An investigation into the correlation between stressful life events and major depressive episodes, in relation to gender and race, has found that white men seem to be more likely to suffer from depression, even though they tend to have less stressful life events on average.
Stressful life events and major depressive episodes have been linked in the past, a link that was further evidenced in this new study.
However, when compared to gender and race, the link became more or less prominent, depending on how these variables were changed.
It was found that black people were less prone to suffering depression as a result of stressful life events. However, they were more likely to experience a stressful life event, according to the research.
Men, compared to women, were less likely to suffer a stressful life event, but more likely to suffer with a major episode of depression.
Together, these analyses indicate that white mean are less likely to have had lived through stressful life events, but that they were less able to deal with the stress, and more likely to suffer with depression, when they did occur.
The study used data from the National Survey of American Life from 2003, and involved 5899 American adult participants. It was published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.
Stress can be very detrimental to health, and the mind-body connection is not one to be overlooked. Stress management tools are important for everyone to be able to use to deal with the stressors of their everyday lives.
