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PubMed1998

Early parental loss, recent life events, and changes in health among older adults.

The purpose of this study is to see whether older adults who lost a parent early in life are more vulnerable to the effects of recent stressful events than elderly people who were raised in an intact home. Data from a nationwide longitudinal survey of older adults provide support for this view. The findings indicate that the combined effects of early parental loss and recent stressful events are associated with a decline over time in global self-rated health, as well as the number of chronic and acute conditions. In contrast, significant effects failed to emerge with functional disability. This study contributes to the literature by suggesting that only certain kinds of recent events (i.e., stressors arising in highly valued roles) act in concert with early parental loss to compromise health in late life.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1980

The multidimensional assessment of stressful life events.

This study examined the multidimensionality of life event changes as measured by the widely used Schedule of Recent Events. A factor analysis based on 353 alcohol and drug abuse patients identified six distinct clusters: a) personal and social activities; b) work changes; c) marital problems; d) residence changes; e) family issues; and f) school changes. Significant correlations were found between the six factors and the Cornell Medical Index, measures of psychopathology, demographic characteristics, and alcohol and/or drug-related problems. Advantages of considering the six homogeneous factor scales over the Schedule of Recent Events total score were evident in higher correlations with substantively relevant variables. The six factors provided empirical support for the multidimensional assessment of life event changes. Future research should emphasize the use of multiple scale instruments that provide more specific indices of life changes.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Resources, life events, and changes in positive affect and depression in older adults.

Hypotheses from a prospective conceptual framework were tested on a sample of 1,166 adults, age 55 and older, who were interviewed three times at 6-month intervals. Older adults with stronger resources had significantly more positive psychological states initially than those with weaker resources, and this advantage was maintained regardless of the levels of life events. There were significant main effects for desirable events and for undesirable events. Those with higher desirable events showed less decline in positive affect. Contrary to the "booster" hypothesis, there was no significant interaction between resources and desirable events. There was a significant interaction between resources and undesirable events on depression but detailed analyses showed that increases in depression over time were limited to the combined condition of weak resources and high levels of undesirable events. Weak resource persons with low or moderate undesirable events, in fact, showed modest improvements in depression.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

Changes in daily hassles and life events and the relationship with coronary heart disease risk factors: a 2-year longitudinal study in 27-29-year-old males and females.

To investigate the relationship between changes in daily hassles and life events and biological (lipoproteins, blood pressure, body fat, and body fat distribution) and lifestyle (physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption) risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) 166 subjects were measured twice, at 27 and 29 years of age. The results showed that changes in daily hassles were positively related to changes in lipoprotein levels, daily physical activity, and to smoking behavior. These relationships were more pronounced for subjects with a "rigid" coping style and subjects with type A behavior. Changes in life events were also positively related to lipoprotein levels, but only for subjects with a "rigid" coping style and only when the subjective appraisal of life events was taken into account. It was concluded that the relationships seemed to be mediated by different coping styles and type A behavior, that daily hassles were more important in these relationships than life events, and that the relationships with biological CHD risk factors were not influenced by lifestyle.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1987

In support of hassles as a measure of stress in predicting health outcomes.

We investigated the impact of frequently occurring minor stressors (hassles) upon health status in a sample of low-income, elderly persons with osteoarthritis. These individuals are characterized by conditions which are precursors to experiencing stress. Using a modified Hassles scale, we replicated some important findings in a sample demographically distinct from earlier studies on hassles. Specifically, hassles were better predictors of health status than major life change events, and the influence of life change events was indirect, i.e., it increased hassles, which in turn, negatively affected health status. Furthermore, hassles correlated strongly with validated indicators of health status. By replicating earlier studies in a demographically dissimilar sample, and by finding significant correlations between hassles and valid physical health measures, we have strengthened the conceptual development of hassles.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Biography becomes autobiography: distorting the subjective past.

This work addresses whether creating a biographical sketch for a fictional adolescent can increase confidence that one personally experienced these details in adolescence (memory distortion) and whether susceptibility to such distortion (depends on whether adolescence is considered part of one's subjective past or subjective present. We divided the subjective past and present using the point at which a person experienced the last life event that changed his or her personality significantly. We operationalized the subjective past as events associated with the period before the last life-changing event and the subjective present as events associated with the period after that event. Participants' confidence in their own autobiographical memory increased after they wrote a brief story about a fictional character. This increase occurred only for those who considered adolescence to be part of their subjective past. These results indicate that subjective time (in addition to objective time) may be a valuable factor in determining who is susceptible to memory distortion. We discuss these findings in terms of familiarity attribution and source monitoring.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Life stress, social support and psychological distress in late adolescence: a longitudinal study.

