Stressors and Pain across the Late-Life Span: Findings from Two Parent Longitudinal Studies of Aging and Health

OBJECTIVE: The objective is to determine associations between stressors and pain across the late-life span. METHOD: Multilevel linear modeling was applied separately to harmonized repeated measures data from the Longitudinal Late-Life Health study (LLLH; n = 342; 13-year interval) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; n = 2959; 8-year interval). RESULTS: In both the LLLH and HRS samples, independent of age, gender, and race, participants with higher average stressor levels experienced more numerous painful conditions and higher pain severity over the study intervals. In the HRS sample, they also experienced higher levels of pain interference. In general, participants’ stressor levels did not influence rates of increase in their pain. Gender and race had few moderating effects on associations between stressors and pain. DISCUSSION: Stressors and pain are associated across the late-life span. Future research should focus on the mediating mechanisms that account for this association and the moderating factors that affect its strength.