March 10, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted ongoing stresses for women in balancing paid work and social stressors. According to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA) on February 23, 2021, alleviating stress may have an important role in the prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) in women, especially for women who experience work- and home-related stress.

The research was led by Conglong Wang, PhD in Epidemiology, an alum of the doctoral program at the Dornsife School of Public Health (DSPH), and multiple Drexel University researchers were co- authors of the publication, including Félice Lê‐Scherban, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics; Jennifer Taylor, PhD, MPH, CPPS, Arthur L. and Joanne B. Frank professor of environmental and occupational health; Lucy Robinson, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics; Yvonne Michael, ScD, SM, associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, each in the DSPH, and David Gefen, PhD, provost distinguished research professor at the LeBow College of Business.

Researchers assessed associations of psychosocial stressors, stressful life occurrences, job strain, and social strain, with risk for CHD using data from a large national cohort of women, the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI‐OS).

High stressful life events score was associated with a 12 percent increased CHD risk, and high social strain was associated with a 9 percent increased CHD risk. Women with high social strain and job strain experienced a 21 percent increased CHD risk.

The findings of this study are consistent with a growing public health concern of the impacts of stress on general wellbeing and risk of heart disease. Addressing compounding stressors and developing culturally competent prevention strategies may help reduce CHD risk among women.

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In addition to the published research, a commentary in JAHA highlighted the importance of this research.