Types Of Stressful Events Research Articles

A comparative study of stress experienced by Swedish and Norwegian police officers.

Police officers work in a variable environment under different circumstances and often involves stressful situations. This include working irregular hours, ongoing exposure to critical incidents, confrontations and violence. community police officers are mainly out in the society and have daily contact with the general public. critical incidents can also consist of being criticized and stigmatized as a police officer, both from the public but also lack of support from their own organization. There is evidence on negative impacts of stress on police officers. However, knowledge about the nature of police stress and its various types is insufficient. It is assumed that there are common stress factors which are universal among all police officers in different contexts but there is a lack of comparative studies to provide empirical evidence. The aim of this study is to compare different types of stress among police officers in Norway and Sweden and how the pattern of experiencing stress has changed over time in these countries. The study population consisted of patrolling police officers from 20 local police districts or units in all seven regions in Sweden (n = 953) and patrolling police officers from four police districts in Norway (n = 678). A 42-item Police Stress Identification Questionnaire was used to measure the stress level. The findings show differences in types of stressful events as well as its severity among police officers in Sweden and Norway. The level of stress decreased over time among Swedish police officers whereas it showed no change or even an increase among the Norwegian participants. The results of this study are relevant for policy-makers, police authorities and lay police officers in each country to tailor their efforts to prevent stress among police officers.

Nursing students’ perceived stress and clinical learning experience

BackgroundStressors among nursing students arise from both academic activities and clinical placement. Understanding how nursing students perceive academic and clinical stressors and the clinical learning environment could help develop useful approaches to reducing levels of stress and contribute to the maintenance of a good learning environment. There is a paucity of studies that investigated associations between the clinical learning environment and the stress of nursing students. ObjectivesTo investigate the relationship between the perception of the clinical learning environment and stress in nursing students; to compare the perception of the clinical learning environment and stress in terms of the year and terms of the organization of supervision. DesignCross-sectional correlation study SettingsUniversity ParticipantsThe sample consisted of 155 nursing students in the bachelor's degree program. During the four academic years, students of individual years of the bachelor's study program were included in the study after completing all clinical placements in a given academic year. MethodsThe following instruments were used for the data collection: Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher evaluation scale, Perceived Stress Scale; Physio-Psycho-Social Response Scale and Coping Behaviour Inventory. Correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis using stepwise methods were used to determine the relationships between the variables. ResultsThe clinical learning environment is a strong predictor of students' perceptions of stress related to teachers and nursing staff. Types and degrees of stressful events during clinical practice varied between years of study. The experience with supervision was related to the overall perception of the clinical learning environment, but not to the students' physio-psychosocial status, types of stressful events during clinical practice and coping behaviors. Also, the differences in the students' physio-psychosocial status were not significant in terms of individual years of study and method of supervision. ConclusionsThere is a significant relationship between the clinical learning environment and the perception of academic stress. The attitude of the teacher and the medical staff can thus be important in influencing the level of stress in nursing students.

Interoceptive awareness and beliefs about health and the body as predictors of the intensity of emotions experienced at the beginning of the pandemic.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic is a type of stressful event which might have an impact on psychological state. A prolonged threat of getting a serious, contagious illness is expected to be associated with an increase of negative emotions and, conversely, with a decrease of positive emotions. As the stressor is strongly linked to health and the body, we decided to investigate what types of factors related to body perception and appraisal are associated with different types of reported emotions. The purpose of the study was to verify the associations between three types of variables: interoceptive awareness as described by Mehling and colleagues (2012a, 2018), negative beliefs about health and body, and different types of emotions.MethodologyA Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness questionnaire was applied to evaluate interoceptive awareness. The declared emotional state was diagnosed with a list of 20 emotions–divided by valence and origin. Additionally, a list of 10 negative beliefs about health and body was used. The study was held in a correlational schema with 299 subjects recruited via the social media platform Facebook who took part in an online survey.ResultsThe study revealed that the scales of Self-Regulation and Trusting are primarily associated with negative automatic and reflective emotions and positive automatic emotions. Furthermore, the Self-Regulation, Trusting dimensions of interoceptive awareness predict an intensity of emotions categorised on the basis of valence and origin. In addition, negative beliefs about health and the body provided an adequate explanation of the variance of most of the types of emotions experienced during the pandemic.ConclusionsFactors related to body perception, such as interoceptive awareness and negative beliefs about health and body provide a significant contribution to explaining emotional state at the beginning of the pandemic.

