Fit One, Fit All? A Critical Evaluation of the Stress Process Model Among African-American Young Adults

• In Event: 343 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 12. Health in Adolescence and Early Adulthood

Abstract

The stress process model has become a leading framework for understanding social variations in mental health. Previous studies provide evidence that this model adequately explains variations in mental health among preponderantly white adult samples, and some evidence suggests it accounts for racial differences in depressive symptoms. However, the question of its utility for understanding variations in mental health among African Americans, particularly those experiencing major life transitions, remains uncertain. The objectives of this paper are twofold: 1) evaluate the utility of the stress process model in explaining variations in depressive symptomatology within African Americans during a critical stage of the life course; and 2) examine intra-group heterogeneity in the model’s interrelationships. Using a sample of young adult African Americans, results indicate that model elements independently and collectively contribute to the prediction of depressive symptoms. Findings also suggest, however, that the interrelations among traditional stress process model elements may not be equally applicable to African Americans. The model explains less variation in depressive symptoms for African American young adults than for white young adults, and the relationships among model elements are not as strong for African Americans compared to their white counterparts. Furthermore, the significance and magnitude of relationships within the model vary for subgroups of African Americans. These findings suggest that how the stress process model operates differs along racial lines as well as within racial groups. The available evidence therefore suggests a need for sociologists to rethink the generalizability of this prominent paradigm in the sociology of mental health.

Author

• Taylor Hargrove, Vanderbilt University