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Race/ethnic differences in adult mortality: The role of perceived stress and health behaviors

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  • Krueger, Patrick M.
  • Saint Onge, Jarron M.
  • Chang, Virginia W.

Abstract

We examine the role of perceived stress and health behaviors (i.e., cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, sleep duration) in shaping differential mortality among whites, blacks, and Hispanics. We use data from the 1990 National Health Interview Survey (N = 38,891), a nationally representative sample of United States adults, to model prospective mortality through 2006. Our first aim examines whether unhealthy behaviors and perceived stress mediate race/ethnic disparities in mortality. The black disadvantage in mortality, relative to whites, closes after adjusting for socioeconomic status (SES), but re-emerges after adjusting for the lower smoking levels among blacks. After adjusting for SES, Hispanics have slightly lower mortality than whites; that advantage increases after adjusting for the greater physical inactivity among Hispanics, but closes after adjusting for their lower smoking levels. Perceived stress, sleep duration, and alcohol consumption do not mediate race/ethnic disparities in mortality. Our second aim tests competing hypotheses about race/ethnic differences in the relationships among unhealthy behaviors, perceived stress, and mortality. The social vulnerability hypothesis predicts that unhealthy behaviors and high stress levels will be more harmful for race/ethnic minorities. In contrast, the Blaxter (1990) hypothesis predicts that unhealthy lifestyles will be less harmful for disadvantaged groups. Consistent with the social vulnerability perspective, smoking is more harmful for blacks than for whites. But consistent with the Blaxter hypothesis, compared to whites, current smoking has a weaker relationship with mortality for Hispanics, and low or high levels of alcohol consumption, high levels of physical inactivity, and short or long sleep hours have weaker relationships with mortality for blacks.

Suggested Citation

  • Krueger, Patrick M. & Saint Onge, Jarron M. & Chang, Virginia W., 2011. "Race/ethnic differences in adult mortality: The role of perceived stress and health behaviors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(9), pages 1312-1322.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:73:y:2011:i:9:p:1312-1322
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.08.007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Geronimus, A.T. & Neidert, L.J. & Bound, J., 1993. "Age patterns of smoking in US Black and White women of childbearing age," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 83(9), pages 1258-1264.
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    7. Sudano, Joseph J. & Baker, David W., 2006. "Explaining US racial/ethnic disparities in health declines and mortality in late middle age: The roles of socioeconomic status, health behaviors, and health insurance," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 909-922, February.
    8. Farmer, Melissa M. & Ferraro, Kenneth F., 2005. "Are racial disparities in health conditional on socioeconomic status?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 191-204, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Richard Rogers & Patrick Krueger & Richard Miech & Elizabeth Lawrence & Robert Kemp, 2013. "Nondrinker Mortality Risk in the United States," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(3), pages 325-352, June.
    2. Green, Tiffany L. & Hamilton, Tod G., 2013. "Beyond black and white: Color and mortality in post-reconstruction era North Carolina," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 148-159.

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