Cumulative cortisol exposure increases during the academic term: Links to performance-related and social-evaluative stressors

ObjectiveTo examine whether cumulative cortisol production changes during a period of increased demands when cortisol and stress are assessed concurrently. The study also compared stress perceptions vs. cumulative stressful events on their respective association with cortisol output. Finally, it explored whether certain types of stressful events, those involving school/job performance or social-evaluative threat, were linked to cortisol levels across multiple weeks. MethodThe current study assessed cumulative cortisol production via hair sample in 56 undergraduates (88 % female) during both lower stress (summer break) and higher stress (academic term) periods. During the latter, both negative events (checklist) and stress perceptions were assessed weekly, and these reports were aggregated across the 10-weeks to minimize retrospective bias. ResultsCortisol levels in hair samples were significantly higher (d = 0.84) during the academic term (M = 14.24 pg/mg, SD = 11.36) compared to summer break (M = 8.00 pg/mg, SD = 4.14), suggesting greater cumulative exposure to cortisol. Although perceived stress was not associated with cortisol levels (rpartial(53) = .10, p = 0.46), exposure to more stressful events (rpartial(53) = .27, p = 0.047), particularly events involving academic demands (rpartial(53) = .37, p = 0.006), or negative evaluation/social rejection (rpartial(53) = .27, p = 0.045), was positively associated with cumulative cortisol exposure. ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that cortisol levels in hair may be linked to cumulative exposure to stressors when measured concurrently (3 months), and that stressful events, rather than perceptions, are reflected in HPA axis activity. Real-world stressors involving performance demands and social-evaluative threat accumulate to enhance cortisol production, consistent with their acute HPA effects in the lab. Hair samples may provide a window into the past by allowing researchers to feasibly assess cortisol production before, during, and after the onset of a chronic stressor.

Stressful events and coping strategies associated with symptoms of depression: A Japanese general population survey

BackgroundThe following question remains open: what has the strongest impact on symptoms of depression, experiencing multiple stressful events, being exposed to a specific stressful event, or having a maladaptive coping style? MethodWe conducted a cross-sectional survey with face-to-face interviews. Data from 2559 randomly-sampled adults living in Japan were analyzed. The participants were asked about stressful events (12 items) experienced in the previous month and their stress-coping strategies (16 items). Presence of symptoms of depression was defined using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the associations of stressful events and stress-coping strategies with symptoms of depression. ResultsThe prevalence of symptoms of depression increased with the number of stressful events. Eight stressful events and five stress-coping strategies were positively associated with symptoms of depression. In the multiple logistic regression analysis for the items that showed a significant association with symptoms of depression, two stressful events (“Health/illness of self” and “Trouble with family members”) and two stress-coping strategies (“Smoking” and “Bearing without action”) remained significantly associated with symptoms of depression; however, the “dose effect” of the number of stressful events disappeared, suggesting that these stressful events and stress-coping strategies have a stronger association with symptoms of depression compared with experiencing multiple stressful events. LimitationsSince this study was cross-sectional in design, causal relationships could not be determined. ConclusionOur findings may indicate the importance of focusing on types of stressful events and coping styles in developing preventive strategies for major depression.

