Can Allostatic Load Cross Over? Short-Term Work and Nonwork Stressor Pile-Up on Parent and Adolescent Diurnal Cortisol, Physical Symptoms, and Sleep

Grounded in and expanding upon the allostatic load model, the present study examined how repeated exposure to work and nonwork stressors (i.e., stressor pile-up) across an 8-day study period relates to daily strain-related outcomes—diurnal cortisol, physical symptoms, and sleep quantity and quality—in both parents and their adolescent children. Nonlinear associations between daily stressor pile-up and daily strain were explored. Data from the Work, Family, and Health Network study (N = 131 parent–child dyads, n = 1,014 daily survey observations, n = 465 daily observations with cortisol) were used to test the study hypotheses. Parent work stressor pile-up and adolescent stressor pile-up were associated with increased daily physical symptom likelihood in parents and adolescents, respectively. Counter to expectations, parent nonwork stressor pile-up was associated with steeper daily cortisol slopes. Additionally, we found curvilinear crossover effects for sleep quantity, such that parent nonwork stressor pile-up and adolescent stressor pile-up were associated with shorter sleep duration among adolescents and parents (respectively), but this relationship plateaued and reversed as daily pile-up increased to more extreme levels. Our article explores conceptual and operational pile-up definitions (level of analysis, length of time window, inclusion of the current-day stressor events). Individual-level analyses supported more consistent, positive linear relationships between stressor pile-up and strains. Time window had little consequences for conclusions, but inclusion of the current day yields some alternative conclusions. We discuss implications for understanding stressor pileup across domains and across parent–child dyads as it relates to daily strain within the family system.