Life stressors, social resources, and late-life problem drinking.

Life stressors and social resources among late-middle-aged problem and nonproblem drinkers were studied. Problem drinkers (n?=?501) reported more negative life events, chronic stressors, and social resource deficits than did nonproblem drinkers (n?=?609). In a comparison of problem drinkers, men reported more ongoing stressors involving finances and friends and reported fewer resources from children, extended-family members, and friends than did women. Women who are problem drinkers reported more negative life events, more ongoing difficulties with spouses and extended-family members, and fewer resources from spouses. Among both the problem and nonproblem drinkers, more stressors were associated with fewer social resources, but only within certain life domains. Late-middle-aged adults' chronic stressors and social resources helped explain their drinking behavior, depression, and self-confidence even after sex, marital status, and negative life events were considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of positive and negative interpersonal events on daily fatigue in women with fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis.

Objective: The current study tested whether daily interpersonal events predicted fatigue from one day to the next among female chronic pain patients. Design: Self-reported fatigue, daily events, pain, sleep quality, depressive symptoms, and functional health across 30 days were assessed in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA: n = 89), Osteoarthritis (OA: n = 76), and Fibromyalgia syndrome (FM: n = 90). Main Outcome Measures: Self-report fatigue measured on a 0 to 100 scale and fatigue affect from PANAS-X (Watson & Clark, 1994). Results: Multilevel analyses showed that both higher average levels of and daily increases in negative events predicted more fatigue, whereas daily increases in positive events predicted less fatigue. Across all pain conditions, increases in negative events continued to predict higher fatigue on the following day. Moreover, for participants with FM or RA, increases in positive events also predicted increased fatigue the following day. Daily increases in fatigue, in turn, predicted poorer functional health on both the same day and the next day. Conclusion: These results indicate that both on average and on a daily basis, interpersonal events influence levels of fatigue beyond common physical and psychological correlates of chronic pain and highlight differences between chronic pain groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interplay of concurrent positive and negative interpersonal events in the prediction of daily negative affect and fatigue for rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the interaction of daily concurrent positive interpersonal events (PIE) and negative interpersonal events (NIE) on the daily experience of negative affect and fatigue in a sample of men and women with rheumatoid arthritis. Two hypotheses were made. The blunting hypothesis predicted that NIE would nullify the beneficial influence of PIE on outcome measures, and the buffering hypothesis predicted that PIE would offset the adverse influence of NIE. Design: Participants completed up to 30 consecutive daily diaries. Multilevel modeling was used to examine the day-to-day dependencies among study variables. Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcomes were daily negative affect and fatigue. Results: In support of the blunting hypothesis, on days when NIE were diminished, PIE were associated with a greater reduction in fatigue. In contrast, consistent with the buffering hypothesis, on days when PIE were elevated, NIE were associated with a lesser increase in negative affect. Conclusion: The examination of concurrent PIE and NIE provides a unique perspective on the role of interpersonal events in affective and physiological outcomes, beyond that which can be gained from the examination of either type of event in isolation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fibromyalgia: The role of sleep in affect and in negative event reactivity and recovery.

Objective: Fibromyalgia (FM) syndrome is a chronic pain condition characterized by diffuse muscle pain, increased negative mood, and sleep disturbance. Until recently, sleep disturbance in persons with FM has been modeled as the result of the disease process or its associated pain. The current study examined sleep disturbance (i.e., sleep duration and sleep quality) as a predictor of daily affect, stress reactivity, and stress recovery. Design and Measures: A hybrid of daily diary and ecological momentary assessment methodology was used to evaluate the psychosocial functioning of 89 women with FM. Participants recorded numeric ratings of pain, fatigue, and positive and negative affect 3 times throughout the day for 30 consecutive days. At the end of each day, participants completed daily diary records of positive and negative life events. In addition, participants reported on their sleep duration and sleep quality each morning. Results: After accounting for the effects of positive events, negative events, and pain on daily affect scores, it was found that sleep duration and quality were prospectively related to affect and fatigue. Furthermore, the effects of inadequate sleep on negative affect were cumulative. In addition, an inadequate amount of sleep prevented affective recovery from days with a high number of negative events. Conclusions: These results lend support to the hypothesis that sleep is a component of allostatic load and has an upstream role in daily functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Life stressors, social resources, and late-life problem drinking": Clarification.

