Relationship Of Life Events Research Articles

Women's perceptions of stressful life events in relation to pre-term birth

This is the second of two articles exploring the views and emotions of women in a subsequent pregnancy with a history of pre-term birth or pregnancy loss. The first article outlined the preliminary literature review that informed this study. In the literature review it was found that: women who had experienced pre-term birth or pregnancy loss were anxious throughout a subsequent pregnancy; that pregnancy milestones were important to get past; that grief resurfaces during a subsequent pregnancy; and that the psychological effects of a past experience could alter women's locus of control and ability to deal with the next pregnancy. In light of these findings, a qualitative study was undertaken—the Stress, Immunity and Pre-term birth (SIP) study. Data collected from the List of Threatening Experiences Questionnaire (LTE-Q) from a larger quantitative prospective observational study (n = 200) was used to explore stressful life events. ‘Think-aloud’ methods were explored because of the structured format of data collection and 26% of women's responses (n=52) were analysed thematically using ‘framework analysis’. Themes are described in relation to ‘damage’—that is, damage to self, damage to the child and damage to relationships as a result of experiences of pre-term birth or pregnancy loss.

Variations in 5-HTTLPR: Relation to familiar risk of affective disorder, life events, neuroticism and cortisol

Background Variations in the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) and stressful life events are associated with affective disorders. Aim To investigate whether the distribution of the alleles of the 5-HTTLPR is associated with a genetic predisposition to affective disorder and whether these variations interact with life events in relation to depressive symptoms, neuroticism and salivary cortisol. Method In a high-risk population study, healthy monozygotic and dizygotic twins with (high-risk twins) and without (low-risk twins) a co-twin history of affective disorder were identified through nationwide registers. Results When comparing the 81 individuals homozygote for the long allele with the 125 individuals hetero- and homozygote for the short allele no associations between the allele distribution and a genetic predisposition were found. The presence of the short allele of the 5-HTTLPR and the experience of SLE was associated with a higher neuroticism score, but not with depressive symptoms nor awakening or evening salivary cortisol. Conclusion A combination of variants in 5-HTTLPR and environmental stress seems to increase neuroticism in healthy individuals.

Victimization and PTSD in a Faroese youth total-population sample

The prevalence of twenty traumatic events and negative life events in relation to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was studied in a Faroese total-population sample of 687 eighth-grade students with a mean age of 14.2 years. Ninety-four percent of the females and 89% of the males were directly exposed to or had witnessed at least one traumatic event or a negative life event. The odds ratios for PTSD after direct and indirect exposure to specific events are described. The lifetime prevalence of PTSD was 20%, whereas another 14% reached a subclinical level of PTSD. After exposure, females had PTSD more than twice as often as males. Being exposed to multiple traumatic events, living with a single parent, and having experienced a traumatic event or a negative life event within the last year were all associated with PTSD and its subscales.

Effects of Growth in Family Conflict in Adolescence on Adult Depressive Symptoms: Mediating and Moderating Effects of Stress and School Bonding

PurposeTo (1) examine growth in family conflict during adolescence as a predictor of depressive symptoms in early adulthood, (2) examine adult stressful life events as a possible mechanism linking prior family conflict with depressive symptoms, and (3) examine adolescent school bonding as a possible moderator of family conflict and stressful life events in relation to later depression. MethodsAnalyses used a latent variable growth curve modeling approach to examine longitudinal patterns in data from the Seattle Social Development Project. Assessments of a gender-balanced and ethnically diverse sample of 754 participants were conducted from age 10 to age 27. ResultsResults show an increase in conflict each year between ages 14 and 18 for participating youth. High initial levels and growth in family conflict predicted adult stressful life events, which, in turn, predicted adult depressive symptoms, controlling for earlier risks of poverty and internalizing problems. Bonding to school in mid-adolescence did not significantly change the associations among the variables in the model. ConclusionsInhibiting the growth in family conflict over the course of adolescence may reduce the risk for some life stresses linked to depression in early adulthood. Although a test of the protective influence of school bonding during mid-adolescence was not significant, the study offers an example of how longitudinal patterns and protective factors can be analyzed.

