Stress and Sociocultural Factors

• Stress and Sociocultural Factors involve cultural expectations, family structure, kinship, child rearing practices, and caregiving.
• Dr. Syd Miller, Marie Coriaty, Melissa Callaci, and Carla Moran are researchers into stress and sociocultural factors.

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

• Subjective SES and chronic stressors are mediators of SES.
• Race, hostility and perceived control can cause an impact.
• The role of subjective SES is important.

SES and Stress

• Higher/lower SES has an effect on stress.
• Stress is a variable in understanding the relationship between SES and health outcomes.
• The relationship between SES and stress/health may be mediated by available resources (education, income, employment, status, and wealth), social status (relative position in a hierarchy), and environmental aspects (neighborhood, social support).

Subjective SES

• Subjective SES refers to one's perception of social status compared to others.
• The feeling that others are better off may lead to stress.
• Ayalon conducted a study in 2008.
• The participants were long-term care staff.
• The study assessed burnout, positive aspects of caregiving, subjective SES, and objective SES.
• Perceived higher SES predicted lower levels of burnout and more positive caregiving experiences.

SES and Chronic Stressors

• Lower SES relates to increased incidence of socioecologic stressors such as living situation, financial status, and employment.
• Health has a greater impact when these factors worsen due to lower SES.

SES and Ethnicity/Race

• The effect of SES on stress/health may be mediated by ethnicity.
• Disadvantaged minorities usually have lower SES.
• African Americans are at higher risk for hypertension.
• Latin Americans have not been found to be at higher risk despite low SES.
• The effect of discrimination may explain these differences.

Grothe, et al. (2008) Study

• The study involved low SES African-Americans with CHD vs. healthy individuals.
• Measures included self-reported hostility, chronic stressors during the past week, and perceived social support.
• CHD was linked to higher hostility, increased stress, and lower social support.
• Individuals with a hostile style are more likely to experience a more stressful interpersonal environment and a higher degree of social conflict and less social support.

SES and Perceived Control

• Low feelings of control correlate to stress/negative health outcomes.
• Work stress is more common in lower SES.
• Individuals in low SES report more chronic stressors like conflict, boredom, social strain, hostility, job insecurity, and dangerous working conditions.
• Work can be stressful at lower SES levels because the position at work confers respect through recognition of valuable individuals to the organization, SES directs people's appraisal of their environment, and low SES groups experience less control.

Factors and Research from Christie & Barling (2009)

• Participants: Canadian workers were taken from the NPHS; 3,419 working Canadians with a mean age of 39.5 and 57% were male.
• SES was measured by income, occupational prestige, and education.
• Personal control was measured using Pearlin and Schooler's (1978) mastery scale.
• Work stressors were measured using Karasek and Theorell's (1990) work stress scale.
• Health was determined by the number of health problems experienced by the participants.
• Lower income, lower occupational prestige, and lower education are associated with more stressful work and less personal control.
• Low personal control can lead to increased work stressors over time.
• Increased work stressors can lead to increased health problems.

Figure 1. Karasek's Job Strain Model

• From Karasek and Theorell (1990), it describes these work conditions:
• Low strain: low psychological demands, high job control
• Active: high psychological demands, high job control
• Passive: ow psychological demands, low job control
• High strain: high psychological demands, low job control

Stress and Cultural Differences

• Culture is a group of people with shared values, characteristics, and interests.
• Culture influences the stress response by the types of stressors experienced, the appraisal of these stressors, the choice of coping strategies, and the institutional mechanisms for coping with stress (Aldwin, 2000).

Culture and Types of Stressors

• Different cultures create different sets of stressors, social role expectations, and geopolitical circumstances.
• Values and social expectations are influential.
• Subcultures within the culture experience/respond to stress differently.
• Both poverty and affluence create stressors.

Culture and the Appraisal of Stressors

• The meaning of stress is different in many cultures.
• What is considered stressful differs.
• Appraisal of stressors is affected by conscious and unconscious processes
• Appraisal of stressors is affected by social ties.

Culture and the Choice of Coping Strategies

• Coping strategies are mediated by cultural values.
• Emotional expression of stress may be less acceptable in Asian cultures.
• Some cultures may report bodily symptoms instead.
• Spiritual coping is one strategy.
• Collective vs. individualistic coping is another strategy.

Independent vs. Interdependent Cultures

• Impact of cultural differences in self on cognitive appraisals in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder was a factor.
• A study was conducted by O'Kearney & Jobson in 2009.
• Trauma survivors with and without PTSD from independent (individualist) and interdependent (collectivist) cultures were studied.
• N=106
• Participants provided trauma narratives, which were coded for negative cognitive appraisals (i.e. mental defeat, control strategies, etc.).

O'Kearney & Jobson, 2009 Results

• The culture group showed a varied result of mental rating for defeat against PTSD and no PTSD.

Sociocultural Trends

• People live longer due to an increase in life expectancy.
• Marriage is delayed.
• Couples have fewer children.
• More adult children choose to live at home while pursuing higher education.
• An increased number of adult children are returning home after divorce.