Classical sociological theory, evolutionary psychology, and mental health

Stressful life events and chronic stressors are typically the proximate sources of psychological distress (Avison & Turner, 1988; Brown, 2002; Dohrenwend, 2000; Turner, 2003). Yet, these stressors, as well as the coping resources that people use to deal with them, are themselves often the consequences of social locations that reflect broader patterns of social organization. One central goal of the sociology of mental health is to show how psychological well-being and distress result from such basic social arrangements and large-scale structural processes (Pearlin, 1989; Aneshensel, 1992). Few studies, however, illustrate how more proximate causes of distress and the demographic characteristics that produce variation in them are instances of more general dimensions of social life (Link & Phelan, 1995).