Questionnaire data from 211 adolescents and follow-up data recorded 18 months later were employed to test main effects and stress-buffering effects of negative life events, on-going stressors and social support from family and friends on mental health. Negative life events, change from baseline level of on-going adversities and social support all contributed significantly to subsequent symptom scores, although negative life events only reached borderline significance among boys. There was evidence in favour of the buffer hypothesis for boys: negative life events had a significantly stronger effect when social support from peers was low, and long-lasting adversities had a significantly stronger effect when social support from parents was low. Both these two-way interaction effects among boys were significantly different from the corresponding trends among girls. Since the scores on both the independent and dependent variables are based on subjective self-reports, the results may have been affected by various types of response bias. The probabilities of such bias effects are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1996

Process, life events, and symptomatic change in brief eclectic psychotherapy.

Brief eclectic psychotherapy was intensively studied using a time series approach to interrelate intrasessional processes, life events, and intermediate outcomes. The alliance demonstrated large global effects on outcome whereas therapist-rated high quality sessions preceded decreases in intersessional symptom levels (intermediate outcomes). Negative life events and negative intrasessional emotional experiences (rejection and dysphoria) anteceded increases in intersessional symptoms. Changes in subjective life events were associated with preceding intrasessional processes. It appeared that process might partially exercise its outcome effects by influencing patients' experience of their daily lives, which in turn, influenced intersessional symptom levels. Insight apparently occurred at the culmination of a 3-step process that was not directly related to symptom reduction. It was speculated that insight may function to consolidate therapeutic change. Relationships among other process measures were also described.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Control, desirability, and anticipation as moderating variables between life change and illness.

A growing body of literature supports a relationship between life change events and illness. The present study is an investigation of cognitive processes which moderate the life change-illness relationship. The moderator variables chosen for this study were perceived control, desirability, and anticipation of life change events. One hundred and twenty-six subjects (65 males, 61 females) reported illness using the Seriousness of Illness Rating Scale, and life change events using the Schedule of Recent Experiences, adapted to collect data on the moderator variables. Correlation coefficients were computed for all conditions reflecting the presence of positive and negative moderator variables. Each of the negative moderator variables was related to significant changes (p less than .05 and p less than .01) in the strength of the life change-illness relationship, with perceived control emerging as a variable with the greatest impact in all cases. Two unexpected findings emerged: (1) The relationship between life change and illness was much stronger for females than for males in all comparisons, and (2) for females only, desirable events were positively related to illness. The evidence of this study supports the contention that stress management strategies should include considerations of cognitive variables which moderate the life change-illness relationship.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Dual-earner families' stress levels and personal and life-style-related variables.

This study investigated personal and life-style-related variables and stress levels in dual-earner families in the preschool stage of family development. The sample was composed of 92 families receiving child day care through a major day care provider in the Upper Midwest. The Family Inventory of Life Events and Changes was used to measure the family stress level. The majority of dual-earner families in this sample were experiencing a moderate level of family stress based on national stress level norms calculated for families in the preschool stage of development. Parental age and age of children were statistically related to the family stress level. Life-style-related variables statistically significant in this study were amount of income and satisfaction with income level, satisfaction with child care, and flexibility in vacation scheduling. Parents who could easily schedule vacations during the same time period had significantly lower family stress levels than parents who had difficulty scheduling vacations together, p less than .003. Additionally, parents who reported being forced to take separate vacations because of their work schedules had statistically higher scores on family stress than parents who had never had to take separate vacations because of work schedules, p less than .002.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Spouse adaptation to mate's CABG surgery: 1-year follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe spouses' life stressors, supports, perceptions of illness severity, role strain, physical and mental symptoms of stress, and marital quality 1 year after the mate's coronary artery bypass graft surgery. METHODS: This descriptive study was the third component of a longitudinal panel investigation. (The first component was a period within 48 hours of surgery, and the second was 6 weeks after discharge.) One year after the mate's surgery, spouses received the following instruments in the mail: the Family Inventory of Life Events and Changes, the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire, the Cantril Ladder Scale, the Strain Questionnaire, the Role Strain Scale and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Subjects were a convenience sample of 49 women whose husbands were alive 1 year after their first bypass surgery. Of the women in the sample (n = 49), 98% were white, and the mean age was 56 years. RESULTS: Social support was moderate and significantly less 1 year after surgery than during the first two components (48 hours and 6 weeks after surgery). Women still perceived their husbands to have some illness severity 1 year after surgery. They continued to have physical and mental symptoms of stress and had significantly greater role strain than during the first two periods. Marital quality was average. Spouses reported making several life-style changes. DISCUSSION: During the first year after the patient's bypass surgery, spouses experienced many changes. Although physical and mental symptoms of stress remained the same, role strain increased and social support decreased. The findings suggest testing of such interventions as stress management and time management techniques, support groups, and other psychoeducational interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Although the situation remains difficult for the spouse 1 year after the patient's surgery, nurses and physicians can foster and support spouses through many adjustments and changes.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1988

[The correlation of psychosocial stress and disease activity in patients with Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis].

