Individual viewpoints of stressful life events.

Large sample average ratings of the amount of life change caused by experiencing selected events (e.g., marriage, loss of job, and change of residence) have become a popular means for indexing levels of stress in studies relating social factors to physical disease and psychiatric disability. The present investigation assessed whether change alone provides an adequate representation of the salient qualities of life events and whether individuals differ systematically in their perceptions of qualitative features of events. A 3-mode factor analysis was applied to ratings by 85 undergraduates of 44 events on 6 bipolar scales. Three S factors, 3 event factors, and 3 scale factors were obtained, with the pattern of interrelations among the 3 sets of factors indicating that different types of individuals rated qualities of events in different ways. It is concluded that important characteristics of events may vary widely among individuals and that future assessment of the properties of life stress be both multidimensional and specific for individuals. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative affectivity and the reporting of stressful life events.

Replicated D. T. Lykken's study (see record 1968-18058-001) to resolve the conflict between the findings of S. R. Maddi et al (see record 1987-22446-001) and those of D. H. Schroeder and P. T. Costa (see record 1984-23643-001) regarding the impact of negative affectivity (NA; i.e., neuroticism) contaminated life event items on observed life event–illness relationships. Among 330 managers and professionals, NA-contaminated items correlated significantly with 3 measures of well-being (depression, life satisfaction, and physical symptoms). In 2 of 3 cases, correlations between contaminated items and well-being measures were significantly different from correlations between uncontaminated items and well-being indicators. Prior life event–well-being findings may be inflated considerably by the use of NA-contaminated events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two-stage screening for stressful life events and chronic difficulties.

93 adult women completed a depression scale and a checklist on stressful life events and were interviewed 1 wk later in their homes. With the interview as the criterion, the checklist assessed stressful life events with a sensitivity of .89 and a specificity of .57. The corresponding figures for the assessment of chronic difficulties were .86 and .55. For the total sample, sensitivity and specificity were .88 and .67 for life events and .75 and .75 for chronic difficulties. Interview and checklist techniques were highly correlated when a severe life event had not occurred (negative predictive value), but events marked on the checklist had a 20–27% correspondence to events related in the interview (positive predictive value). (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial development and stressful life events among religious professionals.

Within the framework of the theory of adult male psychosocial development outlined by D. J. Levinson et al (1978), the present study explored the relationship between ego identity, commitment age, and recent life change stress among 272 27–34 yr old Roman Catholic religious professional men. Instruments included the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. A religious life experience survey was developed to measure recent life-change stress. As predicted, Ss with higher levels of ego identity characterized recent life change less negatively; those with lower levels judged it to be more noxious. Commitment age was not related to the percentage of recent life changes characterized as negative or to ego identity level. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that ego identity contributed modestly but significantly to the percentage of recent life change characterized as negative. Findings indicate that a well-developed identity structure is both a stable frame of reference and a mediator of stressful life events, and that a poorly developed sense of identity is more closely related to Ss rating recent life change events as having a negative impact on their lives. (57 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological androgyny and attitudes toward feminism.

Administered the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and Spence and Helm Attitudes toward Women Scale to 50 male and 50 female undergraduates. Only males with a preference for the feminine sex role differed from the other sex and level-of-androgyny groups, in that they exhibited traditional, conservative attitudes toward the rights and roles of women in contemporary society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A prospective study of stressful life events and schizophrenic relapse.

In this prospective, longitudinal study, 11 recent-onset schizophrenic outpatients who met criteria for psychotic relapse or significant psychotic exacerbation during a 1-year period of standardized maintenance medication, and 19 patients who did not relapse during this follow-up period, were interviewed monthly regarding life events. As hypothesized, for relapsing patients, a significantly higher number of independent life events (those not the result of symptomatology or personal influence) occurred in the month preceding relapse. This increase was apparent relative to either the analogous month of a "nonrelapse" period in the same patient or the average number of independent events per month during a 1-year standardized medication period for nonrelapsing patients. The methodological advances of this design as well as the consistency of these findings with those of previous retrospective studies supports the hypothesis that life events may sometimes "trigger" schizophrenic episodes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of stressful life events and depressive symptoms during adolescence.

