A comparison of the occurrence and perceived stress of major life events in black and white women.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the occurrence and perceived stress of major life events, and to investigate whether adjusting for socioeconomic status reduced race/ethnicity differences.


METHODS
Black (n = 639) and white (n = 419) women aged 35-49 years responded to 14 major life event questions within the domains of employment, health, relationship, finance, residential change, and crime.


RESULTS
The total number of life events did not differ by race/ethnicity, but black women reported significantly more events in the domains of relationship, financial, and residential change than white women. White women generally reported higher stress for a given event than black women, although for "residential change" black women reported more severe stress than the white women.


CONCLUSIONS
Inclusion of both the occurrence and perceived stress of major life events can improve our understanding of how this stressor may affect health.
Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7435, USA. avines@email.unc.edu
Anissa I
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Vines
Myduc
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Ta
Denise
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Esserman
Donna D
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Baird
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People