Hardships, deprivations, and unequal access to social resources show race-linked patterns from infancy onward. Differential risk factors can both reduce the chances of surviving into old age (Gee, 1989) and contribute to unfavorable economic and health status in old age. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An elderly AfricanAmerican, for example, may experience anxiety as the result of a lifetime of prejudice and discrimination, but also because of stress and deprivation in the immediate situation (Barresi, 1987).
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Jackson (1993) suggests, socioeconomic class may be the major determinant of the risk factors that have been found associated with race.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People in the lower socioeconomic brackets are at greater risk for health and other problems whatever their race. Furthermore, it is not only the differential sources of anxiety that seem to be race-linked, but there is also a tendency to focus on middle-class whites in research, educational, and clinical
contacts.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, an elderly African-American man of rural Southern origins was a candidate for independent living after several years in a New England geriatric facility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was seen by a psychologist who recognized that some of Mr. S.\u2019s concerns were identical with those of other (white) residents who had faced the same challenge. However, Mr. S. also had a more distinctive source of anxiety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n