Advances in the Conceptualization of the Stress Process : Essays in Honor of Leonard I. Pearlin

In 1981, Leonard Pearlin and his colleagues published an article that would ra- cally shift the sociological study of mental health from an emphasis on psychiatric disorder to a focus on social structure and its consequences for stress and psyc- logical distress. Pearlin et al. (1981) proposed a deceptively simple conceptual model that has now influenced sociological inquiry for almost three decades. With his characteristic penchant for reconsidering and elaborating his own ideas, Pearlin has revisited the stress process model periodically over the years (Pearlin 1989, 1999; Pearlin et al. 2005; Pearlin and Skaff 1996). One of the consequences of this continued theoretical elaboration of the stress process has been the development of a sociological model of stress that embraces the complexity of social life. Another consequence is that the stress process has continued to stimulate a host of empirical investigations in the sociology of mental health. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to suggest that the stress process paradigm has been primarily responsible for the growth and sustenance of sociological research on stress and mental health. Pearlin et al. (1981) described the core elements of the stress process in a brief paragraph: The process of social stress can be seen as combining three major conceptual domains: the sources of stress, the mediators of stress, and the manifestations of stress. Each of these extended domains subsumes a variety of subparts that have been intensively studied in recent years. Avison_FM_O.pdf 2 Anchor 1 6 Anchor 2 9 Anchor 3 14 Avison_Ch01_O.pdf 16 Chapter 1 17 Understanding Health Disparities: The Promise of the Stress Process Model 17 Introduction 17 Background 18 The Problem of Misclassification 18 Improved Estimation of Stress Exposure 22 The Promise of the Stress Process Model 24 Stress Exposure 24 Mediating/Moderating Influences 25 Concluding Comment 28 References 28 Avison_Ch02_O.pdf 36 Chapter 2 36 Compensatory Coping with Stressors 36 Theoretical Expectations 37 The Study and Measures 40 Summary of Key Findings 42 Concluding Observations 44 References 46 Avison_Ch03_O.pdf 48 Chapter 3 48 Neighborhood as a Social Context of the Stress Process 48 Neighborhood: The Concept 49 Neighborhood Structure and Mental Health 50 The Structural Model 50 The Structural Model of Neighborhood: Empirical Results 51 The Stress Process Model of Neighborhood and Mental Health 54 The Social Model Interpreted as the Stress Process Model 54 The Stress Process Model of Neighborhood: Empirical Results 55 An Ecological Model of the Stress Process 56 The Structural and Stress Process Model Integrated: The Ecological Model 56 Ecological Model: Empirical Results 58 Implications for the Future of Neighborhood and the Stress Process 61 Acknowledgments 63 References 63 Avison_Ch04_O.pdf 66 Chapter 4 66 Suppression Effects in Social Stress Research and Their Implications for the Stress Process Model 66 Suppression Effects in Social Stress Research 67 Example 1: Religion and Two Personal Resources: Mastery and Self-Esteem 68 Example 2: Job Authority and Health 72 Example 3: Creative Work and the Work–Family Interface 75 A Final Word 78 References 79 Avison_Ch05_O.pdf 82 Chapter 5 83 Family Structure and Women’s Lives: A Life Course Perspective 83 Family Structure, Stress, and Mental Health 84 The Single-Parent Family Study 85 Family Structure, Transitions in Employment, and Psychological Distress 87 Family Structure, Differential Exposure to Stressors, and Mothers’ Psychological Distress 88 The Effects of Psychosocial Resources Among Single and Married Mothers 90 Early Life Experiences and Depression Among Single Mothers 91 Family Structure and Mental Health Across the Life Course 91 Family Structure and Mothers’ Mental Health Over Their Life Course 93 Future Research on Family Structure and Mental Health 96 The Pearlin Effect 99 References 100 Avison_Ch06_O.pdf 105 Chapter 6 105 The Stress Process Model: Some Family-Level Considerations 105 The Meaning of Family for Stress Researchers 106 Family-Level Stressors 107 The Negotiation of Claims About a Stressor: Whose Problem Is It? 109 Moderators: Taking Them to a Family Level 111 Coping 111 Social Support 113 Family Mastery and Resilience 114 Outcomes 114 Social and Economic Statuses 115 Social Class and Race 115 Gender and Age 116 The Stress Process Model and Family Stress Research 116 Conclusion 117 References 117 Avison_Ch07_O.pdf 121 Chapter 7 121 Linking Early Family Adversity to Young Adult Mental Disorders 121 The Theoretical Model 122 Depressive Symptom Trajectories 123 The Influence of Family Adversity on Adolescent Depressive Symptom Trajectories 123 Early Level of Depressive Symptoms and the Onset of Mood Disorders 124 Reciprocity Between Depressive Symptom Trajectories and Depressive Disorders 125 The Influence of Mental Health Problems on Young Adult Social Status Attainment 125 Young