A Strategy for Studying Differential Vulnerability to the Psychological Consequences of Stress

It is argued that the systematic existence of impact differentials helps explain the commonly observed relationships between certain social statuses and psychological distress.

Abstract

It is important to examine the possibility .that relationships between commonly studied status indicators and psychological distress indicators are due, in part or wholly, to differences in the impacts of comparable stressor events and situations on people in different status categories. This paper describes and illustrates a strategy for doing this and argues that the systematic existence of impact differentials helps explain the commonly observed relationships between certain social statuses and psychological distress.