Abstract 13406: Psychosocial Stress, Life Satisfaction, And Hypertension: A Mediation Analysis

Abstract

Background: Disparities in hypertension control remain an important issue in public health. Evidence indicates that psychosocial factors are associated with onset and trajectory of hypertension. However, mediators of the association between psychosocial factors and hypertension are understudied. The objective of this study is to explore the mediating effect of life satisfaction on the link between psychosocial stress and hypertension. Method: This is a secondary analysis of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) with the 2019 wave of 26,084 adults. Hypertension was assessed with the question: “Has a doctor or other health professional ever told you that you had high blood pressure or hypertension?” Psychosocial stress was assessed by using the K-6 Non-Specific Psychological Distress Scale developed by Dr. Ronald Kessler with 6 items. Participants were asked to rate their life satisfaction with a Likert-type question. Multiple logistic regression and mediation analysis were performed. Results: The mean age of this sample was 45 years and 27.5% were female. Results showed that participants with a higher level of psychosocial stress had a lower proportion of life satisfaction (26.3% vs. 70.7%, p<0.01) and a higher proportion of hypertension (42.5% vs. 28.6%, p<0.01) compared to those with a lower level of psychosocial stress. Participants who rated their life satisfied had a lower proportion of hypertension (27.4% vs. 32.9%, p<0.01) compared to those who rated their life not satisfied. After controlling for covariates, regression results showed that psychosocial stress and life satisfaction were associated with hypertension independently. The indirect effect of psychosocial stress on hypertension through life satisfaction was significant (p<0.01). Conclusions: Psychosocial stress was significantly associated with hypertension and this effect was partially mediated by life satisfaction. Interventions to decrease psychosocial stress that also emphasize improvements in life satisfaction may be needed to reduce the impact on hypertension.