University of Maryland Stress and Health Program

 

The fundamental aim of our current study, Status Inequality, Stress, and Health among Older People, is to examine an array of personal and social factors that potentially contribute to health disparities among adults over the age of 65. Our research examines the ways in which individuals' positions in the social structure over the entire life course are related to health and well-being during later life.

 

The theoretical framework of our study applies ideas from the stress process model (Pearlin 1989) . Generally speaking, the stress process model proposes that relationships between social statuses and health are influenced by variations in the exposure and response to stressors over the life course. The model suggests that inequalities in social statuses, such as financial resources, education, and race affect exposure to stressors and also the personal and social resources individuals can utilize to adapt and resist such stressors. In addition, we focus on a number of conditions that potentially contribute to differences in well-being, including economic hardship, neighborhood disorder, perceived discrimination, physical impairment, emotions, self-concept, social relationships, and life course histories of family, health, work, and economic conditions.

 

An award from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) is funding the study. Our sample consists of nearly 1,200 people aged 65 and older in three areas: Prince George 's County, MD, Montgomery County (MD) and Washington, DC. We employed a stratified random sample to ensure sufficient numbers of African-American and Caucasian respondents of both sexes. A three-wave design will allow us to assess change over a three-year period.

 

The members of the research team each bring unique and common areas of expertise and interest to the project. The principal researchers include: Principal Investigator, Leonard Pearlin; Co-Principal Investigator, Scott Schieman; Co-Investigator, Joan Kahn; Co-Investigator, Melissa Milkie and Graduate Research Assistants, Alex Bierman, Elena Fazio, Anthony Hatch, and Kim Nguyen. For more information about the program, please contact the Stress and Health Program at (301) 405-6423 or e-mail: lpearlin@socy.umd.edu .

 

Reference

 

Pearlin, Leonard I. 1989. "The Sociological Study of Stress." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 30(3):241-56.

 

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The Mastery Scale

 

The Mastery Scale has seven items, each answered by Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Disagree, with the fist value of 1 and the last value of 4.  Thus the possible range is from 7 to 28.  The raw scores can be used, in Likert fashion, or a mean calculated for each respondent.  We have also used factor weights, but the scoring procedures are analytically equivalent.  The scale:

1.  How strongly do you agree or disagree with these statements about yourself?

2.  There is really no way I can solve problems I have.

3.  Sometimes I feel that I am being pushed around in life.

4.  I have little control over the things that happen to me.

5.  I can do just about everything I set my mind to do.

6.  I often feel helpless in dealing with the problems of life.

7.  What happens to me in the future mostly depends on me.

8.  There is little I can do to change many of the important things in my life.

 

Note that items 4 and 6 need to be reverse coded.

Please feel free to use the scale for your scholarly purposes.