In search of stress odours across species: Behavioural responses of rats to faeces from chickens and rats subjected to various types of stressful events

Stressed animals have an increased risk of health and welfare problems, thus methods for easy and early stress detection are important for appropriate animal management. Using the ability of rats to distinguish between faeces odours from stressed and non-stressed conspecifics, we investigated whether rats could detect stress status in another species (the chicken), which would suggest a commonality in odorous stress signatures across species. We carried out four experiments to investigate the existence of stress-specific odours. In the first experiment using a T-maze, male Brown Norway (BN) rats (n=12) were found to sniff the faeces samples from stressed rats and chickens less relative to the samples from non-stressed individuals (P<0.05). In the second experiment, where odours were presented in an arena one at a time, male BN rats (n=16) sniffed faeces samples from stressed rats and chickens for longer than those from non-stressed controls (P<0.05). Within each test, the same responses to stress odours were seen independent of species of origin. This suggests that both in rats and chickens stress gives rise to specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In a third experiment, faeces from chickens, which had been stressed or non-stressed at hatching and subsequently exposed or not to acute stress at two weeks of age were tested on male BN rats (n=18). These rats were also tested with faeces from non-stressed and acutely stressed rats as well as herb odour (1-hexanol) used as control. Number of freezing episodes was higher when rats were exposed to any of the samples originating from stressed individuals compared to that observed with herb odour (P<0.05). Also, defensive burying was more likely to occur when rats were exposed to faeces from chickens stressed at hatching (P<0.05). Finally, a fourth trial analysed faecal samples from non-stressed and acutely stressed rats using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and identified ten VOCs potentially involved in the distinctive smell detectable in faeces from acutely stressed rats. These findings confirm the existence of stress-specific odours in rats and indicate that, although not necessarily identical, a similar type of odour may be present in stressed poultry. In addition, this odour could be detected by rats in chicken faeces collected almost two weeks after the birds had been exposed to a stressful event. Our results suggest that patterns of VOCs may have the potential to be used as a tool for early, non-invasive screening of stress status in animals.

Associations of borderline personality disorder traits with stressful events and emotional reactivity in women with bulimia nervosa.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) traits are common among those with bulimia nervosa (BN). However, how these traits impact the state experience of precipitants of BN behavior, such as stressful events and emotional reactivity, has not been determined. Thus, the purpose of this naturalistic study was to examine this trait-state association in BN. Women with DSM-IV BN (N = 133) completed a baseline measure of personality pathology traits, and subsequently recorded their affective state and the frequency and perception of 3 types of stressful events (interpersonal, work/environment, and daily hassles) several times per day for 2 weeks using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Pearson correlations assessed the associations between BPD traits (affective lability, identity problems, insecure attachment, and cognitive dysregulation) and (a) frequency of stressful events and (b) perception of stressful events. Generalized linear models (GLM) were used to evaluate the relationship between BPD traits and changes in negative affect following stressful events. Results revealed that while all traits were significantly associated with perceived stressfulness, certain BPD traits were significantly associated with the frequency of stressful events. Individuals with higher trait insecure attachment experienced larger increases in negative affect following interpersonal stressful events. These findings suggest that interventions focused on addressing stressful events and enhancing adaptive emotional responses to interpersonal events may be particularly useful for a subset of individuals with BN with BPD-related personality characteristics, including insecure attachment, affective lability, and identity problems. (PsycINFO Database Record

Family resilience – definition of construct and preliminary results of the Polish adaptation of the Family Resilience Assessment Scale (FRAS)

&lt;b&gt;Background&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt; The article describes construct of family resilience with the main focus on the model Walsh. The aim of this article is to present preliminary results: adaptation, reliability, statistical analyses of the Family Resilience Assessment Scale (FRAS) for the Polish population.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;Participants and procedure&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Participants (n = 329), aged 18-35, completed experimental Polish version of the FRAS (SPR – Skala Prężności Rodzinnej). In the procedure of adaptation, scale was translated and modified into Polish. Scale consists of the following subscales: Family Communication and Problem Solving, Utilizing Social and Economic Resources, Maintaining a Positive Outlook, Family Connectedness, Family Spirituality and Ability to Make Meaning of Adversity.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;Results&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt; The reliability of the experimental Polish version of the FRAS for the entire scale and five subscales are satisfactory. Only subscale Ability to Make Meaning of Adversity obtained reliability of less than 0.7. Taking into account the diversity of gender and declaring the passage through the difficult events were observed significant differences in the three scales: Family Communication and Problem Solving, Family Connectedness, Ability to Make Meaning of Adversity and total scale of FRAS.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;Conclusions&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt; The work on the questionnaire is still in progress and the results presented here should be considered as preliminary. In the next steps, the number of men should be increased in order to perform confirmatory factor analysis. Future studies should take into account a number of factors and contexts (e.g. family structure, social and cultural context and the type of stressful event).

