Lower Socioeconomic Status, Psychological Distress, and Self-reported Hypertension: A Longitudinal Moderated...

Lower socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with hypertension; however, the mediators and moderators of this association remain understudied. We examined the mediation effect of psychological distress on the link between lower SES and self-reported hypertension and the racial and sex moderation effects.

We analyzed the data collected from 2009 to 2019 among adults from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Lower SES was defined as one of 3 indicators: education ≤12 years, unemployed, or individual annual income <$27,800. Psychological distress was assessed using the Kessler K6 scale. Cox proportional hazard regression was conducted. Mediation analyses were performed using the PROCESS macro.

In the sample of heads of family who did not have self-reported hypertension in 2009 (N = 6,214), the mean age was 41 years, 30.6% were female, 32.9% were African American. The cumulative incidence of self-reported hypertension was 29.8% between 2009 and 2019. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that after controlling for covariates, lower SES (score > 0 vs. score = 0) was associated with self-reported hypertension (hazard ratio = 1.27, 95% confidence interval = 1.14-1.42). SES had indirect effect on self-reported hypertension through psychological distress and the indirect effect (0.02 in females, 0.01 in males, P < 0.05) was moderated by sex but not by race.

The association of SES and self-reported hypertension was mediated by psychological distress and sex moderated the mediation effect. Interventions focused on reducing contributors to SES and psychological stress should be considered to reduce hypertension risk.