Elaine Wethington

Perceived support, received support, and adjustment to stressful life events

A systematic review of the literature on social support shows that a stress-buffering effect is most consistently found when support is measured as a perception that ones network is ready to provide aid and assistance if needed (Kessler and McLeod, 1985). Two interpretations of this association are considered here: (I) that the perception of support availability indirectly indicates actual network responses to stressful events that more directly promote healthy adjustment; and (2) that the perception of support availability influences adjustment directly by modifying appraisals of the situation. No attempt has been made in the literature to discriminate between these two interpretations. One reason is that a strategy for critically evaluating the competing hypotheses has not yet been developed. A main contribution of our paper is that it exposits such a strategy. A rigorous evaluation of the competing interpretations requires a prospective research design and a data collection effort explicitly aimed at obtaining information about both actual support transactions and perceptions of support availability in hypothetical situations. We know of no data set that meets these dual requirements. As an illustration of the strategy suggested here, however, we analyze cross-sectional data from a large-scale national survey. Although limited, these data provide provisional information about the competing interpretations. Analysis shows that perceived support is, in general, more important than received support in predicting adjustment to stressful life events. We also present evidence that the influence of received support may be mediated by perceived support. These results demonstrate the power of the strategy and argue for a direct evaluation with more appropriate data.

Situational determinants of coping and coping effectiveness.

This study contributes to the growing body of research on situational determinants of coping. Based on a general population sample of 1556 married men and women, it goes beyond previous efforts in two ways. First, it presents the first large-scale analysis of situational determinants of coping effectiveness in response to a wide variety of stressful life events and chronic difficulties. This analysis documents that previous aggregate analyses overlooked a number of specifications which, when observed, provide insights into the mechanisms of coping effectiveness. Second, it assesses the importance of two empirically generated multivariate coping profiles, passivity and versatility. The studys findings suggest that these profiles are associated significantly with adjustment to stress, that these associations differ across situations, and that they help to interpret the effects of separate coping strategies.

The Daily Inventory of Stressful Events An Interview-Based Approach for Measuring Daily Stressors

This study introduces the Daily Inventory of Stressful Events (DISE), an interview-based approach to the measurement of multiple aspects of daily stressors through daily telephone interviews. Using a U.S. national sample of adults aged 25 to 74 (N = 1031), the prevalence as well as the affective and physical correlates of daily stressors are examined. Respondents had at least one daily stressor on 40 percent of the study days and multiple stressors on 11 percent of the study days. The most common class of stressors was interpersonal tension followed by work-related stressors for men and network stressors (events that occur to close others) for women. Stressors that involved danger of loss were more prevalent than stressors in which loss actually occurred. Regression analyses showed that specific types of daily stressors such as interpersonal tensions and network stressors were unique predictors of both health symptoms and mood.

The Costs of Caring: A Perspective on the Relationship Between Sex and Psychological Distress

This paper is different from the others in this volume in that we discuss the health-damaging effects of providing social support rather than the health-promoting effects of receiving it. Our topic has heretofore been neglected. Yet, as we show below, there is good reason to think that there are serious personal costs associated with being a supporter; costs that should be taken into account by those who advocate community interventions to increase access to support.

Allostasis and the human brain: Integrating models of stress from the social and life sciences.

We draw on the theory of allostasis to develop an integrative model of the current stress process that highlights the brain as a dynamically adapting interface between the changing environment and the biological self. We review evidence that the core emotional regions of the brain constitute the primary mediator of the well-established association between stress and health, as well as the neural focus of wear and tear due to ongoing adaptation. This mediation, in turn, allows us to model the interplay over time between context, current stressor exposure, internal regulation of bodily processes, and health outcomes. We illustrate how this approach facilitates the integration of current findings in human neuroscience and genetics with key constructs from stress models from the social and life sciences, with implications for future research and the design of interventions targeting individuals at risk.

Chronic stressors and daily hassles: Unique and interactive relationships with psychological distress.

