Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 32, No. 6, December 2003, pp. 419–430 ( C  2003) A Longitudinal Analysis of Stress in African American Youth: Predictors and Outcomes of Stress Trajectories Karen H. Schmeelk-Cone 1 and Marc A. Zimmerman 2 Received 17 June, 2002; revised 12 August 2002; accepted 24 November, 2002 Few researchers have studied trajectories of stress over time in relation to psychosocial outcomes and behaviors among adolescents. A sample of African American adolescents were assessed longitudinally on perceived stress, psychological well-being, support, antisocial behaviors, and academic success. Patterns of stress over 4 time points were developed using a cluster-analytic approach. Differences among the trajectory clusters were examined using psychosocial outcomes and behaviors. Adolescents with chronic levels of stress reported more anxiety and depression, engaged in antisocial behaviors, and reported less active coping than youth in other trajectories. Adolescents with low levels of stress over time reported fewer psychological problems, perceived more social support, and were more likely to graduate from high school than those with higher stress levels over time. We also found that an increase in stress coincided with a lack of support and more psychological problems over time. KEY WORDS: adolescents; stress; African-American; longitudinal analysis. INTRODUCTION Psychological stress is generally conceptualized as either an acute state in relation to a life event or a chronic state based on a set of events or circumstances in one’s life (Chrousos and Gold, 1992; Cohen, 1988). Few re- searchers, however, have examined patterns of perceived stress over time among adolescents. It is likely, for ex- ample, that some individuals would report consistently high stress, while others would report consistently low stress, and others would report a changing pattern over 1 Senior Research Associate, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan. Received PhD in Biobehavioral Health at the Pennsylvania State University. In- terested in the relationships between both perceived and physiological measures of stress, and psychological well-being and antisocial behav- ior in adolescents and young adults. 2 Professor, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, and Psychology, University of Michigan. Re- ceived PhD in Psychology at the University of Illinois, Champaign. Research interests include adolescent health and resiliency and em- powerment theory. Also Director of the Prevention Research Center of Michigan, and the Youth Violence Prevention Center. To whom corre- spondence should be addressed at Department of Health, Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health and Psychology, University of Michigan, Michigan; e-mail: marcz@umich.edu. time. Little research has examined these individual differ- ences in patterns of change over time and the psychosocial antecedents or consequences of different stress trajecto- ries. One goal of the present study is to begin a program of research on this issue. Stress and Adolescent Development Stress is a vital health concern that affects many men- tal and physical outcomes at all ages. Several factors in adolescents’ lives may be stressors, including exposure to violence, peer pressure, poverty, and school. A study of the effects of exposure to violence (stressor) on anx- iety indicated that girls with high initial exposure rates had increased difficulty concentrating and boys with low exposure had more problems concentrating (White et al., 1998). Stress is also generally related to problem behaviors in young adolescents (McCabe et al., 1999). Health prob- lems and disease states have also been related to stress, particularly cardiovascular disease. Jackson et al.’s study of adolescents (Jackson et al., 1999) with a family his- tory of hypertension found that African Americans have a greater physiological reactivity to the same stressors as whites. High SES African Americans also have higher di- astolic blood pressure than low SES African Americans, 419 0047-2891/03/1200-0419/0 C  2003 Plenum Publishing Corporation