This 4-yr longitudinal study of 191 girls and 185 boys living in intact families in the rural Midwest examines the trajectories of life events and depressive symptoms in adolescence. The trajectories of depressive symptoms differ between boys and girls. Compared with boys, girls experienced a greater number of depressive symptoms after age 13. Changes in uncontrollable events are associated with the increases in girls' but not boys' depressive symptoms. Latent growth curve analyses show that, over 4 yrs, (1) depressive symptoms for girls changed according to a curvilinear pattern that is associated with changes in stressful events; (2) the level of depressive symptoms is related to the level of life events for both boys and girls; and (3) change in depressive symptoms is significantly related to change in stressful events only for girls. Girls living with less supportive mothers are more vulnerable to negative life changes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depressed and nondepressed inpatients' cognitions of hypothetical events, experimental tasks, and stressful life events.

40 depressed (mean age 40 yrs) and 30 nondepressed (mean age 38 yrs 3 mo) inpatients' attributions and other cognitions were assessed for 3 types of situations: stressful life events (the Beck Depression Inventory), hypothetical events (Attributional Styles Questionnaire), and experimental (noise-escape) tasks. Depressed Ss manifested a greater depressive attributional style in response to stressful life events but did not differ from nondepressed Ss in their attributions of hypothetical events or experimental tasks. Correlations assessing cross-situational consistency of attributions were largely nonsignificant. Corrections for attenuation and analyses of trained evaluators' ratings of Ss' attributions did not substantially alter the pattern of results. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality, stressful life events, and treatment response in major depression.

The current study examined whether the personality traits of self-criticism or dependency moderated the effect of stressful life events on treatment response. Depressed outpatients (N = 113) were randomized to 16 weeks of cognitive–behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, or antidepressant medication (ADM). Stressful life events were assessed with the Bedford College Life Events and Difficulties Schedule. Severe events reported during or immediately prior to treatment predicted poor response in the ADM condition but not in the psychotherapy conditions. In contrast, nonsevere life events experienced prior to onset predicted superior response to treatment. Further, self-criticism moderated the relation of severe life events to outcome across conditions, such that in the presence of severe stress those high in self-criticism were less likely to respond to treatment than were those low in self-criticism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of stressful life events and depression: A test of attributional models.

Tested the attributional models of depression proposed by L. Y. Abramson et al (see record 1979-00305-001), using 278 undergraduates who had recently experienced a stressful event and 51 55–79 yr old adults who sought treatment for problems with depression. Three questions were addressed: (a) the validity of the hypothesized independent and direction relation between each of the dimensions of internality, stability, controllability, intentionality, and globality and depression; (b) the causal relation between attributions and depression in a 2-mo prospective study; and (c) evaluation of the model on the 2 disparate samples. Ss were administered a battery of depression measures; students completed an attribution questionnaire, while adults completed a measure of life stress attributions. Causal modeling statistical procedures were applied to both the question of concurrent relations and causal relations between cognitions and depression. Results suggest minimal support for the attributional model: The dimensions were not each independently and directly associated with depression in the manner predicted, and the model that best fit the data was generally congruent for both the normal and clinical samples. In terms of direction of causality, the data were more consistent in indicating that depression causes cognitions than in indicating the reverse. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping and adaptation to facial pain in contrast to other stressful life events.

Investigates whether coping with chronic pain influences adaptation to other negative life events using data on Temporomandibular Pain and Dysfunction Syndrome (TMPDS) patients (N?=?99) and nonpatient controls (N?=?98). It is found that cases cope very differently with pain than with other stressful events and that cases and controls do not differ on coping with nonpain events, with 2 exceptions. Cases view nonfateful events as more outside their control and they have more negative changes in usual activities following negative events. This excess of negative change is associated with greater demoralization and physical exhaustion. It is concluded that coping with repeated pain episodes leaves cases vulnerable to stressful events. Alternative interpretations, especially those involving the role of preexisting personality differences, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parents' stressful life events and social networks: Relations with parenting and children's competence.

Explored relations between parents' stressful life events and social networks, parent–child interactions, and children's competence in preschool, in 30 normally functioning, 2-parent families. Family interactions were assessed by home observations, observer ratings, and parent self-reports; children's competence in preschool was assessed by teacher ratings. Stress was not strongly linked with parenting, although loss (deaths of relatives and friends) was associated across methods with decreased warmth for both parents. Structural and functional differences emerged for social support from spouse, kin, and friends. Aspects of mothers' and fathers' social networks were associated with the others' parenting. Partial correlation analyses were consistent with the view that effects of parental stress on child behavior were mediated by parent–child interactions, while social networks influenced children directly. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived past, present, and future control and adjustment to stressful life events.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 100(4) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2011-05716-005). There is an error on page 758. In the sentence “Present control predicted later event-specific distress in Sample 1( β = .17, p     

Psychological androgyny: Theories, methods, and conclusions.