Reports a clarification in the article by P. L. Brennan and R. H. Moos (Psychology and Aging, 1990[Dec], Vol 5[4], 491–501). The authors wish to note that their study was based on the same sample that was used in the research reported in the article by R. H. Moos et al (see record 1990-14961-001) and that this information was inadvertently deleted in the Brennan and Moos article. (The following abstract of the article by Brennan and Moos originally appeared in PA, Vol 78:10154.) Life stressors and social resources among late-middle-aged problem and nonproblem drinkers were studied. Problem drinkers (n?=?501) reported more negative life events, chronic stressors, and social resource deficits than did nonproblem drinkers (n?=?609). In a comparison of problem drinkers, men reported more ongoing stressors involving finances and friends and reported fewer resources from children, extended-family members, and friends than did women. Women who are problem drinkers reported more negative life events, more ongoing difficulties with spouses and extended-family members, and fewer resources from spouses. Among both the problem and nonproblem drinkers, more stressors were associated with fewer social resources, but only within certain life domains. Late-middle-aged adults' chronic stressors and social resources helped explain their drinking behavior, depression, and self-confidence even after sex, marital status, and negative life events were considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of Energy Availability on Immediate and Delayed Emotional Reactions to Work Events.

This study focuses on daily work events as proximal stimuli for discrete emotional reactions and suggests that availability of energy resources required for coping with goal-disruptive events, or for capitalizing on new opportunities offered by goal-enhancing events, influences intensity of emotional reactions. Using experience-sampling methodology with a sample of hospital residents, it is shown that negative emotion and fatigue following disruptive events are intensified when only limited energy resources are available due to current workload. However, positive emotions, promoted by goal-enhancing events, are mitigated due to inability to capitalize on new opportunities or challenges. Aftereffects of work events reveal that the energizing effect of goal-enhancing events mitigates end-of-day fatigue and negative emotion on high-workload days, although the effect of disruptive events is diminished by the end of such days, apparently because of lesser conspicuity against a background of high workload. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of naltrexone on alcohol consumption and affect reactivity to daily interpersonal events among heavy drinkers.

The authors examined whether the associations among daily positive and negative interpersonal events, alcohol consumption, and affect varied as a function of naltrexone or placebo administered in a targeted (in anticipation of or in response to high-risk drinking situations) or daily fashion. Heavy drinkers (N = 149) received 4 sessions of brief coping skills counseling in addition to 8 weeks of naltrexone treatment. They recorded for 8 weeks in structured nightly diaries their interpersonal interactions, affect, and alcohol consumption. The authors predicted that participants receiving naltrexone, compared with those taking placebo, would drink less in response to interpersonal encounters and that naltrexone administration would attenuate the link between positive interpersonal events and positive affective states. Results indicated that both positive and negative interpersonal interactions were associated with an increased probability of engaging in any drinking and that positive daily social celebratory events were associated with an increased probability of engaging in heavy drinking. Participants taking naltrexone in a targeted fashion showed the strongest positive association between the number of positive social celebratory events and drinking. Although this finding was inconsistent with the overall reduction in drinking that has been generally reported for those treated with naltrexone, positive social celebratory events occurred on only a minority of days. Participants taking naltrexone, compared with those taking placebo, showed weaker associations between positive social celebratory events and positive and negative affective states. Findings are discussed in terms of naltrexone's dampening effects on the rewarding properties of alcohol use and certain positively valenced stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job stressors and the pursuit of sport activities: A day-level perspective.

This article addresses the relation between day-specific experiences of job stressors and the pursuit of off-job activities. Following the limited-resources model of self-regulation, the authors proposed that job stressors and long working hours are negatively related to pursuit of sport activities after work because, after stressful days, employees have no resources left for initiating and persisting in effortful behaviors such as sport. Routines for off-job activities were hypothesized to be positively related to the pursuit of sport activities after work. Seventy-eight police employees completed a daily survey over 5 working days and indicated that they perceive sport to be highly useful for recovery. Random coefficient modeling showed that job stressors (particularly situational constraints) encountered on a specific day were negatively related to self-regulatory resources and to the amount of time spent on sport activities after work, whereas the relation with low-effort activities was positive. Thus, after a stressful day when an effective recovery activity such as sport is highly needed, persons tend to engage less in such an activity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linking job demands and resources to employee engagement and burnout: A theoretical extension and meta-analytic test.

