Does cumulative psychosocial stress explain frailty disparities in community-dwelling older adults?

•The overall prevalence of frailty in community-dwelling older adults was 22%.•Frailty disparities exist across structural determinants (gender, race, ethnicity, and education). Females, older-adults who identify as non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic, and those with less education had higher odds of frailty than males, non-Hispanic White, and those with high education.•The cross-sectional examination of the association between cumulative psychosocial stress and frailty showed that greater cumulative psychosocial stress was cross-sectionally associated with higher odds of frailty.•Cumulative psychosocial stress did not mediate the relationship between structural determinants and frailty.•Frailty is multifactorial such that structural determinants and psychosocial stressors independently influence frailty. Frailty is a leading predictor of adverse outcomes in older adults. Although disparities in frailty are well-documented, it is unclear whether psychosocial stressors explain these disparities. This study aimed to examine the potential mediating role of psychosocial stress. This cross-sectional study included 7,679 community-dwelling older adults (≥ 65) from Health and Retirement Study in the US (2006 and 2008). We used six dichotomized psychosocial stressors: a) loneliness, b) discrimination, c) financial strain, d) low subjective status, e) poor neighborhood cohesion, and f) traumatic life events to compute cumulative psychosocial stress. The Fried frailty phenotype defined frailty based on three features: slowness, poor strength, weight loss, fatigue, and low physical activity. Multivariable regressions were used to examine the structural determinants (gender, education, race, and ethnicity) frailty relationship and test whether cumulative psychosocial stress has a mediating role. The frailty prevalence was 22%. Females, Hispanics, Blacks, and those with less education had higher odds of frailty (p