The Stress Process: An Appreciation of Leonard I. Pearlin

Abstract For more than 60 years, Leonard I. Pearlin's contributions to theory and research fundamentally shaped the sociology of mental health, medical sociology, and the sociology of aging and the life course. He died last year, and this article is an expression of appreciation for the person and his work as expressed by his colleagues, students, and friends. The testimonials collected here explain his seminal work and why it altered the field, describe how his intellectual leadership affected our own work, attest to his generous mentoring of students and young academics, and try to convey his character and why he has engendered such affection. The material quoted from selected Pearlin publications articulates most clearly why this work continues to resonate with sociologists concerned with the impact of society on the mental health of its members. Keywords stress process, stress proliferation, life course Leonard I. Pearlin created a body of work that has set the course for the sociological study of stress since its inception and did so with a warmth and grace equal to the preeminence of his scholarship, qualities that endeared him to his colleagues. He died July 23, 2014, at the age of 89 after a brief illness. For more than 60 years, his contributions to theory and research have fundamentally shaped the sociology of mental health, medical sociology, and the sociology of aging and the life course. In this article, his colleagues explain the seminal impact of his work on the field and their own scholarship and express their appreciation, esteem, and affection

Urban Neighborhood Context and Change in Depressive Symptoms in Late Life

Objectives. This study examines associations between urban neighborhood sociodemographic characteristics and change over time in late life depressive symptoms. Methods. Survey data are from three waves (1993, 1995, and 1998) of the Study of Assets and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD), a U.S. national probability sample of noninstitutionalized persons aged 70 or older in 1993. Neighborhoods are 1990 U.S. Census tracts. Hierarchical linear regression is used to estimate multilevel models. Results. The average change over time in depressive symptoms varies significantly across urban neighborhoods. Change in depressive symptoms is significantly associated with neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage and ethnic composition in unadjusted models, but not in models that control for individual-level characteristics. Discussion. Findings indicate that apparent neighborhood-level effects on change in depressive symptoms over time among urban-dwelling older adults reflect, for the most part, differences in characteristics of the neighborhood residents

Urban Neighborhood Context and Mortality in Late Life

Objective: To examine the contextual effects of urban neighborhood characteristics on all-cause mortality among adults aged 70 years and older. Methods: Survey data are from the Study of Assets and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD), a 1993 U.S. national probability sample of noninstitutionalized persons born in 1923 or earlier. Death is assessed between the baseline assessment (1993) and the first follow-up interview (1995). Neighborhood data are from the 1990 Census. Hierarchical logistic regression is used to estimate multilevel models. Results: In multilevel models, the effects of neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage were not significantly associated with 2-year all-cause mortality, net of individuallevel variables. The log odds of dying between the two time points are higher in high proportion Hispanic neighborhoods, net of individual-level socio-demographic variables, but this effect is partly mediated by individual-level health variables. The log odds of dying are significantly (p < 0.05) lower in affluent neighborhoods, controlling for all individual-level variables, including potential health mediators, and controlling for proportion Hispanic. Discussion: There are survival-related benefits of living in an affluent urban neighborhood, which we posit may be manifest through the diffusion of innovations in health care and health promotion activities in these areas

Urban Neighborhood Context and Mortality in Late Life

Objective: To examine the contextual effects of urban neighborhood characteristics on all-cause mortality among adults aged 70 years and older. Methods: Survey data are from the Study of Assets and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD), a 1993 U.S. national probability sample of noninstitutionalized persons born in 1923 or earlier. Death is assessed between the baseline assessment (1993) and the first follow-up interview (1995). Neighborhood data are from the 1990 Census. Hierarchical logistic regression is used to estimate multilevel models. Results: In multilevel models, the effects of neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage were not significantly associated with 2-year all-cause mortality, net of individuallevel variables. The log odds of dying between the two time points are higher in high proportion Hispanic neighborhoods, net of individual-level socio-demographic variables, but this effect is partly mediated by individual-level health variables. The log odds of dying are significantly (p < 0.05) lower in affluent neighborhoods, controlling for all individual-level variables, including potential health mediators, and controlling for proportion Hispanic. Discussion: There are survival-related benefits of living in an affluent urban neighborhood, which we posit may be manifest through the diffusion of innovations in health care and health promotion activities in these areas

Depressive Symptom Trajectories, Aging-Related Stress, and Sexual Minority Stress Among Midlife and Older Gay Men

We concatenate 28 years of historical depressive symptoms data from a longitudinal cohort study of U.S. gay men who are now midlife and older (n = 312), with newly collected survey data to analyze trajectories of depressive symptomatology over time and their impact on associations between current stress and depressive symptoms. Symptoms are high over time, on average, and follow multiple trajectories. Aging-related stress, persistent life-course sexual minority stress, and increasing sexual minority stress are positively associated with depressive symptoms, net of symptom trajectories. Men who had experienced elevated and increasing trajectories of depressive symptoms are less susceptible to the damaging effects of aging-related stress than those who experienced a decrease in symptoms over time. Intervention efforts aimed at assisting gay men as they age should take into account life-course depressive symptom histories to appropriately contextualize the health effects of current social stressors

The physical costs of AIDS caregiving

Informal care has become an increasingly important element in the delivery of health and social services to people living with HIV disease or AIDS (PWAs), yet the provision of such care does not come without costs to the caregiver. Instead, caregiving imposes burdens that may compromise caregiver health. Common ailments among AIDS caregivers were examined with two waves of data from a diverse sample of informal care providers in Los Angeles and San Francisco (N = 642). Symptoms of poor physical health are markedly present among AIDS caregivers and are significantly associated with care-related demands and stressors. This stress and health relationship varies significantly between caregivers who are HIV seropositive and those who are seronegative. Care-related effects are more direct among seronegative caregivers who are perhaps less overwhelmed with the maintenance of their own health. For all caregivers studied, level of depression and prior physical health are strong correlates of these physical ailments. Implications of these results are discussed.AIDS caregiving stress health