JOB STRESS, SOCIAL SUPPORT AND HEALTH AMONGST SHRIMP FISHERMEN

Samples of shrimp fishermen (n = 211) and land-based workers (n = 99) drawn from a US Gulf Coast community are compared with regard to their degree of exposure to occupational stressors, level of social support , and extent of non-clinical depression and somatization. As hypothesi zed, shrimp fishermen report significantly greater levels of stressor exposure, support, depression and somatization at the zero-order level . At the multivariate level, with several covariates controlled, shrim pers report greater levels of stressor exposure, support and somatizat ion. A model of the stress process which hypothesizes positive effects of stressors, and direct and indirect negative effects of social supp ort on distress, is evaluated for each group. Occupational stressors p redict as hypothesized, but social support does not. An explanation is offered which emphasizes the migratory character of shrimping as an o ccupation.