Using daily telephone interviews of a U.S. national sample of adults, aged 25–74 (N = 1,031), the present analyses draw from theories of the stress process and recent research to examine how chronic role-related stressors and daily hassles affect psychological distress. Four separate hypotheses are examined. The first explores the association between chronic stressors and daily hassles. The second tests whether daily hassles function as an intervening variable between chronic stressors and psychological distress. The third tests whether a chronic stressor moderates the relationship between daily hassles and psychological distress. The fourth hypothesis tests for cross-domain effects of chronic stressors and daily hassles. Findings indicate that chronic stressors and daily hassles are distinct types of stressors with unique contributions to psychological distress. The study provides support for chronic home stressors functioning as a moderating factor on the relationship between daily hassles and psychological distress both within and across domains.

Employment, Parental Responsibility, and Psychological Distress A Longitudinal Study of Married Women

This article uses panel data from 745 married women in the Detroit Metropolitan Area to examine the mental health effects of employment and parenting status changes. Contrary to popular belief, the transition to parenting is not directly related to increases in psychological distress. Changes in employment status, however, are. Women who significantly increase their labor force participation report lower levels of psychological distress over the study period, while women who significantly decrease their labor force participation report higher psychological distress. The effects of labor force changes on mental health are not all modified by parenting status or changes in parenting status. The transition to parenting and increased parenting responsibilities, however, are indirectly related to increased psychological distress insofar as they result in decreased labor force participation. The implications of these results are used to evaluate four competing perspectives on the relationship between roles, stress, and psychological functioning.

An Overview of the Life Course Perspective: Implications for Health and Nutrition

The life course perspective is emerging as a powerful organizing framework for the study of health, illness, and mortality. The argument of this article is that the more explicit use of the life course perspective would enhance the already interdisciplinary approach to dietary and nutritional habits that nutrition educators apply to their practice. This article defines 7 major concepts used in applying the life course perspective: trajectories, transitions, turning points, culture and contextual influences, timing in lives, linked lives, and adaptive strategies. The utility of this perspective is demonstrated by the insights it brings to understanding the relationship between historical time, social context, and changes in population and group health and nutritional practices over time.

The reliability of life event reports in a community survey

There is considerable evidence from inter-respondent and test-retest studies that the data obtained in structured life event inventories are not very reliable. Inter-respondent reliability estimates are presented in this paper for the life event reports obtained in a community survey that was designed to facilitate recall of life events. It is documented that respondents were able to recall many sorts of severe negative events with adequate reliability over a twelve-month recall period. Data are also presented to show that respondents could date event occurrence with good consistency. Sensitive events, such as involvement in criminal activities and difficulties in marriage, were not reliably reported. These results suggest that the problems of faulty memory and conceptual confusion about serious events can be overcome with careful question wording and administration procedures, but that the problem of respondent reticence about reporting sensitive events remains unresolved.

Midlife Development in a Life Course Context

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the midlife development in a life-course context. According to this chapter, the belief that “midlife” comprises a separate and distinct stage of life is a recent cultural construction, originating only in the 20th century. The emergence of midlife as a life stage is linked to two related demographic trends: the increase in human longevity and the decline in fertility. The two demographic changes are particularly relevant in defining midlife for women, given the gender gap in longevity and the greater salience of family roles for women. However, these demographic trends have also worked in tandem with the transformations in the economy and career paths, to produce the constellation of social roles that characterize an adult life course in transition. It is difficult to set precise ages when midlife begins or ends. However, it is popularly thought to begin at age 35. Midlife in the early 21st century is a state of flux, with economic, demographic, technological, social, and cultural changes produce unprecedented variability for those in this stage of life. This brings to mind a final life course theme that individuals help to construct their own lives and their own environments. These remarkable social changes offer challenges but also opportunities for individuals to customize their middle years according to their own interests and inclinations and for society to create new structures that will serve to expand the life chances and choices for those in the middle life course.