Adult Affective Disorders 126 Methods 126 Sample and Procedures 126 Measures 128 Analysis Plan 130 Results 132 Discussion 135 Study Limitations 139 References 140 Avison_Ch08_O.pdf 143 8 143 Work, Family, and Their Intersection 143 Understanding the Stress Process: Pearlin’s Contributions 143 Work and Family Impacts Across Generations 147 Work and Family in Historical Context 149 Work and Family Variations by Education 150 Women, Work, and Family in a Single Cohort 151 Work and Family Repertoires Over the Life Course: Future Agenda 154 References 156 Avison_Ch09_O.pdf 158 Chapter 9 159 Sense of Mattering in Late Life 159 Introduction 159 The Self-Concept as Part of the Stress Process 161 The Self-Concept in Late Life 162 Mastery and Self-Esteem 162 Mattering 163 Types of Mattering 164 Social Relationships and Mattering 165 Aging and the Self-Concept: Self-esteem, Mastery, and Mattering 166 Aging and Mastery 167 Aging and Mattering 167 Roles and Physical Health as Mechanisms 169 Role Occupancies as Formal and Informal Ties 170 Physical Health 173 Results 175 Implications 181 References 182 Avison_Ch10_O.pdf 187 Chapter 10 187 It’s Tough to Cope in Rural Mali: Financial Coping Style, Mastery, Self Confidence, and Anxiety in a Bad and Worsening Socioec 187 The Survey 189 Sample 189 Interview 189 Findings 191 The Relations Between Anxiety and Mastery 191 The Relations Among Coping, Mastery, and Anxiety 193 Conclusions 195 References 197 Avison_Ch11_O.pdf 199 Chapter 11 199 Stress Valuation and the Experience of Parenting Stress in Late Life 199 Social Values and Parenting Stress in a Life Course Perspective 200 Summary 204 Methods 204 Data 204 Focal Measures 205 Control Measures 207 Analyses 207 Results 208 Discussion 210 Conclusion 213 References 213 Avison_Ch12_O.pdf 216 Chapter 12 216 Stress Process Applications in Child Victimization Research 216 Comprehensive Assessment and the Potential for Stress Proliferation 216 The Relevance of Context and Meaning in the Stress Process 218 Method 220 Participants 220 Measurement 222 Results 224 Discussion 227 Conclusion 230 Appendix A. Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire: Basic Screen Questions 231 Child Maltreatment 231 Peer and Sibling Victimization 231 Sexual Victimizations 232 Witnessing and Indirect Victimization 232 Lifetime Adversity 233 References 234 Avison_Ch13_O.pdf 238 Chapter 13 239 The Stress Process as a Successful Paradigm 239 The Invisible Hand of Philosophy 239 Complexity Misunderstood 241 The Survival of Paradigms 246 The Status Attainment Model 247 The Recent Trajectories of Paradigms 248 Stressors at the Core 251 The Stress Process as a Successful Paradigm Exemplar 255 A Stress Process Without Borders? 258 Final Comments 258 References 258 Avison_Afterword_O.pdf 261 A Few Afterthoughts 261 Avison_Index_O.pdf -1 Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Understanding Health Disparities: The Promise of the Stress Process Model....Pages 3-21 Compensatory Coping with Stressors....Pages 23-34 Neighborhood as a Social Context of the Stress Process....Pages 35-52 Suppression Effects in Social Stress Research and Their Implications for the Stress Process Model....Pages 53-68 Front Matter....Pages 70-70 Family Structure and Women’s Lives: A Life Course Perspective....Pages 71-92 The Stress Process Model: Some Family-Level Considerations....Pages 93-108 Linking Early Family Adversity to Young Adult Mental Disorders....Pages 109-130 Work, Family, and Their Intersection....Pages 131-145 Front Matter....Pages 148-148 Sense of Mattering in Late Life....Pages 149-176 It’s Tough to Cope in Rural Mali: Financial Coping Style, Mastery, Self Confidence, and Anxiety in a Bad and Worsening Socioeconomic Environment....Pages 177-188 Stress Valuation and the Experience of Parenting Stress in Late Life....Pages 189-205 Stress Process Applications in Child Victimization Research....Pages 207-228 Front Matter....Pages 230-230 The Stress Process as a Successful Paradigm....Pages 231-252 Back Matter....Pages 253-261

The stress process paradigm has been one of the most dominant conceptual models of health and illness over the past three decades. The contributions to this volume chart a new course for the stress process, extending the paradigm conceptually, methodologically, and substantively. Written in honor of Leonard I. Pearlin, the leading proponent of the stress process, the contributions to this volume provide a new direction for stress process research.

Featuring contributions from leading researchers, and an afterword by Leonard I. Pearlin, this comprehensive volume covers three major sections:

-Conceptual and methodological extensions of the stress process

-The roles of family and work in the stress process, throughout the life course

- Psychosocial factors that impact health outcomes.

This volume will be an invaluable resource for researchers in sociology, social psychology and public health, all seeking to understand the pervasive role of stress on social disparities in health and illness.