Stress, coping and support needs of patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease: a qualitative descriptive study.

To examine disease-related stress, coping strategies and the need for information and support in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease). Psychological stress is an important factor in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and therefore, coping strategies and support needs should be considered in routine clinical practice. This is a qualitative study using a descriptive interview-based approach. Fifteen patients with ulcerative colitis (n=7) or Crohn's disease (n=8) were interviewed. The interviews were analysed with content analysis. The informants largely focused on disease-related stress (e.g. access to a toilet, symptoms and worries) and relations to other people (various reactions from others and social situations). Behavioural strategies (i.e. taking actions and the need for making plans, prepare and adapt), social strategies (seeking help and information and sharing feelings about the disease with others) and emotional strategies (distraction, positive attitude and acceptance) were adopted to cope with the stress associated with the disease. The need for information and support concerned instrumental support (disease-related information) and emotional support (to talk about disease management). Faecal urgency and the fear of losing bowel control are important stressors for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. The patients handle this problem using various coping strategies depending on the type of stressful events. Both instrumental and emotional support were requested which primarily occurred at the time of diagnosis and disease flare-ups. Patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease ask for information and psychosocial support that are tailored to their individual needs and at different stages in the disease trajectory to improve everyday life and strengthen self-management strategies.

Stress and Maternal Postpartum Depression: The Importance of Stress Type and Timing

Interest in identifying social risk factors for maternal postpartum depression has increased, with a growing emphasis placed on stress exposure. Despite increased interest, questions about the importance of lifetime stress exposure relative to stress surrounding childbirth, along with the importance of different types of stressful events, remain unanswered. The stress process model has gained prominence as a guiding framework for examining stress type and timing in studies of major depression and poor pregnancy outcomes, suggesting that this framework has the potential to advance our understanding of the relationship between stress exposure and depressive symptoms in postpartum women. Using in-person interviews and medical record data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (N = 4362), we draw on a stress process framework to examine: (1) whether lifetime acute stress exposure prior to pregnancy and birth is a risk factor for postpartum depression net of more proximate acute stressors occurring after pregnancy and birth, and (2) which types of stress (acute, chronic) are most salient for this outcome. Our results show that both acute stressors and chronic strains are independently associated with postpartum depression and acute stressors occurring prior to pregnancy and birth have long-lasting effects on postpartum mental health even when more proximate acute stressors are considered. Our findings underscore the need to more fully capture stressors and strains occurring throughout a woman’s life course with regard to postpartum depression, and suggest the importance of rooting postpartum research and screening in a stress process framework.

Type and timing of childhood maltreatment and severity of shutdown dissociation in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

Dissociation, particularly the shutting down of sensory, motor and speech systems, has been proposed to emerge in susceptible individuals as a defensive response to traumatic stress. In contrast, other individuals show signs of hyperarousal to acute threat. A key question is whether exposure to particular types of stressful events during specific stages of development can program an individual to have a strong dissociative response to subsequent stressors. Vulnerability to ongoing shutdown dissociation was assessed in 75 inpatients (46M/29F, M = 31±10 years old) with schizophrenia spectrum disorder and related to number of traumatic events experienced or witnessed during childhood or adulthood. The Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure (MACE) scale was used to collect retrospective recall of exposure to ten types of maltreatment during each year of childhood. Severity of shutdown dissociation was related to number of childhood but not adult traumatic events. Random forest regression with conditional trees indicated that type and timing of childhood maltreatment could predictably account for 31% of the variance (p < 0.003) in shutdown dissociation, with peak vulnerability occurring at 13-14 years of age and with exposure to emotional neglect followed by various forms of emotional abuse. These findings suggest that there may be windows of vulnerability to the development of shutdown dissociation. Results support the hypothesis that experienced events are more important than witnessed events, but challenge the hypothesis that “life-threatening” events are a critical determinant.

