, low-SES groups are more exposed to a variety of stressors, including unfair treatment (Turner and Avison, 2003), thus suggesting the plausibility of the differential stress hypothesis with respect to socioeconomic disparities in health.…”

Section: Social Adversity and Alcohol Problemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Adversity, Stress, and Alcohol Problems: Are Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Poor More Vulnerable?

Mulia

Zemore

2012

J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs

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ABSTRACT. Objective: Experiences of racial/ethnic bias and unfair treatment are risk factors for alcohol problems, and population differences in exposure to these social adversities (i.e., differential exposure) may contribute to alcohol-related disparities. Differential vulnerability is another plausible mechanism underlying health disparities, yet few studies have examined whether populations differ in their vulnerability to the effects of social adversity on psychological stress and the effects of psychological stress on alcohol problems. Method: Data from the 2005 U.S. National Alcohol Survey (N = 4,080 adult drinkers) were analyzed using structural equation modeling to assess an overall model of pathways linking social adversity, depressive symptoms, heavy drinking, and alcohol dependence. Multiple group analyses were conducted to assess differences in the model's relationships among Blacks versus Whites, Hispanics versus Whites, and the poor (income below the federal poverty line) versus non-poor (income above the poverty line). Results:The overall model explained 48% of the variance in alcohol dependence and revealed signifi cant pathways between social adversity and alcohol dependence involving depressive symptoms and heavy drinking. The effects of social adversity and depressive symptoms were no different among Blacks and Hispanics compared with Whites. However, the poor (vs. non-poor) showed stronger associations between unfair treatment and depressive symptoms and between depressive symptoms and heavy drinking. Conclusions: Contrary to some prior studies, these fi ndings suggest that racial disparities in alcohol problems may be more a function of racial/ethnic minorities' greater exposure, rather than vulnerability, to chronic stressors such as social adversity. However, observed differences between the poor and non-poor imply that differential vulnerability contributes to socioeconomic disparities in alcohol problems. Efforts to reduce both differential exposure and vulnerability might help to mitigate these disparities. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 73, 570-580, 2012)

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“…67,70 Black girls are more likely than other girls to report exposure to racism, and black males and females experience steep increases in racial discrimination as they grow older, especially from adults in positions of authority such as police officers. [71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78] …”

Section: Exposure To Racial Discriminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Inequality and Racial Discrimination: Risk Factors for Health Disparities in Children of Color

et al. 2009

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A child's sense of control over life and health outcomes as well as perceptions of the world as fair, equal, and just are significantly influenced by his or her social experiences and environment. Unfortunately, the social environment for many children of color includes personal and family experiences of racial discrimination that foster perceptions of powerlessness, inequality, and injustice. In turn, these perceptions may influence child health outcomes and disparities by affecting biological functioning (eg, cardiovascular and immune function) and the quality of the parent-child relationship and promoting psychological distress (eg, self-efficacy, depression, anger) that can be associated with risk-taking and unhealthy behaviors. In this article we review existing theoretical models and empirical studies of the impact of racial discrimination on the health and development of children of color in the United States. On the basis of this literature, a conceptual model of exposure to racial discrimination as a chronic stressor and a risk factor for poor health outcomes and child health disparities is presented. Pediatrics 2009;124:S176-S186

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Status Variations in Stress Exposure: Implications for the Interpretation of Research on Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Gender

Cited by 572 publications

References 41 publications

The impact of cumulative childhood adversity on young adult mental health: Measures, models, and interpretations

The impact of cumulative childhood adversity on young adult mental health: Measures, models, and interpretations

Social Adversity, Stress, and Alcohol Problems: Are Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Poor More Vulnerable?

Social Inequality and Racial Discrimination: Risk Factors for Health Disparities in Children of Color

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