Methodological and conceptual problems in existing psychological androgyny research are illuminated by application of the 2-way ANOVA model, which views masculinity and femininity as a pair of crossed independent variables, with androgynous, male-typed, female-typed, and undifferentiated sex-role categories represented in the cells of the resultant 2-by-2 table. Foremost among previously overlooked theoretical points is that the J. T. Spence et al (see record 1975-27536-001) "high/high" and the S. L. Bem (see record 1974-27631-001) "balance" androgyny formulations represent 2 independent hypotheses, a main effects hypothesis and an interaction hypothesis. Androgyny research findings are summarized in terms of the effects and interaction predicted by these theories. There is no evidence of consistent interaction effects favoring the balanced over the sex typed. Furthermore, the consistency and strength of the masculinity effect relative to the femininity effect suggest that masculinity rather than main effects androgyny predicts psychological well-being. The data provide no support for the traditional model that masculinity is best for men and femininity best for women. (107 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between depressive symptoms and stressful life events in a sample of disadvantaged mothers.

The bidirectional relation between life events and self-reported depression was examined across a 1-year period. With Time 1 depression controlled, Time 2 stress accounted for an additional 10% of Time 2 depressive symptoms. Health-related stress, family violence, and financial stress at Time 2 predicted Time 2 depression after control for Time 1 depression. With Time 1 stress controlled, Time 2 depression accounted for 8% of the variance in Time 2 stress. Time 2 depression predicted Time 2 health-related stress, financial stress, household changes, spouse–partner stress, family violence stress, and substance abuse stress, controlling for each of these stressors at Time 1. The results describe a complex relation between stress and depression and suggest that the relation between stress and depression is moderated by the type of stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological androgyny and the Masculinity?×?Femininity interaction.

Clarifies 3 proposed models of psychological androgyny, since recent discussions have been flawed by misunderstandings of the nature of statistical interaction. The additive model predicts main effects of masculinity (M) and femininity (F). The balance model predicts only M?×?F interaction. The emergent properties model predicts by effects and M?×?F interaction. The interaction effect assessed in a 2?×?2 ANOVA by a multiplicative M?×?F term in regression is compared with the absolute value of the M?×?F difference in regression. It is concluded that ANOVA and multiplicative interaction terms are generally satisfactory operationalizations of balance (though each has strengths and weaknesses), whereas the absolute difference term yields unpredictable results and should be avoided in most situations. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of stressful life events on exacerbation of chronic low-back pain

The aim of this study was to determine the urological abnormalities linked to spontaneous spongiform encephalopathy and their occurrence in the course of the disease. The animals used in this were 11 healthy and 20 scrapie-affected ewes. The scrapie-affected ewes were studied at a rate of once a month (1 to 5 measures; mean, 2.55) until they died. Urodynamic explorations were performed. The bladder activity was explored using cystometry. The urethral activity was measured during cystometry and during a urethral pressure profile. Both were analyzed using International Continence Society recommendations. Results showed in scrapie-affected ewes a decrease in functional bladder capacity and an increase in detrusor contraction incidence during filling of the bladder and in the occurrence of significant urethral instability. Bladder abnormalities were seen only in scrapie-affected ewes and worsened during the course of the disease. Urethral instability was not typical of the disease but was significantly more frequent in scrapie-affected ewes. It was concluded that lower urinary tract dysfunction occurred in scrapie-affected ewes and worsened during the course of the disease. This dysfunction is in agreement with overactive detrusor function due to neurological lesions.     

Relationship of stressful life events to social interest, locus of control, and psychological adjustment.

Extended recent research concerning effects of stressful life events. Scores of 46 male and 35 female undergraduates for amount of recent life change correlated positively with symptoms of maladjustment and external locus of control and negatively with social interest. Correlations were larger when life change scores were based only on unpleasant changes rather than on all changes, whether pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Data also suggest that a minimum amount of stress was necessary before deleterious effects occurred on the variables under study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)