Patient-reported stressful events and coping strategies in post-menopausal women with breast cancer.

The objective of this paper was to explore what stressful events post-menopausal women with primary or recurrent breast cancer experience, how bothersome these events were and which coping strategies these women used. Data were collected from 131 patients diagnosed with primary or recurrent breast cancer. The Daily Coping Assessment was used. Thematic analysis was applied to form themes of stressful events. Six types of stressful events were extracted. The most frequently experienced events for women with primary cancer and those with recurrent cancer were 'distressing bodily symptoms'. The most bothersome event among primary cancer was 'everyday concerns' and in the recurrent group, 'distressing psychological reactions'. The most commonly used strategies were 'acceptance', 'distraction' and 'relaxation'. This study shows that women in different parts of the cancer trajectory differ in what they perceive to be stressful events when reporting them in their own words in a diary. The differences have an impact on the subsequent coping strategies they used.

Do positive or negative stressful events predict the development of new brain lesions in people with multiple sclerosis?

Stressful life events have long been suspected to contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS) disease activity. The few studies examining the relationship between stressful events and neuroimaging markers have been small and inconsistent. This study examined whether different types of stressful events and perceived stress could predict the development of brain lesions. This was a secondary analysis of 121 patients with MS followed for 48 weeks during a randomized controlled trial comparing stress management therapy for MS (SMT-MS) to a waitlist control (WLC). Patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans every 8 weeks. Every month, patients completed an interview measure assessing stressful life events and self-report measures of perceived stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, which were used to predict the presence of gadolinium-enhancing (Gd+) and T2 lesions on MRI scans 29-62 days later. Participants classified stressful events as positive or negative. Negative events were considered 'major' if they involved physical threat or threat to the patient's family structure, and 'moderate' otherwise. Positive stressful events predicted decreased risk for subsequent Gd+ lesions in the control group [odds ratio (OR) 0.53 for each additional positive stressful event, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.30-0.91] and less risk for new or enlarging T2 lesions regardless of group assignment (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.55-0.99). Across groups, major negative stressful events predicted Gd+ lesions (OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.18-2.64) and new or enlarging T2 lesions (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.11-2.23) whereas moderate negative stressful events, perceived stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms did not. Major negative stressful events predict increased risk for Gd+ and T2 lesions whereas positive stressful events predict decreased risk.

Life-event specificity: bipolar disorder compared with unipolar depression

Little is known about the impact of different types of stressful events (for example divorce v. bereavement) on unipolar depression compared with bipolar disorder. Inconsistencies exist concerning the association between independent events (beyond an individual's control, such as bereavement) and bipolar disorder. To examine the role of specific, independent and dependent events in mood disorders. Life-event information was collected from 512 people with bipolar disorder, 1448 people with unipolar depression and over 600 controls. Various events were associated with unipolar depression and bipolar disorder, but some event specificity was detected. For example, financial crisis was more strongly related to bipolar disorder rather than unipolar depression. Independent events were only related to unipolar depression and not bipolar disorder. The events that were linked to bipolar disorder and unipolar depression were similar. Independent events were not associated with bipolar episodes, suggesting that life stress may be a consequence of, rather than a trigger for, bipolar episodes.

