The Economy As Stressor: A Sectoral Aanalysis∗

Recent analyses have empirically linked two lines of research which together shed new light on the etiology of adaptation related disorders. The first of these lines, the stressful life events research, suggests a positive association between the self-reported experience of certain events and the onset of subsequent health and behavioral problems. The second has discovered a longitudinal relationship between eco? nomic indicators and such archival health indices as infant and heart disease mortality and institutionalization for behavioral disorders. These research foci have been conceptually linked by the hypothesis that economic fluctuation affects the incidence of stressful life events which in turn influence longitudinal variation in health and be? havioral problems. This hypothesis has been supported by recent em? pirical analyses. These tests, however, did not determine if the inci? dence of life events varied with different sectors of the economy as would be predicted by economic theory. This paper describes the mea? surement of the longitudinal relationship between change in the basic and dependent sectors of the Kansas City metropolitan economy and the number of stressful life events experienced by a sample of residents. I. THE STRESSFUL LIFE EVENTS RESEARCH The literature reporting a positive relationship between the exper? ience of life events which require adaptation and the onset of health and behavioral problems is voluminous and has been reviewed else? where. [Dohrenwend & Dohren wend, 1974] The theoretical model underlying this research assumes that health is an equilibrium state between the physical and social Stressors present in an individual's en? vironment and his or her actual or perceived ability to cope with them. This equilibrium state is supposedly perturbed by changes in the num? ber or intensity of Stressors. Physiological and behavioral adjustment strategies are assumed to put the organism at risk of disease processes and maladaptive behavior.