Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes. Individuals with MetS are twice as likely to develop CVD (Gami et al., 2007; Mottillo et al., 2010) and up to 5 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes (Ford et al., 2008). Common features of MetS include abdominal adiposity, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia (Grundy et al., 2005a). In 2012, a nationally representative sample demonstrated the prevalence of MetS in the U.S. was 34.7%, with slightly higher rates among African Americans (AA; 35.5%) than the general population (Aguilar et al., 2015). These rates are consistent with previously published MetS prevalence in the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) with 28.3–۳۶٫۴% of participants having MetS (Gurka et al., 2016). While development of MetS is attributed to known risk factors (e.g., poor diet, physical inactivity, smoking, low education) (Cameron et al., 2004; Irwin et al., 2002), adverse psychosocial factors may also contribute to MetS development and severity. Previously published JHS work indicated AA women with depression had worse MetS severity over an 8-year period relative to AA women who were not depressed (Gurka et al., 2016). Additionally, chronic stress has been identified as a possible risk factor for MetS, as it has been posited that psychosocial stress and neuroendocrine activation exert causal effects on MetS development (Björntorp, 1996; Hjemdahl, 2002; Kaur, 2014; Rosmond, 2005). For example, the “Bjorntorp hypothesis” states that chronic stress can activate the HPA axis, which increases cortisol levels leading to an increase in visceral fat deposition, which in turn promotes development of MetS (Björntorp, 1996,2001). Yet, our group and others have demonstrated that AA tend to have less visceral adiposity relative to their non-Hispanic white counterparts (Cardel et al., 2011; Wagner and Heyward, 2000). Thus, there may be additional factors driving development of MetS in AA beyond that of excess visceral adiposity. The “Weathering Hypothesis” suggests that the health of AA deteriorates prematurely relative to non-Hispanic whites as a result of chronic exposure to social and environmental risk factors (Das, 2013; Thorpe et al., 2016). However, limited research has been conducted investigating the influence of psychosocial stressors on MetS outcomes in large samples of AA. Additionally, most research has focused on development or incidence, rather than severity, of MetS resulting from psychosocial stressors. Thus, this study used JHS data to examine the associations of psychosocial stressors with severity of MetS among AA adults and whether relationships differed by sex. The hypothesis was that AA adults, particularly women, would have a higher MetS severity and that these relationships would be associated with psychosocial stressors.