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 (M age = 20) and 116 older (M age = 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.     

On anxiety-specific actions of tranquilizers

Abstract

This study examined the role of social support in the relationship between work demand and psychological distress (GHQ 12) in correctional officers (N=419), a high stress occupational group. Work demands were positively associated with strain. There was no evidence that social support buffered the negative impact of work demands. Rather, consistent with most previous research findings, support showed direct benefits and these were discussed in the context of worker participation and control. The hypothesis that officers high in negative affectivity, as measured by trait anxiety would show greater reactivity to work demands was not supported. However, trait anxiety appeared to inflate the relationship between work stressors (work demand and work support) and psychological distress supporting recent suggestions that the role of trait anxiety in occupational stress should not be disregarded. Trait anxiety combined additively with work demand to predict individual differences in psychological distress, however social support moderated the impact of trait anxiety on strain.     

Daily Reports of Stress,Mood, and Physical Health in Middle Childhood

Most empirical work examining stress in children focuses on major life events, like divorce of parents, while fewer studies consider the role of daily stressors, or the routine challenges of day-to-day living. Existing work on children’s daily stress is lacking such that it primarily: (1) focuses on children who are ill, disabled, or who face significant environmental risks, (2) relies on retrospective reports, (3) relies on parent or teacher reports of stressors experienced by children, or (4) does not comprehensively examine the role of stress on mood and health. In the current study, we explored daily experiences of stress, mood, and physical health symptoms across five consecutive days in 25 children between 8 and 10 years old. Results showed that children reported a variety of types of stressors, and that more stressors were reported by older children, girls, and on weekdays compared to weekends. Daily reports of stress were linked to same day reports of physical health symptoms but not mood, however the presence of both negative mood and daily stress was associated with even more same day health symptoms. This study extends prior work by examining children’s stress at the daily level as well as relying on children’s self-reports of their stress, mood, and physical health symptoms.     

Trait Self‐Control Predicts Adolescents’ Exposure and Reactivity to Daily Stressful Events

The current study used an influence model of personality and stress processes to examine the association between individual differences in trait self‐control and daily stress exposure and reactivity in adolescent youth. A total of 129 adolescents (M_age = 14.7 years, 59% female) completed individual difference measures of self‐control, neuroticism, and measures of responses to stress. Participants then reported on daily stressful events, stress severity, mood, coping, and mindlessness (a predictor of acting on impulse) for 14 consecutive days. Self‐control predicted less exposure to daily stress, less reactivity to daily stress, and more adaptive responses to stress. Specifically, adolescents with higher self‐control experienced fewer daily stressors and reported lower stress severity, particularly when daily mindlessness was high. Second, adolescents with higher self‐control reported less mindlessness in response to daily stress relative to those with lower self‐control, but they did not show differences in emotional reactivity to stress. Finally, results also offered evidence for an indirect effect of problem‐focused coping strategies between self‐control and emotional reactivity to stress. The current investigation illustrates the importance of trait self‐control in daily stress processes among adolescents and suggests possible mechanisms through which self‐control confers these positive effects.     

Daily Hassles and African American Adolescent Females�� Psychological Functioning: Direct and Interactive Associations with Gender Role Orientation

Given that stressors may accumulate across the life span, the extent to which daily hassles are associated with African American females?? psychological functioning during the adolescent years remains an important question. Understanding the potential impact of daily hassles is important due to indications that African American women report greater daily hassles and have higher incidence rates of stress-related disorders. The current study examines the relationship between daily hassles and psychological functioning (e.g., depression and anxiety symptoms) among 103 U.S. African American adolescent females (M?=?15.50; SD?=?1.70) residing in a moderately-sized Midwestern city. Additionally, this investigation explores gender role orientation as a moderator of this relationship. Results indicated that increased daily hassles were associated with greater depressive and anxiety symptoms. Also, this investigation provides some support for the direct and moderating role of gender role orientation. A greater feminine or androgynous role orientation was associated with fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms. In addition, although not directly associated, this investigation indicated that a masculine role orientation moderated the association between daily hassles and girls?? psychological outcomes. Specifically, among African American adolescent females with a greater masculine role orientation, increased daily hassles were associated with reduced psychological functioning (e.g., greater depressive and anxiety symptoms). Neither feminine nor androgynous role orientation, however, moderated the relationship between daily hassles and psychological functioning (e.g., depressive and anxiety symptoms). Implications of findings are discussed.     

