Examining the impact of major life events on the frequency and experience of daily social events.

OBJECTIVE: Life events can impact people's dispositional functioning by changing their state-level patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behavior. One pathway through which this change may be facilitated is changes in the experience of daily social events. METHOD: We examined the dynamic relationship between major life events and the subsequent experience of positive and negative daily social events in a year-long longitudinal study (initial N = 1247). RESULTS: Experiencing positive and negative major life events moderated the effects of positive and negative social events on event-contingent state well-being and ill-being in ways that were mostly (but not always) consistent with both endowment and contrast effects on judgments of well-being. Furthermore, negative life events predicted an increase in the subsequent trajectory of negative social events, while the experience of daily ill-being predicted the subsequent experience of negative social events. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the possible impact of major life events by explaining how they shape the subsequent experience of daily social events.

Late Onset Personality Disorders in Mid-Life and Older Adults.

There is little research on personality disorder (PD) onset in older age. Many studies have shown that normative personality traits change across the life span, even into later life. This study aimed to investigate the onset of PDs in later adulthood (>age 55), and the possible influence of major life events on predicting this late onset. The current analysis was conducted with data from the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network (SPAN). Structured diagnostic interviews were administered three times over five years. Logistic regressions were conducted predicting late onset PD from baseline to FU5 and from FU5 to FU10 as a function of each major life event. 75 PD onsets occurred from baseline to FU5, and 39 PD onsets occurred from FU5 to FU10. Personal illness predicted the onset of PDs from FU5 to FU10.

Perspectives on resilience: Trait resilience, correlates of resilience in daily life, and longer-term change in affective distress.

Resilience describes successful adaptation in the face of adversity, commonly inferred from trajectories of well-being following major life events. Alternatively, resilience was conceptualised as a psychological trait, facilitating adaptation through stable individual characteristics. Both perspectives may relate to individual differences in how stress is regulated in daily life. In the present study, we combined these perspectives on resilience. Our sample consisted of N = 132 middle-aged adults, who experienced major life events in between two waves of a longitudinal study. We implemented latent change regression models to predict change in affective distress. As predictors, we investigated trait resilience and correlates of resilience in daily life (stressor occurrence, stress reactivity, positive reappraisal, mindful attention, and acceptance), measured using experience sampling (T = 70 occasions). Unexpectedly, trait resilience was not associated with change in distress. In contrast, resilience correlates in daily life, most notably lower stress reactivity, were associated with more favourable change. Higher trait resilience related to higher average mindfulness, higher reappraisal, and lower negative affect. Overall, while trait resilience translated into everyday correlates of resilience, it was not predictive of changes in affective distress. Instead, precursors of changes in well-being may be found in correlates of resilience in daily life.

The relationship between major life events and non-suicidal self-injury among college students: the effect of rumination and body image.

Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) poses a growing risk to public health worldwide. While numerous studies have identified major life events as key risk factors for NSSI, the mechanisms by which emotional and cognitive problems mediate or moderate this relationship remain unclear. To enhance the understanding of this field, we will draw upon the cascade theory of self-injury and the benefits and barriers model, to examine the relationship between major life events and NSSI, as well as the effect of rumination and body image. Methods: A sample of 2,717 college students (Mage = 19.81 years; SD = 1.09) participated in this study and anonymously completed the questionnaires. The moderated mediation model were conducted using Model 4 and Model 15 of the Process macro program in SPSS. Results: The results showed that rumination mediated the positive relationship between major life events and NSSI. Furthermore, body image was found to moderate both the relationship between major life events and NSSI, as well as the relationship between rumination and NSSI. Conclusion: The current findings suggest that rumination is an important mediator in the relationship between major life events and NSSI among college students. Teachers, parents, and researchers should recognize the important role of body image self-perceptions of college students and actively promote a healthy and accurate body image.

Coping with an Evil World: Contextualizing the Stress-Buffering Role of Scripture Reading.