Clinical Course of Alcohol Dependence in African Americans

ABSTRACT Objective: The sequence and progression of alcohol related life events were investigated in a sample of African Americans and compared with findings from a predominantly Caucasian sample. Methods: Alcohol dependent participants were recruited from treatment facilities. Participants completed the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism to assess the physical, psychological and social manifestations of alcoholism and related disorders. Results: The sequence and mean age of appearance of alcohol-related life events were similar for this sample of African-American men and women. While there were similarities in the progression of alcohol related life problems between the African American and the Caucasian samples, the frequency of symptom endorsement for most problems was significantly higher in the Caucasian sample. Conclusions: Identifying ethnic differences in the clinical course of alcohol dependence may be of importance in developing treatment plans and assist in the development of culturally sensitive intervention and prevention programs.

P.1.a.002 Glial cell-derived neurotrophic family (GFR) alpha 1 receptor polymorphisms and weight change during clozapine treatment

Previous studies have shown that microRNAs(miRNAs) are involved in the pathogenesis of MDD; in particular, miR-34b/c has been implicated in MDD risk and found to exert antidepressant effects. However, the effects of miR-34b/c polymorphisms on MDD risk have not been investigated.In this study, we evaluated the effect of miR-34b/c gene polymorphisms and their interaction with negative life events in relation to MDD, using data from 381 Han Chinese patients with MDD and 291 healthy volunteers. Allelic, genotypic, haplotypic, and gene-environment associations were analyzed using UNPHASED and SPSS software.After discarding data with extremely severe negative life events in our study population, we found an association between rs4938723, rs2187473 polymorphisms and MDD in the dominant models (TC/CC vs. TT, OR = 1.45, P = 0.027; TC/CC vs. TT, OR = 3.32, P = 0.030). In haplotype analysis, the C-G haplotype (rs4938723/rs28757623) showed the strongest association with MDD (OR = 1.95, P = 0.026). Additionally, we found significant gene-environment combination rs4938723 C allele, rs28757623 G allele and high level of negative life events (C-G-HN) was significantly associated with MDD (OR, 3.85; 95% CI, 1.62–9.13). In addition, the combination of (C-C-HN) is of significance (OR, 2.99; 95% CI, 1.36–6.60), indicating that the rs28757623 C allele may contribute to the risk of MDD as well.The sample size was small and the role of miR-34b/c polymorphisms for MDD should be assessed using independent samples from other ethnic populations. Conclusions: Our results suggest that miR-34b/c is a susceptibility factor for MDD stratified by negative life events and that rs4938723 is a significant association locus for gene-environment interaction in relation to MDD risk.

The Association of Perimenopausal Mood Disorders with Other Reproductive-Related Disorders

Data regarding the increased incidence of psychiatric illness during midlife in women are still conflicting. However, there is a growing consensus that certain groups of women may in fact be at higher risk for mood symptoms and psychiatric disorders during the perimenopausal transition. Mood symptoms during the perimenopause may be related to mood disorders during other periods of hormonal fluctuation throughout a woman's reproductive lifecycle. Elucidating these associations may advance the understanding of mood disorders during the perimenopausal transition. The epidemiology and treatment of perimenopausal mood symptoms compared with the epidemiology and treatment of mood disorders during the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and postpartum. Common risk factors associated with mood disorders during these periods of hormonal changes or instability include poor lifestyle habits, a history of hormonally related mood disorders, stress and negative life events, ethnicity, and comorbidity. Reproductive-related mood disorders also are subject to an improvement in symptoms in response to treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. As the morbidity associated with mood disorders during midlife may be quite significant, and as life expectancy continues to increase, recognition, prevention, and treatment of perimenopausal affective illness is becoming increasingly essential.