Stressful events and severity of memory complaints in cognitively normal adults aged from 25 to 85 years

The relationships between subjective cognitive difficulties and stressful events (SE) have rarely been examined. Broadbent et al. (1982) suggested that such difficulties disclose a high sensitivity to stress, independently of depression and personality. To explore the relationships between the severity of memory complaints and SE occurred during the previous year. 260 cognitively normal subjects, aged from 25 to 85 years were examined in a Memory clinic through one year. The severity of memory complaints was globally assessed by asking the participants to qualify the intensity of their subjective difficulties as major or minor, and quantitatively, by using a 8-item subjective memory scale. SE were assessed by asking the subjects whether they experienced one or more events that had negative effects on their physic or mental well-being in the domains of health, family, social environment and financial position during the last 12 months. Affective status was assessed by the Zung's depression (ZD) and anxiety (ZA) scales, and by a Wellbeing questionnaire, QBE. Cognition was assessed using a semi-computerized battery exploring memory and several cognitive abilities. SE were reported in 156 subjects (60%). No differences were found between subjects with or without SE according to age, genre, familial status and activity, as well as cognitive performance. Subjects with SE reported more severe complaints and higher scores on ZD and ZA scales, and lower scores on the QBE. Severity of memory complaints was mainly correlated to QBE in subjects with SE and to ZA scale in subjects without. Subjects with age< 50 years reported more SE than subjects aged≥50 years. No difference was found between the two age groups according to the type of SE in the domain of health, family, and finances, but higher SE were reported in younger subjects in the domain of social environment. The main correlates of the severity of memory complaints were depression in younger subjects with or without SE, and anxiety in absence of SE and QBE in presence of SE in older subjects. However, the affective scores explained only a weak part of the variance of the severity of memory complaints. SE do not seem to play a direct role in the severity of memory complaints, but they increase the affective disturbances. We suggest that anxiety and various factors such as decrease in self-esteem and modification of self-identity result in a psychological vulnerability which contribute to memory complaints.

The stressor criterion for posttraumatic stress disorder: does it matter?

The definition of the stressor criterion (DSM criterion A1) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is hotly debated with major revisions being considered for DSM-5. We examine whether symptoms, course, and consequences of PTSD vary predictably with the type of stressful event that precipitates symptoms. We used data from the 2009 PTSD diagnostic subsample (N = 3,013) of women from the Nurses' Health Study II. We asked respondents about exposure to stressful events that qualified under DSM-III or DSM-IV or did not qualify under DSM criterion A1. Respondents selected the event they considered worst and reported subsequent PTSD symptoms. Among participants who met all other DSM-IV PTSD criteria, we compared distress, symptom severity, duration, impairment, receipt of professional help, and 9 physical, behavioral, and psychiatric sequelae (eg, physical functioning, unemployment, depression) by precipitating event group. Various assessment tools were used to determine fulfillment of PTSD criteria B through F and to assess these 14 outcomes. Participants with PTSD from DSM-III events reported, on average, 1 more symptom (DSM-III, mean = 11.8 symptoms; DSM-IV, mean = 10.7 [P < .001]; non-DSM, mean = 10.9 [P < .01]) and more often reported that symptoms lasted 1 year or longer compared to participants with PTSD from other groups (DSM-III vs DSM-IV, P < .01; DSM-III vs non-DSM, P < .001). However, sequelae of PTSD did not vary systematically with precipitating event type. Results indicate the stressor criterion as defined by the DSM may not be informative in characterizing PTSD symptoms and sequelae. In the context of ongoing DSM-5 revision, these results suggest that criterion A1 could be expanded in DSM-5 without much consequence for our understanding of PTSD phenomenology. Events not considered qualifying stressors under the DSM produced PTSD as consequential as PTSD following DSM-III events, suggesting PTSD may be an aberrantly severe but nonspecific stress response syndrome.

Cancer survivors' responses to daily stressors: Implications for quality of life.

