Cognitive appraisal of stress and health status of wage working and nonwage working women in Jordan

This cross-sectional correlation study addresses the stress appraisal of 93 Jordanian wage working and nonwage working single and married women in Jordan and the relationship of appraised stress to their physical and psychological health. Data were collected using a demographic interview guide that included a Likert-type scale addressing perceived global social stress, the Cornell Medical Index (CMI), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Perceived stress had no significant relations with physical and emotional health as measured by the PSS, but significant relations were found between social stress and indicators of health. In fact, social stress was the single most significant predictor of overall health, physical health, and emotional health. The findings on the health profile of participants and social stress have important implications for future research and for illness prevention and health promotion initiatives.