Victimization and PTSD in a Danish National Youth Probability Sample

To investigate the prevalence of traumatic events and life events in relation to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In a Danish national representative sample of 390 eighth-grade students with a mean age of 14.5 years, 20 prevalent potential traumatizing and distressing events were described, along with the psychological impact of these events. Eighty-seven percent of the females and 78% of the males were exposed to at least one event. The most common events were the death of a family member, threat of violence, or serious accidents. The most distressing subjective events were rape, suicide attempts, death in the family, serious illness, and childhood abuse. Gender, parents' education, and living with a single parent were associated with specific events. The estimated lifetime prevalence of PSTD was 9.0%, whereas another 14.1% reached a subclinical level of PTSD. After exposure, females suffered from PTSD twice as often as males. Being exposed to multiple traumatic events was associated with an increase in PTSD. The findings in this study suggest substantial mental health problems in adolescents who are associated with various types of victimization.

Pre- and post-disaster negative life events in relation to the incidence and severity of post-traumatic stress disorder

There is evidence suggesting that stressful life events may precede major psychiatric illness, such as major depression, and that the severity of a traumatic event outside the range of usual human experience may provoke post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study was carried out to examine the effects of pre- and post-disaster stressful life events on the incidence rate of PTSD following two man-made traumatic events. An epidemiological study examining 127 victims of a flash fire in a ballroom and 55 motor vehicle accident (MVA) victims was undertaken. PTSD symptoms were assessed by means of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and the pre- and post-disaster stressful life events by means of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, Disaster Supplement. Binary logistic and multiple linear regression analyses were employed to examine the relationships between PTSD and pre- and post-disaster life events. There were no significant relationships between stressful life events the year prior to the traumatic event and the incidence or severity of PTSD. There were highly significant relationships between the cumulative number and event severity of post-disaster negative life events and the incidence rate and severity of PTSD. The post-disaster life events were significantly more related to the avoidance–depression dimension than to the anxiety–arousal dimension of PTSD. The most significant life events were: loss of job or income, broken relationships, serious illnesses or injuries in the victims and death or illness in close acquaintances. The results of this study show that the number and severity of additional stressful life events signal a higher risk to develop PTSD and a higher severity of the avoidance–depression dimension of PTSD symptomatology.

Assessing stressful life events in relation to liability and compensation.

The aim of this paper is to outline limitations in the assessment of the relationship between stressful experiences and psychological disorder in the medico-legal setting. A research-derived approach to more objectively assessing stressful life events and disorder is discussed in the light of limitations or biases which may arise in the evaluation of the clinical significance of stressors in psychological disorder particularly in a medico-legal context. There may be considerable bias in the assessment of stressful experiences in a medico-legal setting. In addition to the purely subjective approach used in the appraisal of stressful life events it may be useful to (i) apply common sense and population-based appraisal as an initial basis for assessing the significance of a stressor; (ii) use evidence-based findings to support the link between stressors and disorder; and (iii) apply recognized criteria of causality where applicable. Conflicting psychiatric opinions in the medico-legal setting may arise both from psychiatrists' positional biases, from the often complex relationships that may exist between stressors and depression, and from a failure to use evidence-based findings to support psychological explanations.

Stressful life events and physical abuse among pregnant women in North Carolina.

This study estimates the prevalence of stressful life events and physical abuse among North Carolina women prior to infant delivery, and examines potential associations between abuse and the other stressors. Data were from the North Carolina Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, a statewide representative survey of over 2,600 postpartum women. The survey assessed women's sociodemographic characteristics and their experiences of physical abuse and 13 other stressful life events before delivery. The prevalences of each life event and abuse were estimated. Logistic regression modeled the probability of women having high levels of stressful life events in relation to physical abuse and sociodemographics. Most women were married, white, high school graduates, aged 20 or older. The most common stressful life events were residential moves, increased arguing with husbands/partners, family member hospitalizations, financial hardship, and deaths of loved ones. Fourteen percent of women had high levels of stressful events (5 or more), and almost 9% were physically abused. Abuse was positively associated with increased arguing with husbands/partners, physical fighting, having someone close with an alcohol/drug problem, becoming separated/divorced, and financial hardship. Logistic regression analysis showed that a high level of stressful life events was significantly more likely among women abused both before and during pregnancy (OR = 11.94) and among women abused before but not during pregnancy (OR = 14.19). The high frequency of multiple stressful events and abuse in women's lives suggests that women's care providers should ask their patients about these issues, and offer appropriate referral/interventions to those in need.