This study examined cancer survivors' experience of and responses to challenges and stressors associated with everyday living. The impact of daily stressors on quality of life concerns and cortisol patterns was also investigated. Participants included 111 cancer survivors who participated in a national telephone diary study of daily experiences (National Study of Daily Experiences). Their responses were compared with those of 111 sociodemographically matched participants with no cancer history using a multilevel modeling approach. Over an 8-day period, participants completed a daily inventory of the occurrence and impact of stressful events, affect, and physical symptoms. Salivary cortisol was sampled four times per day, and indices of awakening response (cortisol awakening response), diurnal slope, and overall output (area under the curve) were examined. Cancer survivors experienced similar numbers and types of stressful events as the comparison group. Although appraisals were largely comparable, cancer survivors showed a modest tendency to perceive stressors as more severe and disruptive, particularly those involving interpersonal tensions. The occurrence of stressors was associated with increased negative affect, decreased positive affect, and increased physical symptoms, but little change in cortisol. Relative to the comparison group, cancer survivors showed less pronounced changes in positive affect and cortisol output when stressors occurred, but a greater increase in negative affect in response to interpersonal conflicts. Findings indicate that cancer survivors show a resilient ability to respond to day-to-day stressors and challenges. However, daily stressors can have a significant impact on survivors' mood and physical symptoms and therefore may be an important intervention target.

Stress and Emotional Reactivity as Explanations for Gender Differences in Adolescents’ Depressive Symptoms

In this longitudinal study, we examined whether certain types of stressful events and how individuals respond to these events would explain gender differences in depressive symptoms among adolescents. We hypothesized that certain stressful events would mediate the relationship between gender and depressive symptoms. We also hypothesized that individual differences in emotional reactivity would impact part of this relationship. Lastly, we examined whether gender differences in early childhood temperament might explain gender differences in emotional reactivity in adolescence. We examined these hypotheses in a sample of 315 adolescents (51% females; 93% Caucasian; 3% African-American; and 1% each Hispanic, Asian-American, and Native American) participating in a longitudinal study of child development since birth. We used multiple regression and constrained nonlinear regression to analyze the data. Results indicated that stressful events significantly mediated gender differences in depression, and that individual differences in emotional reactivity to these stressors significantly moderated the relationship between stress and depression. We also observed significant gender differences in emotional reactivity to these stressors; temperamental differences in withdrawal negativity in infancy were marginally significant in mediating gender differences in emotional reactivity to stress in adolescence.

Ecological momentary assessment of affect, stress, and binge‐purge behaviors: Day of week and time of day effects in the natural environment

The present study examined ecological momentary assessments of binge/vomit behavior, mood, and type and severity of stressors in a sample of 133 women with bulimia nervosa. Participants completed an ecological momentary assessment protocol for a period of 2 weeks. Mixed-effects and multilevel logistic models revealed significant variation across time of day and day of the week in the occurrence of binging, vomiting, positive and negative affect, and the severity and types of stressful events. These findings explicate how momentary and daily experiences vary in the natural environments of women with bulimia nervosa, and document critical time periods for intervention.

Stress and coping responses to a natural disaster in people with schizophrenia

Investigations of how individuals with schizophrenia differ from non-patients in their responses to stressful life events are subject to the criticism that any between-group differences might merely reflect differences in the types of stressful events that each group experiences. This report presents new analyses of data collected from schizophrenia patients ( n = 96), bipolar disorder patients ( n = 18), and healthy controls ( n = 18) immediately after the Northridge Earthquake that struck Southern California in 1994, a natural experiment that confronted all groups with the same stressful event. Participants completed the Impact of Events Scale (IES; [Horowitz, M.J., Wilner, N., Alvarez, W., 1979. Impact of Events Scale. A measure of subjective stress. Psychosomatic Medicine 41, 209–218]) at 1 week and 5 weeks post-earthquake. At the 5-week follow-up, measures of coping, social support, and self-esteem were also completed. Both patient groups reported higher IES avoidance symptoms than controls immediately after the earthquake. The schizophrenia group also reported lower approach coping, self-esteem, and social support than controls, with the bipolar group reporting intermediate levels. Within the schizophrenia group, higher levels of avoidance coping predicted higher residual stress symptoms at follow-up. Results support the validity of prior reports of altered responses to stressful life events in schizophrenia and demonstrate the clinical relevance of individual differences in coping among affected individuals.