The Sense of Control, Cumulative Advantages and Disadvantages from Status Attainment and Stress Moderation

• In Event: 123 - Section on Social Psychology Refereed Roundtable Session (co-sponsored with Section on Sociology of Emotions and Section on Sociology of Mental Health).
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 04. Subjective Well-Being and Stress

Abstract

The present study extends the literature on one of the most important personality traits for health, known as the sense of control (SOC), which governs two path ways that link childhood environments and adult health: status attainment and stress moderation. The SOC influences health by inducing the accumulation and mobilization of necessary resources (e.g., health knowledge). In addition, cumulative exposure to stress over the life course can be buffered through a SOC over life, directly interacting with the individual health trajectory. To articulate these ideas, the present study addresses the following questions: 1) Does age at change in the SOC matter to health? 2) How does the individual trajectory of the SOC determine important life outcomes with significant health consequences? ; 3) Is change in perceived stress a function of concurrent change in the SOC throughout the life course? We address these questions by drawing from several data sources: The Aging, Status and Sense of Control (ASSC), and The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79). With latent change score modeling (LCSM), the first question is addressed by estimating and comparing the effect size of age-specific latent change in the SOC on health. The second question adds educational attainment and late career outcomes between the SOC trajectory and health. The third question is addressed by modeling dual latent change between perceived stress and the SOC. Preliminary results are supportive to my expectations, suggesting the two significant pathways wherein the SOC generates cumulative advantages and disadvantages to health

Author

• Katsuya Oi, The Pennsylvania State University