Who's Stressed? Distributions of Psychological Stress in the United States in Probability Samples from 1983, 2006, and 2009¹

TLDR

Psychological stress was measured in three nationally representative surveys conducted in 1983, 2006, and 2009. Across all surveys, women, younger adults, and those with lower education and income reported higher stress, while unemployed individuals had the highest levels and retirees the lowest; these associations were independent of race/ethnicity and minority differences vanished after adjustment; stress increased only slightly during the 2008–2009 downturn, except for middle‑aged, college‑educated White men with full‑time employment, highlighting greater stress‑related health risks for women, younger adults, low‑SES groups, and men facing income loss.

Abstract

Psychological stress was assessed in 3 national surveys administered in 1983, 2006, and 2009. In all 3 surveys, stress was higher among women than men; and increased with decreasing age, education, and income. Unemployed persons reported high levels of stress, while the retired reported low levels. All associations were independent of one another and of race/ethnicity. Although minorities generally reported more stress than Whites, these differences lost significance when adjusted for the other demographics. Stress increased little in response to the 2008–2009 economic downturn, except among middle‐aged, college‐educated White men with full‐time employment. These data suggest greater stress‐related health risks among women, younger adults, those of lower socioeconomic status, and men potentially subject to substantial losses of income and wealth.