TY - JOUR
T1 - Women's daily physical health symptoms and stressful experiences across adulthood
AU - Mallers, Melanie Horn
AU - Almeida, David M.
AU - Neupert, Shevaun D.
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development and grants from the National Institute on Aging (AG19239) and the National Institute of Mental Health (MH53372). The authors are grateful to Amy Chandler, Amy Cox, Dan McDonald, and Michelle Neiss.
PY - 2005/6
Y1 - 2005/6
N2 - This study investigated the extent to which the experience of daily stressors was related to women's age and daily health symptomology, such as flu and cold symptoms. Respondents were 562 women (aged 25-74) who were a part of the National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE), a telephone diary study examining daily stressful events. The respondents were interviewed by telephone on eight consecutive nights, which resulted in a total of 3978 days of information analysed. Overall, women had at least one physical symptom on 59% of the study days and at least one daily stressor on 40% of the study days. Results from a series of ANOVAs showed that young and middle-aged women reported more frequent physical symptoms than did the older women. This age pattern was similar to the incidence of daily stressful experiences. Furthermore, daily stressors, specifically interpersonal tensions, were shown to significantly mediate the age-symptom relationship. These findings suggest that women who are exposed to events that threaten their interpersonal relationships are at a greater risk for symptoms of ill-health.
AB - This study investigated the extent to which the experience of daily stressors was related to women's age and daily health symptomology, such as flu and cold symptoms. Respondents were 562 women (aged 25-74) who were a part of the National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE), a telephone diary study examining daily stressful events. The respondents were interviewed by telephone on eight consecutive nights, which resulted in a total of 3978 days of information analysed. Overall, women had at least one physical symptom on 59% of the study days and at least one daily stressor on 40% of the study days. Results from a series of ANOVAs showed that young and middle-aged women reported more frequent physical symptoms than did the older women. This age pattern was similar to the incidence of daily stressful experiences. Furthermore, daily stressors, specifically interpersonal tensions, were shown to significantly mediate the age-symptom relationship. These findings suggest that women who are exposed to events that threaten their interpersonal relationships are at a greater risk for symptoms of ill-health.
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U2 - 10.1080/08870440512331317698
DO - 10.1080/08870440512331317698
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:20444492891
SN - 0887-0446
VL - 20
SP - 389
EP - 403
JO - Psychology and Health
JF - Psychology and Health
IS - 3
ER -