The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 61:P295-P303 (2006)
© 2006 The Gerontological Society of America
Coping, Affect, and the Metabolic Syndrome in Older Men: How Does Coping Get Under the Skin?
Loriena A. Yancura,
Carolyn M. Aldwin,
Michael R. Levenson and
Avron Spiro, III3
1 Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
2 Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis.
3 Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Massachusetts.
The metabolic syndrome is a complex construct with interrelated factors of obesity, blood pressure, lipids, and glucose. It is a risk factor for a number of chronic diseases in late life. This study tested a model in which the relationship between stress and the metabolic syndrome was mediated by appraisal, coping, and affect. Data were collected from 518 male participants in the Normative Aging Study (Xage = 68.17 years). The model was partially confirmed. Relationships among stress, appraisal, coping, and affect were valenced along positive and negative pathways. However, affect was not directly related to the metabolic syndrome. The metabolic syndrome was related to positive coping as operationalized by self-regulatory strategies. The results of this study suggest that the influence of coping on physical health may occur through emotional regulation.
Copyright © 2006 by The Gerontological Society of America.
