title: Perceived Control Mediates Effects of Socioeconomic Status and Chronic Stress on Physical Frailty: Findings From the Health and Retirement Study.
abstract: To investigate the psychosocial etiology of physical frailty by examining the influence of chronic stress and perceived control.
  
  
  
  Using population-based samples of older adults from the Health and Retirement Study, this study employed structural equation modeling in cross-sectional (N = 5,250) and longitudinal (N = 2,013) samples to estimate the effects of chronic stress and socioeconomic status (SES) on baseline frailty and change in frailty status over 4 years and the extent to which perceived control mediates or moderates effects of chronic stress.
  
  
  
  Perceived control fully mediated effects of chronic stress and partially mediated effects of SES on both baseline frailty and change in frailty. Multigroup analyses revealed that the mediating role of perceived control was consistent across age, gender, and racial/ethnic subgroups. There was no evidence to support a moderating role of perceived control in the chronic stress and frailty relationship.
  
  
  
  Findings provide novel evidence for a mediating role of perceived control in pathways linking SES and chronic stress to frailty, further underscoring the importance of psychosocial constructs to the development and progression of frailty in older adults.
authors: School of Medicine and Dentistry, New York.
authors: Christopher J
authors: CJ
authors: Mooney
authors: School of Medicine and Dentistry, New York.
authors: Ari J
authors: AJ
authors: Elliot
authors: Warner School of Education and Human Development, University of Rochester, New York.
authors: Kathryn Z
authors: KZ
authors: Douthit
authors: Warner School of Education and Human Development, University of Rochester, New York.
authors: Andre
authors: A
authors: Marquis
authors: School of Medicine and Dentistry, New York.
authors: Christopher L
authors: CL
authors: Seplaki
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000073496:Frailty / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology