A Study on the Role of Stress in the Lives of African-American Women

• Activity Number: 523
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 1, 2012 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: ENAR
• Author(s): Sayan Dasgupta*+ and Cheryl Giscombe
• Companies: and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Keywords: African American ; stress ; women

Abstract

African American women experience a disproportionately high rate of stress-related health problems. This study uses well-validated, self-administered instruments in a questionnaire format to test the role of network stress in a socioeconomically and geographically diverse group of African American women aged 21 to 78 (N = 189). The impact of generic stress factor on psychological distress is examined. Generic stressors include events or conditions such as accidents, persistent financial strain, and interpersonal conflict that are not a direct result of one's race or gender. In addition, this study examines how network stress (stress due to incidents in people's lives other than self) affects psychological distress and how it differs from directly experienced stress. This conceptualization of stress also recognizes exposure to stressful events called stress exposures and perception of those events called stress appraisals. The methodology considered for this study is generalized regression models using GEE. We also considered non-parametric methods like permutation tests and rank tests to answer specific questions.