We refine and extend the job demands–resources model with theory regarding appraisal of stressors to account for inconsistencies in relationships between demands and engagement, and we test the revised theory using meta-analytic structural modeling. Results indicate support for the refined and updated theory. First, demands and burnout were positively associated, whereas resources and burnout were negatively associated. Second, whereas relationships among resources and engagement were consistently positive, relationships among demands and engagement were highly dependent on the nature of the demand. Demands that employees tend to appraise as hindrances were negatively associated with engagement, and demands that employees tend to appraise as challenges were positively associated with engagement. Implications for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can “good” stressors spark “bad” behaviors? The mediating role of emotions in links of challenge and hindrance stressors with citizenship and counterproductive behaviors.

The authors combined affective events theory (H. M. Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996) and the transactional stress model (R. S. Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) to build and test a model specifying the dynamic, emotion-based relationships among challenge and hindrance stressors and citizenship and counterproductive behaviors. The study employed an experience sampling methodology. Results showed that challenge stressors had offsetting indirect links with citizenship behaviors through attentiveness and anxiety and a positive indirect effect on counterproductive behaviors through anxiety. Hindrance stressors had a negative indirect effect on citizenship behaviors through anxiety and a positive indirect effect on counterproductive behaviors through anxiety and anger. Finally, multilevel moderating effects showed that the relationship between hindrance stressors and anger varied according to employees’ levels of neuroticism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of daily mood, work hours, and iso-strain variables on self-reported health behaviors.

Four hundred and twenty-two employees completed daily diaries measuring positive affect, negative affect, work hours, and health behaviors (snacking, smoking, exercise, alcohol, caffeine consumption) on work days over a 4-week period. In addition, measures of job demands, job control, and social support (iso-strain variables) were completed on 1 occasion. Multilevel random coefficient modeling was used to examine relationships between the job characteristics, daily work variables, and self-reported health behaviors. Results indicated a more important role for within-person daily fluctuations than for between-persons variations in predicting health behaviors. Whereas negative affect was negatively related to health behavior for both men and women, work hours had negative impacts for women only. Iso-strain variables showed few main effects and a modest number of interactions with daily variables (mainly for men). Findings point to the limited impact of stable features of work design compared to the effects of daily work stressors on health behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reported exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stressors: The roles of adult age and global perceived stress.

A central goal of daily stress research is to identify resilience and vulnerability factors associated with exposure and reactivity to daily stressors. The present study examined how age differences and global perceptions of stress relate to exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stressors. Sixty-seven younger (Mage = 20) and 116 older (Mage = 80) adults completed a daily stress diary and measures of positive and negative affect on 6 days over a 14-day period. Participants also completed a measure of global perceived stress. Results revealed that reported exposure to daily stressors is reduced in old age but that emotional reactivity to daily stressors did not differ between younger and older adults. Global perceived stress was associated with greater reported exposure to daily stressors in older adults and greater stress-related increases in negative affect in younger adults. Furthermore, across days on which daily stressors were reported, intraindividual variability in the number and severity of stressors reported was associated with increased negative affect, but only among younger adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work stressors, role-based performance, and the moderating influence of organizational support.

As a test of the 2-dimensional model of work stressors, the present study proposed differential relationships between challenge stressors and hindrance stressors and role-based performance, which were expected to be moderated by organizational support. In a sample of 215 employees across 61 offices of a state agency, the authors obtained a positive relationship between challenge stressors and role-based performance and a negative relationship between hindrance stressors and role-based performance. In addition, organizational support moderated the relationship between challenge stressors and role-based performance but did not moderate the relationship between hindrance stressors and role-based performance. This suggests that organizations would benefit from increasing challenges in the workplace as long as they are supportive of employees and removing hindrances. Further implications for organizational theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent and child stress and symptoms: An integrative analysis.

This study assessed major and daily stressful life events and psychological symptoms in a sample of young adolescents and their parents. The relation between major life events and symptoms was mediated by daily stressors for parents and their young adolescent children. Children's emotional and behavioral problems were associated with fathers' psychological symptoms but not with mothers' symptoms. Both mothers' and fathers' symptoms were associated with their sons' daily stressors, but girls' daily stressors were related only to their mothers' symptoms. Mothers' symptoms were associated with their husbands' daily hassles in families of young adolescent boys, and both parents' symptoms were associated with their spouses' hassles in families of adolescent girls. Highlights the importance of studying stress processes between individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family life stress and insomnia symptoms in a prospective evaluation of young adults.

