The proposed research calls for three interviews at yearly intervals with a sample of 1,200 people 65 years and older residing in three Maryland counties. Its general aim is to account for the association between people's socioeconomic statuses (SES) and their health and well-being. In addition to age, these statuses include economic level, education, occupational prestige, marital status, gender, and race and ethnicity. The study is guided by the perspectives of the stress process conceptual framework.
The specific aims of the inquiry essentially involve empirical tests of several interrelated assumptions underlying this conceptualization. Thus, it is assumed that SES potentially influences the nature and intensity of stressors to which people are exposed. Certain types of stressors, such as loss events, can become particularly prevalent in late life. Moreover, it is thought that exposure to one or more serious stressors may generate exposure to additional stressors, a phenomenon referred to as stress proliferation. Exposure to both initial and proliferated stressors, in turn, can lead to a variety of physical and mental health outcomes; in this way, stressful life conditions stand as one of the mechanisms linking SES and health. However, exposure to stressors does not always have a deleterious effect on health. It is proposed that even under difficult life conditions certain kinds of social and personal resources, such as social support and the sense of mastery, can protect individuals from these effects. It is further proposed that the particular health outcomes that are manifested under conditions of stress will vary with the SES characteristics of people.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
3R01AG017461-01A1S1
Application #
6358608
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1 (01))
Program Officer
Stahl, Sidney M
Project Start
2000-09-30
Project End
2004-08-31
Budget Start
2000-09-30
Budget End
2001-08-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2000
Total Cost
$62,530
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Maryland College Park
Department
Social Sciences
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
College Park
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
20742
Bierman, Alex (2011) Pain and depression in late life: mastery as mediator and moderator. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 66:595-604
Bierman, Alex; Statland, Denise (2010) Timing, social support, and the effects of physical limitations on psychological distress in late life. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 65:631-9
Pearlin, Leonard I (2010) The life course and the stress process: some conceptual comparisons. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 65B:207-15
Bierman, Alex (2009) Marital status as contingency for the effects of neighborhood disorder on older adults' mental health. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 64:425-34
Schieman, Scott; Pudrovska, Tetyana; Eccles, Rachel (2007) Perceptions of body weight among older adults: analyses of the intersection of gender, race, and socioeconomic status. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 62:S415-23
Pearlin, Leonard I; Nguyen, Kim B; Schieman, Scott et al. (2007) The life-course origins of mastery among older people. J Health Soc Behav 48:164-79
Schieman, Scott; Plickert, Gabriele (2007) Functional limitations and changes in levels of depression among older adults: a multiple-hierarchy stratification perspective. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 62:S36-42
Pudrovska, Tetyana; Schieman, Scott; Carr, Deborah (2006) Strains of singlehood in later life: do race and gender matter? J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 61:S315-22
Kahn, Joan R; Pearlin, Leonard I (2006) Financial strain over the life course and health among older adults. J Health Soc Behav 47:17-31
Schieman, Scott; Pearlin, Leonard I; Meersman, Stephen C (2006) Neighborhood disadvantage and anger among older adults: social comparisons as effect modifiers. J Health Soc Behav 47:156-72

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