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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Elizabeth M. Bertera, MSW, PhD, Howard University, 601 Howard Place, NW, Washington, DC, DC 20059, 202-806-4731, ebertera@aol.com and Melissa B. Littlefield, MSW, PhD, University of Maryland, 525 West Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.

Stress is associated with negative health consequences, including depression. Little is known about the specific sources of everyday stress that contribute to depression, particularly among African American women. The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between stress as measured by daily hassles and depression symptoms in a randomly selected sample of African American women age 18-86. The secondary purpose is to examine this association by age group to determine whether there are differences across the life cycle. The 481 African American women in the study were distributed approximately evenly across the age spectrum from 18 to 86. There was somewhat higher proportion in the youngest compared with the oldest age group (27% vs. 16.4%). Educational level was low with 46.4% reporting less than a high school education, while less than a third were currently married. The income level was low with 49% reporting household income of less that $12,000 per year. Results suggest that in the study sample the amount of stressful hassles from everyday life is positively association with depressive symptoms scores. There do not appear to be any protective factors that mitigate this association in the population studied. Results also suggest that the strength of the association between stressful hassles from everyday life and depressive symptoms scores increases with age, especially starting with age 45. The results will contribute to understanding of factors that may contribute to depression symptoms in vulnerable populations and may point to strategies for prevention or reducing negative mental health outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

• Articulate the association between stress and negative health consequences including depression
• Discuss the role of potential protective factors in mediating this association.
• Understand the role of age in determining the types of stressors in different age groups.

Keywords: African American, Depression

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered