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. 2025 Jan 4;59(1):kaae086.
doi: 10.1093/abm/kaae086.

Changes in daily stress reactivity and changes in physical health across 18 years of adulthood

Jonathan Rush  1 , Susan T Charles  2 , Emily C Willroth  3 , Eric S Cerino  4 , Jennifer R Piazza  5 , David M Almeida  6
Affiliations

Changes in daily stress reactivity and changes in physical health across 18 years of adulthood

Jonathan Rush et al. Ann Behav Med. .

Abstract

Background: Stress plays a pivotal role in physical health. Although many studies have linked stress reactivity (daily within-person associations between stress exposure and negative affect) to physical health outcomes, we know surprisingly little about how changes in stress reactivity are related to changes in physical health.

Purpose: The current study examines how change in stress reactivity over 18 years is related to changes in functional health and chronic health conditions.

Methods: Three measurement bursts from the National Study of Daily Experiences (N = 2880; 55% female) each included daily measures of stressor exposure and negative affect across 8 consecutive days, yielding 33 944 days of data across 18 years of adulthood. At each wave, participants reported their functional health limitations (ie, basic activities of daily living [ADL] and instrumental activities of daily living [IADL]) and chronic health conditions. Multilevel structural equation models simultaneously modeled stress reactivity at Level 1, longitudinal changes in stress reactivity at Level 2, and the association between changes in stress reactivity and changes in functional limitations and chronic conditions at Level 3.

Results: Higher levels of stress reactivity at baseline were associated with more functional health limitations 18 years later (ADLs: Est. = 0.90, P = .001; IADLs: Est. = 1.78, P < .001). Furthermore, individuals who increased more in their stress reactivity across the 18-year period also showed greater increases in their functional health limitations (ADLs: Est. = 4.02, P = .017; IADLs: Est. = 5.74, P < .001) and chronic conditions (Est. = 11.17, P = .008).

Conclusions: These findings highlight the strong connection between health and stress in daily life, and how they travel together across adulthood.

Keywords: chronic conditions; daily diary; functional health; multilevel SEM; stressor reactivity.

Plain language summary

Emotional reactivity to minor daily stressors has been shown to play a role in physical health, where individuals who are more reactive tend to also have poorer health. However, emotional reactivity to stress also changes across the lifespan with some people becoming more reactive over time and others becoming less reactive or remaining stable. The current study examines how change in stress reactivity over 18 years of adulthood is related to changes in functional health and chronic health conditions. Using data from the National Study of Daily Experiences, emotional responses to daily stressors were measured in 2880 individuals, capturing 33 944 days of data across 18 years of adulthood. Findings from this study indicate that individuals who were initially more reactive to daily stressors had greater functional health limitations 18 years later. Importantly, individuals who became more emotionally reactive to daily stressors across the 18-year period also experienced greater increases in their functional health limitations and number of chronic health conditions compared to individuals who were stable or became less emotionally reactive to daily stressors. These findings highlight the strong connection between health and stress in daily life, and how they travel together across adulthood.

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Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study design. All participants completed Wave 1. A sub-sample completed the National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE) daily assessments (2880 participants completed at least one of Burst 1, 2, or 3). Abbreviations: ADL, activities of daily living; Chronic cond, number of chronic conditions; IADL, instrumental activities of daily living; NA, negative affect.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Estimated 3-level structural equation model predicting longitudinal changes in activities of daily living (ADLs). Daily assessments are nested within-bursts and bursts of measurements are nested within people. Ovals indicate variables were estimated within the model. Black dots indicate that pathway was modeled as a random slope. Note: Values are unstandardized coefficients. Dotted paths are non-significant, estimated values for these paths are omitted from display (ps > .05). All other paths (italicized values) are statistically significant, ps < .05. Abbreviations: Educ, education; I_ADL, ADL intercept centered at wave 3; NA, negative affect; stress, stress day; S_ADL, ADL slope.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
(A) Change in within-person association between stress and NA (ie, stress reactivity) across 3 bursts (18 years). Black square (solid line) represents average within-person association between stress and NA and change in average within-person association across bursts (Δstress reactivity = −0.02 per 10 years, P < .001). Colored dotted lines represent individual participants with varying strengths of within-person association within and across bursts. Lines of the same color represent same individual across bursts. (B) Change in functional health limitations (IADL) across 3 waves (18 years). The thick solid (red) line represents average change in IADLs across waves (slope = 0.39 per 10 years, P < .001). The thick dashed (blue) line represents change in IADLs for individual who increased slightly in stress reactivity (Δstress reactivity = +0.01). The thin black lines represent individual trajectories.
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