Community study of depression in old age in Taiwan: prevalence, life events and socio-demographic correlates.

Published studies of prevalence of depression in old age in Taiwan have yielded equivocal results. To study the prevalence of depressive disorders among community-dwelling elderly; further, to assess socio-demographic correlates and life events in relation to depression. A randomised sample of 1500 subjects aged 65 and over was selected from three communities. Research psychiatrists conducted all assessments using the Geriatric Mental State Schedule. The diagnosis of depression was made with the GMS-AGECAT (Automated Geriatric Examination for Computerised Assisted Taxonomy); data on life events were collected with the Taiwanese version of the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule. One-month prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 37.7%, with 15.3% depressive neurosis and 5.9% major depression. A high risk of depressive disorders was found among widows with a low educational level living in the urban community, and among those with physical illnesses. Contrary to most previous reports, we found that the prevalence of depressive disorders among the elderly in the community in Taiwan is high and comparable to rates reported in some studies of UK samples.

Major stressful life events in relation to prevalence of undetected type 2 diabetes: the Hoorn Study.

To test whether chronic psychological stress is positively associated 1) with the prevalence of type 2 diabetes; 2) with visceral adiposity; and to test whether 3) the relationship between stress and diabetes is mainly mediated by visceral adiposity In a general Caucasian population aged 50-74 years without a history of diabetes (n = 2,262), the number of major stressful life events experienced during the past 5 years was assessed by self-report before the administration of an oral glucose tolerance test. Diabetes was newly diagnosed among 5% of the subjects. The number of stressful events was positively associated with the prevalence of hitherto undetected diabetes. The highest quintile had a 1.6-fold (95% CI 1.0-2.6) increased probability of undetected diabetes compared with the remaining four quintiles (P<0.05 by logistical regression analysis adjusted for age and sex). This increased probability remained significant after additional adjustment for family history of diabetes, heavy alcohol consumption, physical activity, and low level of education. The number of stressful events was weakly positively associated with waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (men, P<0.01; women, P = 0.05 by multiple regression analysis adjusted for age). The age- and sex-adjusted association between stress and diabetes was only marginally reduced by adding the WHR into the logistical regression model (odds ratio 1.5 [0.9-2.4]; P = 0.08). These cross-sectional findings are partially consistent with Björntorp's theory that stressful life events, which indicate chronic psychological stress, are indeed associated with undetected type 2 diabetes and with visceral adiposity. However, in this white middle-aged population, visceral adiposity does not seem to be the main link between stress and diabetes.

A Comparative Study of Depression and Stress Related Life Events among Women in the Menopausal Stage

A Comparative Study of Depression and Stress Related Life Events among Women in the Menopausal Stage

The child's eye: Memories of growing up with cystic fibrosis

This qualitative study used a grounded theory approach to explore adolescent conceptualizations of their chronic illness experience and related life events. A purposive sample of 20 adolescents (12-18 years of age) with cystic fibrosis were interviewed. Adolescents used three protective strategies for reducing a sense of difference from peers: (1) keeping secrets, (2) hiding visible differences, and (3) discovering a new baseline. "Good friends" were a critical source of support and decreased the importance of differences in their social world. Interventions should focus on strategies for dealing with difficult peer situations and the negative reactions of others.

