Dissertation Research: Stress and Social Organization in Rural Compared to Urban Communities in Botswana

一些研究支持这样的假设，即非个人化的城市环境比基于亲属的农村环境造成更大的压力。 该项目将通过解决三个问题来完善这一假设：（i）潜在的压力社会生态因素（例如，工资依赖、社区合作、富裕的期望）与城乡连续体的关系;（ii）这些社会生态因素如何影响压力;以及（iii）个体差异（例如，年龄、个性、生活史）影响压力。 这项研究将比较两个博茨瓦纳社区的70名个体：一个人口不到500人的偏远村庄和一个人口15万的哈博罗内中低收入社区。 在为期九个月的实地研究中，参与者观察和关键线人将为更有针对性的方法提供人种学基础。 将在四个单独的访谈中从每个受试者收集关于自变量（社会生态和个体差异）的数据：（1）一小时结构化生活史;（2）一小时结构化社交网络;（3）两小时结构化人格;（4）一个半小时的文化模式。 将在三天内使用每日两次访视评估压力（因变量）和日常经历，以收集唾液样本并观察直接生活史经历。 从博茨瓦纳返回后，将使用放射免疫测定程序分析唾液样本，以确定皮质醇的含量。 分析将使用重复测量设计多元线性回归。

Some studies support the hypothesis that impersonal urban environments cause greater stress than do kin-based rural environments. This project will refine this hypothesis by addressing three questions: (i) how do potentially stressful socioecological factors (e.g., wage dependency, community cooperation, expectations of affluence) relate to the urban-rural continuum; (ii) how do such socioecological factors influence stress; and (iii) how do individual differences (e.g., age, personality, life-history) influence stress. The study will compare 70 individuals in two Botswana communities: a remote village with under 500 population, and a low-middle income neighborhood of Gaborone with 150,000 population. During nine-months field research, participant observation and key informants will provide an ethnographic foundation for more focused methods. Data on independent variables (socioecological and individual differences) will be collected from each subject during four separate interviews: (1) one-hour structured life-history; (2) one-hour structured social networks; (3) two-hours structured personality; and (4) one-and-a-half-hours cultural models. Stress (dependent variable) and daily experience will be assessed during three-days using twice-daily visits to collect samples of saliva and observations of immediate life-history experiences. Saliva samples will be analyzed using a radioimmunoassay procedure to determine content of cortisol on return from Botswana. Analyses will use repeated measures design multivariate linear regression.