Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 10, 2026

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents
Published on: July 10, 2017
Depressive Symptom Trajectories, Aging-Related Stress, and Sexual Minority Stress Among Midlife and Older Gay Men:
Richard G Wight1, Frederick Harig2, Carol S Aneshensel2
1Department of Community Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA rwight@ucla.edu.
Abstract:
We concatenate 28 years of historical depressive symptoms data from a longitudinal cohort study of U.S. gay men who are now midlife and older (n = 312), with newly collected survey data to analyze trajectories of depressive symptomatology over time and their impact on associations between current stress and depressive symptoms. Symptoms are high over time, on average, and follow multiple trajectories. Aging-related stress, persistent life-course sexual minority stress, and increasing sexual minority stress are positively associated with depressive symptoms, net of symptom trajectories. Men who had experienced elevated and increasing trajectories of depressive symptoms are less susceptible to the damaging effects of aging-related stress than those who experienced a decrease in symptoms over time. Intervention efforts aimed at assisting gay men as they age should take into account life-course depressive symptom histories to appropriately contextualize the health effects of current social stressors.
Related Concept Videos
Stress and Mental Health
Individuals with depression often experience challenges in both their personal and professional...
Introduction to Stress and Lifestyle
Erikson's Theory on Socioemotional Development during Adulthood
Intimacy Versus Isolation in Early Adulthood
Individuals in early...
Psychological Responses to Stress
Long-term Depression
Long-term Depression
Calcium Ion Concentration Mechanism
If over...

