How Stress Pile-Up Shapes Sleep, Health, and Cortisol in Families

In episode 97, I talk with Dr. Kimberly French about her recent study on how daily stressor pile-up impacts parents’ and adolescents’ health, sleep, and cortisol patterns. We discuss surprising findings from the Work, Family, and Health Network study — including that as stress piles up, sleep first gets shorter, but at extreme levels, both parents and teens actually start sleeping more. Dr. French explains how stress crosses over between parents and teens, what these patterns mean for family well-being, and how to think about stress pile-up in daily life.French, K. A., Smith, C. E., Lee, S., & Chen, Z. (2025). Can allostatic load cross over? Short-term work and nonwork stressor pile-up on parent and adolescent diurnal cortisol, physical symptoms, and sleep. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001284https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-12317-001 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit healthywork.substack.com