Description
Dr. Springfield's Bio:
As a nutritionist, Springfield’s research interests focus on the social, behavioral, and structural determinants of dietary behaviors in African American women and developing community-based interventions to promote health equity. Her most recent work examines relationships between psychological resilience, diet quality, and cardiovascular disease-related outcomes.
Abstract:
Introduction
Resilience – which we define as the “ability to bounce back from stress” – can foster successful aging among older, ethnically diverse women. This study investigated the association between psychological resilience in the Women’s Health Initiative Extension Study (WHI-ES) and three constructs defined by Staudinger’s 2015 model of resilience and aging: (1) perceived stress, (2) non-psychological resources, and (3) psychological resources. We further examined whether the relationship between resilience and key resources differed by race/ethnicity.
Methods
We conducted a secondary analysis on 77,395 women aged 62+ (4,475 African American; 69,448 non-Hispanic White; 1,891 Hispanic/Latina; and 1,581 Asian or Pacific Islanders) who enrolled in the WHI-ES. Participants completed a short version of the Brief Resilience Scale. Guided by Staudinger’s model, we used linear regression analysis to examine the relationships between resilience and resources, adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, and stressful life events. To identify the most significant associations, we applied elastic net regularization to our linear regression models.
Findings
On average, women who reported higher resilience were younger, had fewer stressful life events, and reported access to more resources. African American women reported the highest resilience, followed by Latinas, White, and Asian women. The most important resilience-related resources were psychological, including control beliefs, energy, personal growth, mild-to-no forgetfulness, and experiencing a sense of purpose. Race/ethnicity significantly modified the relationship between resilience and energy (overall interaction p=0.0017).
Conclusion
Increasing resilience among older women may require culturally tailored stress reduction techniques and resource-building strategies, including empowerment to control the important things in life and energy.
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Resources and resilience in Older Women: Implications for health outcomes and culturally tailored interventions.
Dr. Springfield's Bio:
As a nutritionist, Springfield’s research interests focus on the social, behavioral, and structural determinants of dietary behaviors in African American women and developing community-based interventions to promote health equity. Her most recent work examines relationships between psychological resilience, diet quality, and cardiovascular disease-related outcomes.
Abstract:
Introduction
Resilience – which we define as the “ability to bounce back from stress” – can foster successful aging among older, ethnically diverse women. This study investigated the association between psychological resilience in the Women’s Health Initiative Extension Study (WHI-ES) and three constructs defined by Staudinger’s 2015 model of resilience and aging: (1) perceived stress, (2) non-psychological resources, and (3) psychological resources. We further examined whether the relationship between resilience and key resources differed by race/ethnicity.
Methods
We conducted a secondary analysis on 77,395 women aged 62+ (4,475 African American; 69,448 non-Hispanic White; 1,891 Hispanic/Latina; and 1,581 Asian or Pacific Islanders) who enrolled in the WHI-ES. Participants completed a short version of the Brief Resilience Scale. Guided by Staudinger’s model, we used linear regression analysis to examine the relationships between resilience and resources, adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, and stressful life events. To identify the most significant associations, we applied elastic net regularization to our linear regression models.
Findings
On average, women who reported higher resilience were younger, had fewer stressful life events, and reported access to more resources. African American women reported the highest resilience, followed by Latinas, White, and Asian women. The most important resilience-related resources were psychological, including control beliefs, energy, personal growth, mild-to-no forgetfulness, and experiencing a sense of purpose. Race/ethnicity significantly modified the relationship between resilience and energy (overall interaction p=0.0017).
Conclusion
Increasing resilience among older women may require culturally tailored stress reduction techniques and resource-building strategies, including empowerment to control the important things in life and energy.
