A Measure of Perceived Chronic Social Adversity: Development and Validation.

Jingqiu Zhang,Chunyu Zhang,Yunglung Tang,Cody Ding,Dong Yang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02168

Abstract

The goal of this study was to develop a measure that assesses negative daily social encounters. Specifically, we examined the concept of perceived chronic social adversity and its assessment, the Perceived Chronic Social Adversity Questionnaire (PCSAQ). The PCSAQ focused on the subjective processing of daily social experiences. Psychometric properties were examined within two non-clinical samples (N = 331 and N = 390) and one clinical sample (N = 86). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a three-factor model of the PCSAQ, which corresponds to three types of daily social stressors. The final 28-item PCSAQ was shown to be internally consistent, and to have good construct validity in terms of factor structure and group differences. It was also shown to have good concurrent validity in terms of association with outcome variables (sense of control, happiness, and mood and anxiety symptoms). Perceived chronic social adversity was also shown to be correlated with PTSD severity. Taken together, these findings suggest that the PCSAQ is a reliable, valid, and useful measure that can be used to assess negative social and clinical aspects of personal experiences. This study is an important exploratory step in improving our understanding of the relationship between the cumulative effect of negative social encounters and psychological difficulty.

Highlights

IntroductionWe often observe that when someone experienced a series of negative daily social encounters (such as deception, unfair treatment, emotional blackmail, discrimination, bullying, or unemployment), they could experience psychological distress, including re-experience, hypervigilance, anxiety, or depression
In our daily lives, we often observe that when someone experienced a series of negative daily social encounters, they could experience psychological distress, including re-experience, hypervigilance, anxiety, or depression
The goal of this study was to develop a measure of perceived chronic social adversity that may result from our daily social encounters

Summary

Introduction

We often observe that when someone experienced a series of negative daily social encounters (such as deception, unfair treatment, emotional blackmail, discrimination, bullying, or unemployment), they could experience psychological distress, including re-experience, hypervigilance, anxiety, or depression. They are not life-and-safety threatening events, cumulative exposure to these negative daily encounters might lead to difficulties, especially when these aversive situations are unavoidable over a longer period of time or when they occur repeatedly and accumulatively. According to Polani (2004) and Tafet and Smolovich (2004), anxiety and depression probably represent different temporal phases of response to persistent, unresolved stressors. McEwen (2001) suggested that repeated stress can cause allostatic load, which is referring to the cost to the body of adaptation to adverse conditions. Caston and Frazier (2013) found that

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