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Do Daily Stress Processes Account for Socioeconomic Health Disparities?

¹ Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, State College.
² Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts.
³ Department of Family Studies and Human Development, University of Arizona, Tucson.

Address correspondence to David M. Almeida, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, 135 E. Nittany Ave., Suite 405, State College, PA 18601. E-mail: dalmeida{at}psu.edu

Abstract

Objectives. The present study examined the extent to which daily stressor severity and appraisals of the stressors accounted for socioeconomic disparities in health.

Methods. Data from the National Study of Daily Experiences and the Midlife in the United States Survey were combined for the current analyses, resulting in 1,031 respondents who reported on 7,229 days.

Results. Respondents without a high school degree experienced more severe stressors and appraised stressors as posing greater risk to their financial situation and to their self-concept than respondents with a high school or college degree. Differences in severity and stressor appraisal accounted for education differences in psychological distress and physical health symptoms.

Discussion. Findings suggest the importance of considering variation across stressors, particularly implications for self-concept, in understanding sources of differential stressor vulnerability.

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