Research Activities: Walter M. Ensel

Accomplishments in past 36 months:

Dr. Ensel’s research focuses on stressors and the role played by social resources in the traditional stressor-illness model. He has demonstrated that: psychosocial resources play a significant role in the life-stress process; and the patterns of relations among the forces in the environment (stressors and resources) are related to the specific type of health outcome under consideration. This research has examined both proximal (recent) stressors and distal (past) stressors. The findings show that distal stressors occurring over a 15-year period exert a significant impact on current depressive symptomatology above and beyond that exerted by more proximal stressors. In addition, the inclusion of distal stressors in a revised stress model that also contains social resources (social support) increases the variance explained in depression. Distal stressors were also found to significantly increase variance explained in physical distress (i.e., physical symptoms) and indirectly to affect distress by influencing more recent stressors. Social resources are found to mediate some of these effects. In a recent article in the Journal of Community Psychology, he examined physical fitness as a type of “physical resource” in the life-stress process. Findings show that physical fitness deters distress and also is associated with higher levels of self-esteem, which in turn decrease distress.
As a survey-methodology expert, Ensel is currently working on the “New Immigrants in the Hudson Valley” project with Richard Alba and Nancy Denton. He is especially involved in a telephone survey of native residents to capture their perceptions of, and attitudes towards, new immigrants in the Newburgh and Poughkeepsie areas of New York State.

Externally funded research

Ensel recently completed an NSF grant, “The Stress Process and the Quality of Life” (NSF, PI, 8/1/03 – 7/31/05). This research addressed a gap in the study of the stress process and expanded on two key elements of the stress model: stressors and well-being. In addition, he is the Co-PI on the Russell Sage Foundation grant, “New Immigrants in the Hudson Valley (Richard Alba, PI, 6/1/05-12/31/06). This research examines the ramifications of the spread of immigration to smaller cities of the Hudson Valley and their surrounding areas. The focus is on the experiences of the immigrants and their reception by natives.

Work in progress and pending/planned research projects

Ensel’s current work on stress and well-being attempts to answer three key research questions: (1) how long do stressors have an impact on our health-related quality of life? (2) do these effects vary for the three different domains of quality of life (psychological, physical, and social)? (3) What role do psychosocial resources play in modifying the effects of distal stressors on the three domains? He is planning a proposal for submission to NIH in order to extend the research on distal stressors and quality of life to include age group (life stage) comparisons.

Contribution to the population research program activities

Ensel currently serves as Senior Research Associate and Proposal Specialist in CSDA. He is also a member of the Proposals Committee and has the main responsibility for assisting researchers preparing grant proposals, serving as liaison between CSDA researchers and the Office for Sponsored Programs, and assisting the director of CSDA with preparation of progress reports and renewals. He deserves a considerable part of the credit for the recent 50 percent rise in proposal submissions, which is due in no small measure to his one-on-one work with junior associates especially. He also serves as editor of the CSDA newsletter (CSDA Notes).

Use of infrastructure cores and activities

He has extensively used all of CSDA’s cores in his own research and plans to utilize them in the future as well.