Normal aging dampens the link between intrusive thoughts and negative affect in reaction to daily stressors

We charted daily variations in intrusive thoughts to gain access to adult age differences in affective reactivity to daily stressors. On 100 days, 101 younger and 103 older adults reported stressors, intrusive thoughts, and negative affect. Although increments in intrusive thoughts were similar in both age groups on days with stressors, older adults' negative affect increased less than younger adults' on such days. In addition, (a) levels of intrusive thoughts and negative affect across study time were positively associated; (b) days with increased thoughts were days with increased negative affect; and (c) experiencing above-average intrusive thoughts about stressors strengthened affective reactions to stress. Relative to younger adults, all three associations were reduced in older adults. We tentatively conclude that normal aging dampens the stress-induced link between intrusive thoughts and affect. This dampening may contribute to preserved affective well-being and reduced affective reactivity to daily stress in old age.     

Examining the effects of perceived social support on momentary mood and symptom reports in asthma and arthritis patients

Objective: Social support has been linked to beneficial effects on health directly (main effect) and as a buffer to stress. Most research, however, has examined these relationships using global and retrospective assessments of health and stress, which may be subject to recall biases. This study used ambulatory ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods to test the main and stress-buffering effects of social support on the daily health and well-being of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

Design: Community volunteers with asthma (n?=?97) or RA (n?=?31) responded to EMA prompts five times daily for one week.

Main outcomes: Baseline perceived social support was obtained, and then, participants reported mood, stress and symptoms using EMA. Multilevel mixed-modelling examined whether social support predicted mood and symptoms directly or via stress-reducing effects.

Results: Supporting a main effect, more perceived social support predicted decreased negative mood and stress severity. Supporting a stress-buffering effect, more perceived social support resulted in fewer reported symptoms when stress was present.

Conclusion: Results suggest perceived social support directly relates to better ambulatory status and dynamically buffers individuals against the negative effects of stressors, and highlight the importance of studying social support across different temporal and contextual levels.     

Children's and parents' daily stressful events and psychological symptoms

Associations of children's daily stressful events and their parents' daily hassles and psychological symptoms with children's emotional/behavioral problems were examined in a sample of fourth- and fifth-grade children and their parents. Correlational analyses indicated that children's self-reports of depressive symptoms were associated with children's daily stressors and mothers' daily hassles, and children's self-reports of anxiety symptoms were associated with children's daily stressors and both mothers' and fathers' daily hassles. Mothers' and fathers' reports of their children's internalizing emotional/behavioral problems were correlated with mothers' and fathers' daily stressors and symptoms. Hierarchical multiple-regression analyses revealed that (a) children's self-reports of depressive symptoms were associated with children's daily stressors, (b) children's self-reports of anxiety symptoms were associated with their parents' daily hassles, (c) mothers' reports of their children's internalizing emotional/behavioral problems were marginally associated with parents' symptoms, and (d) fathers' reports of their children's internalizing emotional/behavioral problems were associated with parents' symptoms and children's self-reports of daily stressors.     

Physiological and psychological reactivity in women with asthma: the effects of anxiety and menstrual cycle phase.