The present study prospectively investigated the association between family life stress and insomnia symptoms among 115 undergraduates, ages 17-22 years. Participants completed the following questionnaires at 2 study time points, spaced 3 weeks apart: the Insomnia Severity Index, the Negative Life Events Questionnaire (NLEQ), and the Beck Depression Inventory. First, family life stress at baseline was hypothesized to predict elevated insomnia symptoms 3 weeks later, above and beyond depressive symptoms. Second, compared with academic stressors, negative family and social life events were expected to best predict increased insomnia. Regression analyses were conducted to test study predictions. Hypotheses were partially supported. Family life stress was significantly associated with increased insomnia symptomatology, even after controlling for depression. Results also revealed that negative family life events, together with academic stress, predicted the highest levels of insomnia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stressors and mood measured on a momentary basis are associated with salivary cortisol secretion

Effects of past, current, and anticipated naturalistic daily stressors and of affect on salivary cortisol levels were examined. Participants (120) reported on stressors and affect 6 x /day in response to a preprogrammed wristwatch. Twenty min after each assessment they took a sample of saliva for cortisol analysis. Both the experience of a current stressor and anticipating a stressor were associated with increased salivary cortisol levels. Average increases in cortisol were relatively low, but inter-individual variability in this response existed. Stressors also were associated with lower positive affect and higher negative affect. Negative affect was associated with higher cortisol levels and positive affect was associated with lower cortisol levels. Daily stressors were not significant predictors of cortisol secretion when affect was controlled. Momentary assessment of daily stressors and of salivary cortisol proved to be a useful tool for examining psychoendocrinological processes in the natural environment.     

Person and contextual features of daily stress reactivity: Individual differences in relations of undesirable daily events with mood disturbance and chronic pain intensity.

Examined the mood-related and pain-related consequences of daily stressors among 74 individuals with rheumatoid arthritis who supplied daily reports for 75 days. Meta-analyses of time series regression coefficients disclosed a significant same-day relation between events and mood but no consistent effects of events on same-day pain, next-day mood, or next-day pain. With distributional characteristics of the daily data controlled, Ss with more active inflammatory disease showed a greater positive relation of events with same-day and next-day pain, those with a recent history of more major life stressors showed a greater positive relation of events with next-day pain, and those with less social support showed a greater positive relation of events with next-day mood disturbance. Implications of these and other findings for theories of stress and adaptation and the methodological challenges of daily experience research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Collaborative coping and daily mood in couples dealing with prostate cancer.

Collaborative coping (i.e., spouses pooling resources and problem solving jointly) may be associated with better daily mood because of heightened perceptions of efficacy in coping with stressful events. The study examined the daily processes of collaborative coping (individuals' perceptions that the spouse collaborated), perceived coping effectiveness (ratings of how well they dealt with the event), and mood (i.e., Positive and Negative Affect Scale) across 14 days in 57 older couples coping with stressors involving the husband's prostate cancer and daily life in general. In hierarchical multivariate linear models, collaborative coping was associated with more positive same-day mood for both husbands and wives and less negative mood for wives only. These associations were partially mediated by heightened perceptions of coping effectiveness. Exploratory analyses revealed that collaborative coping was more frequent among wives who performed more poorly on cognitive tests and couples who reported greater marital satisfaction and more frequently using collaboration to make decisions. The results suggest that older couples may benefit from collaborative coping in dealing with problems surrounding illness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Switching Off Mentally: Predictors and Consequences of Psychological Detachment From Work During Off-Job Time.

Psychological detachment from work refers to the off-job experience of "switching off" mentally. It is hypothesized that a high degree of workload encountered during the work day has a negative impact on subsequent detachment processes and that psychological detachment from work is positively related to well-being. Eighty-seven individuals from various occupations provided questionnaire and daily survey measures over a period of 3 working days. Multilevel analysis showed that workload was negatively related to psychological detachment from work during evening hours. Psychological detachment from work was associated with positive mood and low fatigue. The negative relationship between psychological detachment and fatigue was particularly strong on days with high time pressure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Critical incidents and chronic stressors at work: Their impact on forensic doctors.

Workers in medium- or high-risk professions are often confronted with critical incidents at the workplace. The impact of these acute stressors may be serious and enduring. Many workers also experience chronic job stressors, such as work overload or role conflicts. This study examined the frequently neglected relationship of acute and chronic stressors with self-reported health symptoms, such as posttraumatic responses, fatigue, and burnout. This association was investigated in a sample of forensic doctors in the Netherlands (N = 84). It was found that the more traumatic events the respondents experienced, the more problems they reported in coping with the traumatic events. Chronic job stressors were associated with posttraumatic responses (intrusions and avoidances) and with burnout and fatigue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)