The following study examines the correlation of psychosocial stress and disease activity in patients suffering from chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. 70 patients with Crohn's disease and 44 patients with ulcerative colitis took part in this study. Using an inventory for the registration of life-changing events, psychosocial life-events of the last 24 months were inquired. The disease activity was registered by an activity index created for this particular purpose. Due to the formulation of the question, pure subjective data were not considered. With regard to the social data, the two samples can very well be compared with other epidemiological studies. For the group of Crohn-patients, a significant correlation between psychosocial stress and a subsequent increased disease activity was demonstrated. Surprisingly, the group of patients with ulcerative colitis did not show this correlation.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Life events and substance use among adolescents: mediating effects of perceived loss of control and meaninglessness in life.

Throughout history, alcohol and other drugs have been used to provide relief in times of stress and frustration. Research has confirmed this association between disruptive life change events and substance use. It was hypothesized that two psychological constructs facilitate and mediate this relation between stress and substance use. Uncontrollable stress (negative life change events) was assumed to create a sense of loss of control, which in turn engendered a decreased level of meaning in life. This meaninglessness in life, experienced as distressful and uncomfortable, is then treated or medicated with various drug substances. This theoretical sequential model was tested in two separate studies with independent samples of adolescents (one sample collected by the Rutgers University and the other collected by the University of California, Los Angeles [UCLA]) using latent variable structural models. The Rutgers sample was cross-sectional, whereas the UCLA sample provided longitudinal data. Results supported the theoretical hypothesis that Perceived Loss of Control and Meaninglessness mediate the relation between Uncontrollable Stress and Substance Use. In the Rutgers data, the association between stress and drug use was clearly accounted for by the mediating constructs; in other words, no direct path was necessary to explain the relation between stress and general drug use. However, in the UCLA data there remained a direct influence of Uncontrollable Stress on Substance Use after accounting for the significant impact of the mediating constructs. Five other competing models were tested; four were rejected empirically, and the other was accepted, although it was less theoretically based than the mediational model.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Fall-off in reporting life events: effects of life change, desirability, and anticipation.

The influence of event characteristics on recall was examined by directly comparing fall-off in reporting life events as a function of life change, desirability, and anticipation. We collected information from a sample of 1,669 blue-collar workers on stressful life events that occurred in a 1-year interval before the questionnaire was administered. The results indicated no fall-off in reporting events associated with marked life changes (ie, salient events). In contrast, significant fall-off was observed for events characterized by varying degrees of desirability and anticipation. Although ratings of desirability and saliency were not independent, saliency of life events emerged as the dimension most closely associated with accuracy of event reporting. Research on the reliability of measures of life events and the association between event characteristics and illness should consider the kinds of systematic reporting differences observed here.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Stress and the urge to drink.

OBJECTIVE: Understanding why people drink alcohol is important for the health and safety of individuals and the public. The aim of this study was to examine from a cognitive point of view the hypothesized link between drinking and stress. METHODS: 25 scenarios were constructed by combining two items, either two life-change events or a social situation and an emotional state. In the initial three experiments, 159 male and 43 female alcoholics and 157 male and 93 female nonalcoholics in France judged the degree to which these scenarios were stressful and subsequently the degree to which they stimulated an urge to drink. In the final experiment, 126 of the male alcoholics were studied at the beginning and end of an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation program. RESULTS: The alcoholics and nonalcoholics, regardless of gender, assigned similar stress values to the scenarios and used the same cognitive rules for combining the stress associated with two items (disjunctive rules for two life-change events and additive ones for a personal emotion combined with a social situation). They differed, however, in how they judged the urge to drink. The nonalcoholics reported little stimulus to drink from any combination of items, whereas the alcoholics not only perceived the individual items as stimulating an urge to drink but also used the same cognitive rule in judging the combined urge to drink of two items as they used in judging the combined stress. After completing rehabilitation, the alcoholics judged the combinations of life-change events as stimulating less stress and less urge to drink. Nevertheless, they continued to use a disjunctive combination rule. CONCLUSIONS: Stress and drinking are linked at a fundamental cognitive level among alcoholics, though not among nonalcoholics. Alcoholics should be helped to recognize this link, to reduce their feelings of stress, and to find outlets other than drink.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Coping behaviour and degree of discrepancy between retrospective and prospective self-ratings of change in quality of life in type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Quality of life and metabolic control were examined in 74 adults with Type 1 diabetes mellitus in 1988. Sixty-six of the persons were followed up in 1990 with the aim of studying more closely the subgroup that showed a 'major' discrepancy between 'retrospective' and 'prospective' quality of life change ratings. 'Prospective' quality of life change was defined as the difference in assessed quality of life status between 1990 and 1988. 'Retrospective' quality of life change was assessed directly by subjects in 1990 covering the same time period. Data on quality of life, well-being, sociodemographics and metabolic control were collected on both occasions. Recent life-change events and long-term complications were also recorded in 1990. Subjects with 'major' discrepancy reported greater retrospective quality of life improvement, higher quality of life, and greater well-being, as well as lesser occurrence of negative and greater occurrence of positive recent life-change events, than did those with 'minor' discrepancy, despite their exhibiting poorer metabolic control and a higher prevalence of incipient nephropathy. The results are discussed in terms of possible coping and defence strategies.

Adaptation, Psychological↗