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Chronic Stress and Toxic Waste: The Role of Uncertainty and Helplessness 1
Author(s) -
Fleming India,
O'Keeffe Mary K.,
Baum Andrew
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1991.tb00512.x
Subject(s) - learned helplessness , feeling , psychology , mediation , hazard , distress , stressor , hazardous waste , social psychology , stress (linguistics) , clinical psychology , chemistry , waste management , linguistics , philosophy , organic chemistry , political science , law , engineering
Residents of an area near a hazardous toxic waste dump and a matched control area 5 miles from any toxic storage site were compared to examine mediation of chronic stress by feelings of uncertainty and helplessness. Self‐report, behavioral, and biochemical measures of stress were collected and were analyzed as a function of whether subjects lived near the toxic hazard as well as in light of feelings of uncertainty and helplessness. Subjects living near the landfill were concerned about the hazard, reported more symptom distress, performed more poorly on a task requiring concentration and motivation, and exhibited higher levels of urinary catecholamines than did control subjects. Feelings of uncertainty were only modestly related to stress, but helplessness was more central to chronic stress among people living near the hazard.