Social Stress in the United States: Links to Regional Patterns in Crime and Illness

1987 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 881
Author(s):  
T. L. Scheid-Cook ◽  
Arnold S. Linsky ◽  
Murray A. Straus
Author(s):  
Jutta Lindert ◽  
Kimberley C. Paul ◽  
E. Lachman Margie ◽  
Beate Ritz ◽  
Teresa Seeman

AbstractLimited research is available on the relationship between social stress and risk of declining cognition. We sought to examine whether social stress has adverse effects on risk of declining episodic memory and executive functioning in aging individuals. We used data from the MIDUS study, a national probability sample of non-institutionalized, English speaking respondents aged 25–74 living in the 48 contiguous states of the United States. The initial wave (1995) included 4963 non-institutionalized adults aged 32–84 (M = 55, SD = 12.4). We used an analytic sample from MIDUS-II (1996/1997) and MIDUS-III (2013) (n = 1821). The dependent variables are episodic memory and executive functioning, which were assessed with the Brief Test for Cognition (BTACT). The independent variables were social stress variables (subjective social status, family and marital stress, work stress and discrimination). To evaluate episodic memory and executive functioning changes over a time period of 10 years, we estimated adjusted linear regression models. Women report significantly lower subjective social status and more discrimination stress than men across all age groups. Controlling for education and income, age, and baseline episodic memory and executive functioning, lower subjective social status had additional adverse effects on declines in episodic memory in men and women. Marital risk had adverse effects on episodic memory in men but not in women. Daily discrimination had adverse effects on executive functioning on all individuals. Public health strategies should focus on reducing social stress in a socio-ecological perspective. Especially, subjective social status and discrimination stress might be a target for prevention efforts.


Crisis ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 176-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Ann Moskos ◽  
Jennifer Achilles ◽  
Doug Gray

Abstract: In the United States, teen suicide rates tripled over several decades, but have declined slightly since the mid-1990s. Suicide, by its nature, is a complex problem. Many myths have developed about individuals who complete suicide, suicide risk factors, current prevention programs, and the treatment of at-risk youth. The purpose of this article is to address these myths, to separate fact from fiction, and offer recommendations for future suicide prevention programs. Myth #1: Suicide attempters and completers are similar. Myth #2: Current prevention programs work. Myth #3: Teenagers have the highest suicide rate. Myth #4: Suicide is caused by family and social stress. Myth #5: Suicide is not inherited genetically. Myth #6: Teen suicide represents treatment failure. Psychiatric illnesses are often viewed differently from other medical problems. Research should precede any public health effort, so that suicide prevention programs can be designed, implemented, and evaluated appropriately. Too often suicide prevention programs do not use evidence-based research or practice methodologies. More funding is warranted to continue evidence-based studies. We propose that suicide be studied like any medical illness, and that future prevention efforts are evidence-based, with appropriate outcome measures.


Cancer ◽  
1967 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 617-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor J. Macdonald ◽  
Dorothy Gaites Wellington ◽  
Patricia F. Wolf

2017 ◽  
Vol 152 (5) ◽  
pp. S194
Author(s):  
Eugenia Uche-Anya ◽  
Peter H.R. Green ◽  
Robert M. Genta ◽  
Benjamin Lebwohl

2019 ◽  
pp. 21-38
Author(s):  
Emily Mendenhall

This chapter begins with Esther's story, a woman residing in Nairobi who confronts convergent social and health conditions from food insecurity to diabetes, HIV, and financial stress. The story demonstrates how a global story of diabetes overlooks the unique social, political, and cultural factors that produce diabetes from place to place. The chapter positions the book within the anthropological literature on diabetes and social suffering and introduces the idea that diabetes is always "syndemic" – or convergent with social and health problems. The chapters suggests that social pathways link arduous life experiences with biological risk, revealing important psychophysiological pathways between social stress and metabolic distress. The chapter also introduces the book, a multi-method study of diabetes among low-income communities in the United States, India, South Africa, and Kenya.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Lindert ◽  
K C Paul ◽  
M Lachman ◽  
B Ritz ◽  
T Seeman

Abstract Background Social stress and strain, especially discrimination and inequality might have an impact on memory and cognitive function. This is a major concern for older individuals, their families, communities and societies. We sought to assess changes in episodic memory (EM) and executive functioning (EF) among men and women in the 'Midlife in the United States' (MIDUS) cohort study, to delineate variations in EM and EF by gender, and to determine the impact of social stress/strain at three levels (family, work, society) on longitudinal changes in EM and EF in men and women. Methods We used data from the MIDUS study - a national probability sample of non-institutionalized, English speaking respondents aged 25-74 living in the 48 contiguous states of the United States. The initial wave in our study (1995) included 4963 non-institutionalized adults aged 32 to 84 (M = 55, SD = 12.4). The dependent variables are EM and EF, which were assessed with the Brief Test for Cognition. The independent variables were social stress and discrimination variables at the family/partner level, the work level and the society level, assessed with validated discrimination measures. To assess cognition changes we estimated adjusted linear regression models. Results Women report more perceived inequality for their family and more family strain than men across all age groups. After controlling for other explanatory variables, the main effect on cognition for all age groups was found for perceived inequality of one's family opportunities. Conclusions Reducing social stress and providing opportunities might be an important measure to support episodic memory and executive functioning in aging populations.


2001 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 1148-1149
Author(s):  
David Mitch

By the 1920s over 90 percent of primary-school teachers in the United States were women. But in 1860, only a third of Southern rural teachers were female whereas in New England and Mid-Atlantic rural areas, modern proportions had already been attained. One of the main objectives of this careful and lucid study is to examine the reasons for these different regional patterns.


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