Effects of positive and negative life events on time to depression onset: an analysis of additivity and timing

While the relationship of life events to depression onset has occupied researchers for almost a quarter of a century, few studies have attempted to account for either the temporal patterning of events relative to episode onset, or, the effect of multiple events in a study period. In this report, we attempt to address the issues of timing of events, multiple events (both positive and negative) and multiple aspects (both positivity and negativity) of single events on latency time to depression onset, while simultaneously accounting for possible decay in the effects of events over time. We use the proportional hazards approach to model the effects of life events and consider modelling the change in impact of events with the passage of time. After interviewing 142 recurrent unipolar patients using the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule, we rated severity and positivity of life events reported during the 6-month period prior to onset. As we hypothesized, additional life events occurring after an initial provoking agent level event significantly alter the risk of illness onset. Additional severely threatening events decrease the time to onset, but positive events do not appear to delay onset. Interestingly, seemingly neutral events had a highly significant effect in shortening the time to onset. We note the many limitations imposed on the interpretation of these findings related to the selected group of subjects studied and encourage those who have more generalizable data to apply these methods of analysis.

Personality, Life Events, and Depression

The Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ; Blatt, D'Afflitti, & Quinlan, 1976a) and the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale (SAS; Beck, Epstein, Harrison, & Emery, 1983) have been used virtually interchangeably to assess personality styles that are believed to influence the development of depressive symptomatology in the context of specific negative life events. This study examined the extent to which these two personality measures overlap and tested the congruency hypothesis. The congruency hypothesis predicts that levels of depression vary as a function of the interaction between personality and the occurrence of thematically related negative life events. Results indicated that the DEQ Dependency and the SAS Sociotropy scales appear to measure similar constructs, whereas the DEQ Self-Criticism and SAS Autonomy scales do not appear to measure similar constructs. Further, support was obtained for the congruency hypothesis using either the DEQ Dependency scale or the SAS Sociotropy scale; however, support for this hypothesis was not obtained for the DEQ Self-Criticism scale or the SAS Autonomy scale.

Life events and depression in Japan

The relationship of life events to the onset of depression as well as the relationship between positive family history and reactivity to stress were investigated. Our results indicated that life stress in general plays an important role for women in the onset of depression and that undesirable events and problems of work specifically play a role in the onset of depression. The dichotomy of reactive and endogenous depression was not supported based on our result that no relationship was observed between the presence of familial loading and reactivity to stress.

Sociotropy, Autonomy, and life event perceptions in dysphoric and nondysphoric individuals

This study investigates Beck's cognitive diathesis—stress model of depression by comparing dysphoric and nondysphoric subjects on the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale (SAS) and a self-report life event measure specially developed to assess subjects' perceptions of sociotropic and autonomous life events. Despite reporting similar frequencies for both types of events, the dysphoric subjects rated their negative life experiences as significantly more upsetting, and perceived that the events involved more loss within the interpersonal and achievement domains than the nondysphoric control group. As predicted by the cognitive diathesis—stress model, sociotropy significantly interacted with negative social but not autonomously related life events in the prediction of dysphoria. Dysphoria was also associated with ratings of increased loss of social resources due to negative interpersonal events, and ratings of increased loss of personal goal attainment due to negative achievement events. Autonomy, however, failed to show any significant relation with dysphoria or type of life event experienced.

The relationship of life adversity, social support, and coping to hospitalization with major depression.

We evaluated the relationship between life events, social support, coping, and depression in 27 male inpatients meeting the requirements for Research Diagnostic Criteria major depressive disorder and in 35 age- and sex-matched nonpatients. Overall, the hospitalized depressed patients reported significantly more events and difficulties than did the controls, but this difference in statistical significance disappeared after excluding from analysis "non-independent" happenings which could have been brought on by depression. More hospitalized depressed patients (23 of 27, or 85%) than controls (8 of 35, or 22.9%) experienced markedly threatening events and difficulties ("marked adversities") in the 6 months before their interview. The depressed group also reported having significantly fewer social supports, being less satisfied with the emotional component of this support, and using more emotion-focused coping than the controls. A discriminant analysis predicted depressive status from a combination of marked adversities, reduced number of social supports, and greater use of emotion-focused coping. The results indicate that the relationship of life events to depression is complex. The excess number of events might be partly a product of dysfunctional behavior that "produces" depression-related events which might, in turn, exacerbate depression; simultaneously, patients are more likely to experience highly adverse events which might precipitate the depression in the first place. Reduced social supports and the use of emotion-focused coping appear to also be associated with hospitalization for major depression.