Demographic Factors and Stress

Marital Status Married people live longer than single people. (Does that mean being single is stressful???) However, within a marriage, marital dissatisfaction is associated with lower immune function. And many stressful life events are associated with marriage…

Gender The life expectancy for women is considerably higher than for men. Women are also at lower risk for most life- threatening diseases. Although there are no gender differences in the level of stress hormones when at rest, men do react to stress by releasing more epinephrine than women and show higher blood pressure reactions to stressors.

Age Aging brings major physical reactions that may be related to stress…especially physical illness. 85% of people over 65 have one chronic illness, 50% have two or more The stress related to bereavement at the loss of a spouse also increases

Ethnicity and Social Class Blacks have a shorter life expectancy than whites and are about 2x as likely to develop hypertension Lower socioeconomic groups are more likely to encounter stressful factors like low-status jobs, inadequate resources, and inadequate education.

Correlation not Causation Important to remember that these are correlations only…while they increase the predictive value for the likelihood of stress, they do not explain why the stress is higher…

Environmental Factors and Stress Heat…. Crime rates, riot rates, etc more likely in hot weather. Crowding… living in crowded environments increases aggressive behavior in both animals and humans…even when adequate food, water and shelter are available. In humans, studies have shown that fewer bathrooms in a house increase stress levels…regardless of the size of the house

Noise…. People exposed to high noise levels at industrial plants or near airports (or hand driers outside bathrooms?) have been found to have elevated blood pressure, to be admitted to mental hospitals more often and to be more likely to die from strokes.

Locale … people living near nuclear power plants have higher anxiety levels, physical symptoms and headaches…. Other locales can also impact stress… near a prison, other manufacturing plant, etc.