Associate Professor Hui Liu presents his latest research on Gender Matters: Stress at the Gender Matters interdisciplinary forum on February 26, 2016

1. Gender Matters: Stress
Hui Liu, Department of Sociology
February 26, 2016

2. Gender Matters: Stress
Hui Liu, Department of Sociology
• Men and women are different in exposure to
stress.
• Men and women respond differently to stress.
• The effects of stress on health are different for
men and women.

3. Gender and Exposure to Stress
• Women are more likely than men to
experience childhood trauma and also suffer
higher levels of childhood stress (Lee,
Tsenkova, & Carr 2014; Liu & Umberson 2015)
• Women tend to report higher levels of stress
than do men in multiple domains of
adulthood life (APA 2006; NIMH 2001).

4. Gender and Stress Response
Men: “fight or flight”
Aggressive behaviors
Smoke
Drink alcohol
Socially withdraw
Women: “tend and befriend”
Become more empathetic
Seek network help
Protect self and offspring
Overeat

5. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Controlled
Hypertension
Undiagnosed
Hypertension
Uncontrolled
Hypertension
Decrease in NME W1-W2
Stable NME W1-W2
Increase in NME W1-W2
Effects of Marital Stress on Hypertension,
Women
PredictedOddsofHypertensionW2
Source: Liu, H. and L. Waite. 2014. “Bad Marriage, Broken Heart? Age and Gender Differences in the Link
between Marital Quality and Cardiovascular Risks among Older Adults.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior
55: 403–423.

6. Path Diagram of Childhood Stress, Adulthood Stress
and BMI Trajectories, Women
Baseline
BMI
0.006
0.0070.016*
1.316***
-0.139
-0.003
Childhood
Stress
Baseline
Adulthood
Stress
Changing
Rate of
Adulthood
Stress
Changing
Rate of
BMI
0.103***
-0.282***-0.013**
Sources: Liu, H. and D. Umberson. 2015. “Gender, Stress in Childhood and Adulthood, and Trajectories of Change in
Body Mass.” Social Science & Medicine 139: 61-69.