The relation between menstrual cycle timing, panic attacks, and diagnosis of asthma was explored in this study. Women with or without asthma and with or without a history of panic attacks engaged in a psychophysiological task during either the intermenstrual or premenstrual cycle phase and completed self-report measures of menstrual symptoms and attitudes, general psychological symptoms, and attitudes toward illness. No significant differences were identified for psychological or psychophysiological measures with menstrual cycle phase as a factor. However, women with both asthma and a history of panic attacks reported more general psychological distress than women in the other groups, and more state anxiety than controls. Women in the asthma, asthma and panic, and panic groups reported higher anxiety sensitivity than the control group. After listening to asthma-related scenes, women with asthma exhibited a decrease in peak expiratory air flow, and women with asthma and panic exhibited increased skin conductance response magnitude. Implications for the role of anxiety in lung function are discussed, as well as directions for future research with asthma and anxiety populations.     

Irrational Beliefs and Emotionality in Adolescents with and without Bronchial Asthma

Asthmatic adolescents (N = 129) between the ages of 12 and 18 were assembled into three groups on the basis of severity of illness and were compared with each other and with a fourth group of 74 healthy, nonasthmatic adolescents. Differences in selective cognitive (irrational beliefs) and emotional (anxiety, depression, and hostility) characteristics were examined. Multivariate analysis indicated that irrational beliefs in the importance of approval and the lack of control of emotions, along with self-reported anxiety, depression, or hostility, were strongly associated with disease severity. Whereas adolescents with mild asthma closely resembled the physically healthy comparison group, adolescents with moderate and severe asthma exhibited a cognitive-emotional complex that can be described as maladaptive or dysfunctional. Implications of these results for the treatment of asthma are discussed.     

Anxiety and Asthma Symptoms in Urban Adolescents with Asthma: The Mediating Role of Illness Perceptions

Twenty to 40% of adolescents with asthma experience significant symptoms of anxiety. This study examined the mediational role of illness perceptions in the relationship between anxiety and asthma symptoms in adolescents. One hundred fifty-one urban adolescents (ages 11–18) with asthma completed measures of illness perceptions, and anxiety and asthma symptoms. Using the Baron and Kenny approach and Sobel tests, we examined whether illness perceptions mediated the anxiety-asthma symptom relationship. Three illness perceptions significantly mediated the relationship between anxiety and asthma symptoms, z = 1.97–2.13, p < .05; adjusted R ² = 0.42–0.51, p < .05. Greater anxiety symptoms were associated with perceptions that asthma negatively impacted one’s life and emotions and was difficult to control. These negative illness perceptions were, in turn, related to greater asthma symptoms. Illness perceptions helped explain the anxiety-asthma symptoms link in adolescents. Results suggest that targeting illness perceptions in adolescents with asthma and anxiety may help reduce asthma symptoms.     

Reliability and validity of the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) across samples of Mexican,Mexican American,and European American children: a preliminary investigation1 Table of means,standard deviations,and correlations of the RCMAS indicators are available from the first author upon request.

Abstract

The relationship between work and home-based stressors in predicting burnout symptoms was examined amongst 120 drug and alcohol service employees. Staff who reported high levels of burnout on the Maslach Burnout Inventory across all three scales of Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization and Personal Accomplishment were compared with a sample of low burnout employees. High burnout was associated with younger age, larger agency size, high levels of total work stressors, work overload, and daily hassles and a lower level of peer cohesion. Regression analyses revealed that male gender, younger age, work overload, role ambiguity and daily hassles were significant predictors of Emotional Exhaustion. Younger age was also a significant predictor of Depersonalization. Marked differences were found in the way in which males and females responded to work and non-work stressors and the interaction between these variables. For women, a significant interaction was found between total work stressors and home-based stressors in the prediction of Emotional Exhaustion and a trend in this direction was evident for Depersonalization. Low levels of home problems appeared to protect women from the adverse impact of work stressors. The burnout levels of women were relatively unaffected by work stressors, unless home stressors were also high. The level of daily hassles had a direct effect upon symptoms of Emotional Exhaustion, but did not interact with work stressors in predicting Emotional Exhaustion for women. Burnout levels of male employees on Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization scales were strongly linked to the level of work stressors and were not predicted by total home stressors nor the interaction between these variables. Symptoms of Emotional Exhaustion in males were predicted by severity of daily hassles, but this variable did not interact with work stressors in predicting Emotional Exhaustion.     

Trait anxiety, work demand, social support and psychological distress in correctional officers

Abstract This study examined the role of social support in the relationship between work demand and psychological distress (GHQ 12) in correctional officers (N=419), a high stress occupational group. Work demands were positively associated with strain. There was no evidence that social support buffered the negative impact of work demands. Rather, consistent with most previous research findings, support showed direct benefits and these were discussed in the context of worker participation and control. The hypothesis that officers high in negative affectivity, as measured by trait anxiety would show greater reactivity to work demands was not supported. However, trait anxiety appeared to inflate the relationship between work stressors (work demand and work support) and psychological distress supporting recent suggestions that the role of trait anxiety in occupational stress should not be disregarded. Trait anxiety combined additively with work demand to predict individual differences in psychological distress, however social support moderated the impact of trait anxiety on strain.     

Gender Differences in Problem Drinking and Depression: Different “Vulnerabilities?”

This study examines the relationship between stressors and resources and the functioning of a sample of 515 men and women who had a drinking problem. At a one-year follow-up, both women and men had improved on three functioning measures: alcohol consumption, days intoxicated, and depression. There were no gender differences at Time 2 on alcohol consumption, but men had more days intoxicated and women had more symptoms of depression. The impact of stressors and resources varied by life domain, functioning criterion, and gender. Although the predictors varied, the amount of variance in depression accounted for was the same for women and men. The most striking gender difference was the stronger impact of friendships for women on all aspects of functioning. This study provides support for reconsideration of the stress vulnerability of women and men.     

The direct and interactive effects of neuroticism and life stress on the severity and longitudinal course of depressive symptoms

The direct and interactive effects of neuroticism and stressful life events (chronic and episodic stressors) on the severity and temporal course of depression symptoms were examined in 826 outpatients with mood and anxiety disorders, assessed on 3 occasions over a 1-year period (intake and 6- and 12-month follow-ups). Neuroticism, chronic stress, and episodic stress were uniquely associated with intake depression symptom severity. A significant interaction effect indicated that the strength of the effect of neuroticism on initial depression severity increased as chronic stress increased. Although neuroticism did not have a significant direct effect on the temporal course of depression symptoms, chronic stress significantly moderated this relationship such that neuroticism had an increasingly deleterious effect on depression symptom improvement as the level of chronic stress over follow-up increased. In addition, chronic stress (but not episodic stress) over follow-up was uniquely predictive of less depression symptom improvement. Consistent with a stress generation framework, however, initial depression symptom severity was positively associated with chronic stress during follow-up. The results are discussed in regard to diathesis-stress conceptual models of emotional disorders and the various roles of stressful life events in the onset, severity, and maintenance of depressive psychopathology.     

Childhood stress: Perceptions of children and professionals

An assessment instrument was developed to measure children's perceptions of stressors in their lives, as well as their experiences and emotional reactions to these stressors. Two approaches from the adult literature, major life events and daily hassles, were compared for children. In addition, a comparison between children's and professionals' ratings of the severity of various stressors was made, as well as an examination of the relationship of experience and self-reported reaction to children's ratings. Results indicate that children's ratings of the severity of stressors do differ from adults', particularly when children have experienced the stressor. Further investigation in the study of childhood stress incorporating children's perceptions is proposed.     

Trait anxiety moderation of the effects of life stress on state anxiety

Many theories of anxiety have predicted and much previous research has indicated a person × situation interaction between stressors and trait anxiety. This study examined the hypothesized role of individual differences in trait anxiety in the relationship between naturally occurring stressors and state anxiety scores. Two hundred eighty-seven college undergraduates completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, which provides both state and trait anxiety measures, and the Life Experiences Survey, which provides a measure of the amount of stress a person has undergone in the previous year. Trait anxiety scores were divided into quartiles and correlations between state anxiety scores and Life Experiences Survey scores and multiple regressions for trait anxiety and life stress to predict state anxiety were computed within each quartile. The results were that only in the first quartile was there a significant correlation between life stress and state anxiety, which was contrary to the predictions of state-trait anxiety theory. The validity of state-trait anxiety theory, as it relates to life stress, was questioned.     

GENDER AS A MODERATOR OF THE RELATION BETWEEN RACE-RELATED STRESS AND MENTAL HEALTH SYMPTOMS FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS

The present study tested gender as a moderator of the relationship between race-related stress and mental health symptoms among African American adults. Because African American women are exposed to stressors associated with race and gender, we hypothesized that African American women would have higher levels of race-related stress and more severe mental health outcomes related to experiences of race-related stress compared to African American men. Multivariate analyses revealed that African American men had higher stress appraisals for institutional racism than did women. No significant gender differences were found for cultural and individual racism. Moderated regression analyses revealed that increases in stress appraisals for individual racism were associated with increases in anxiety and obsessive-compulsive symptoms for African American women. Race-related stress had no significant effects on mental health symptoms for African American men. The findings suggest that gender is an important factor in determining the impact of race-related stress on mental health.     

A comparison of primary stressors, secondary stressors, and depressive symptoms between elderly caregiving husbands and wives: the Caregiver Health Effects Study

The present study examined gender differences in the experience of primary and secondary caregiving stressors, depressive symptoms, and their interrelationships using a sample of 283 elderly spouse caregivers (145 women, 138 men). Two primary stressors, two secondary stressors, and depressive symptoms were assessed. In general, t-tests indicated that caregiving husbands experience fewer stressors and depressive symptoms than their female counterparts. Multiple group analysis revealed that the primary stressors were more useful in explaining variance associated with the secondary stressors for women than men and that the path coefficients linking amount of caregiving assistance to caregivers' activity restriction was significantly different across men and women. Other paths linking primary stressors, secondary stressors, and depressive symptoms, however, were statistically equivalent across men and women. Hence, although caregiving women and men may vary in their reports of caregiving stressors, the complexity of the caregiving experience appears to be quite uniform for both groups.     

The Affective Consequences of Minority Stress Among Bisexual,Pansexual, and Queer (Bi+) Adults: A Daily Diary Study

Bisexual, pansexual, and queer (bi+) individuals are at increased risk for depression and anxiety. These disparities are hypothesized to be due to the unique, minority-specific stressors that they experience. Prior research supports that bi+ stressors are associated with depression and anxiety, but nearly all studies have been cross-sectional, limiting our understanding of how experiencing bi+ stress influences individuals’ levels of depression and anxiety as they occur in their day-to-day lives. To address this gap, we examined the daily associations between bi+ stressors (discrimination, internalized stigma, rejection sensitivity, and identity concealment) and depressed/anxious mood in a 28-day diary study. Participants were 208 bi+ individuals who completed daily measures of bi+ stressors and depressed/anxious mood. We tested unlagged (same-day) and lagged (next-day) associations, and we also tested whether internalized stigma, rejection sensitivity, and identity concealment functioned as mechanisms underlying the daily associations between discrimination and depressed/anxious mood. Participants reported higher depressed/anxious mood on days when they reported higher discrimination, internalized stigma, rejection sensitivity, and identity concealment. There were significant unlagged indirect effects of discrimination on depressed and anxious mood via internalized stigma and rejection sensitivity, and there was also a significant unlagged indirect effect of discrimination on anxiety via identity concealment. However, none of the lagged associations were significant. Results suggest that bi+ stress is related to same-day, but not next-day, depressed/anxious mood. The nonsignificant lagged associations could reflect that bi+ individuals are using adaptive coping skills in response to bi+ stress, or that other experiences throughout the day have stronger influences on next-day mood.