This research note advances the religious coping literature by testing whether belief in an evil world conditions the stress-moderating role of scripture reading. Hypotheses are tested with original data from a survey of Black, Hispanic, and White American churchgoers from South Texas (2017-2018; n = 1,115). Our findings show that reading scripture for insights into the future attenuates the positive association between major life events and psychological distress, but only for congregants who do not believe the world is fundamentally evil and sinful. For congregants who believe the world is evil, scripture reading amplifies the association between life events and distress. Whether scriptural coping is beneficial for mental health could be contingent on a believer's broader assumptions about the nature of the world we live in.

Nothing going on? Exploring the role of missed events in changes in subjective well-being and the Big Five personality traits.

OBJECTIVE: Missed events are defined as the nonoccurrence of expected major life events within a specified time frame. We examined whether missed events should be studied in research on growth by exploring the role of missed events for changes in subjective well-being (SWB) and the Big Five personality traits. METHOD: The samples were selected from two nationally representative panel studies, the German Socioeconomic Panel Innovation Sample (SOEP-IS, total N = 6,638) and the Dutch Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences panel (LISS, Ns between 4,262 and 5,749). Rank-order stability and mean-level change were analyzed using regression and mixed models. Type I error probability was reduced by using conservative thresholds for level of significance and minimal effect size. RESULTS: Expected but missed events were more frequent than actually experienced events. For SWB, rank-order stability tended to be lower among those who experienced a missed event than among those who did not. For the Big Five personality traits, significant differences between those who did and those who did not experience a missed event were rare and unsystematic. CONCLUSION: Missed events merit more attention in future research on growth and personality change, but the effects are probably weak.

The Link Between Major Life Events and Quality of Life: The Role of Compassionate Abilities.

This study examined whether compassionate skills (the ability to be self-compassionate and to receive compassion from others) operate as mediator processes in the relationship between negative major life events and psychological quality of life (QoL), in 467 adults. The path model accounted for 48% of psychological QoL' variance and indicated that negative appraisal of major life events was associated with decreased psychological QoL, through increased levels of shame and less compassionate abilities. Findings support the importance of community programmes to enhance psychological QoL, that help individuals cultivate self-compassion and the ability to receive compassion from others, especially in face of adverse events.

Correlates of psychological distress in epileptic patients during the COVID-19 outbreak.

INTRODUCTION: Following the severe consequences of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, on March 9th, 2020 the Italian Government implemented extraordinary measures to limit viral transmission, including restrictive quarantine measures. Psychological distress represents the seizure-precipitating factor most often reported by patients with epilepsy. To date, no studies have analyzed the role played by the different dimensions of psychological distress quarantine-induced in patients with epilepsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included a total of 40 patients, 18 suffered from generalized, and 22 from focal epilepsy. The patients previously seen in the outpatient clinic during the pre-lockdown period between January and February 2020 were reevaluated after the lockdown period. Psychological distress was evaluated by using the three subscales of Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). Finally, we employed logistic regression analyses to explore the demographic and clinical features associated to high scores on IES-R. RESULTS: Patients with higher scores on IES-R Intrusion and IES-R Avoidance subscales demonstrated an increased number of epileptic attacks compared to prelockdown period. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that a specific subgroup of patients (i.e., older, female with more anxious symptoms) are at higher risk of increased seizure frequency. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirmed that the frequency of epileptic seizures increased during lockdown when compared to pre-lockdown period. The early identification of patients more vulnerable to worsening is crucial to limit the risk of requiring hospital or clinical treatment during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Objective and subjective stress, personality, and allostatic load.

INTRODUCTION: Despite the understanding of allostatic load (AL) as a consequence of ongoing adaptation to stress, studies of the stress-AL association generally focus on a narrow conceptualization of stress and have thus far overlooked potential confounding by personality. The present study examined the cross-sectional association of objective and subjective stress with AL, controlling for Big Five personality traits. METHODS: Participants comprised 5,512 members of the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank aged 49-63 years (69% men). AL was measured as a summary index of 14 biomarkers of the inflammatory, cardiovascular, and metabolic system. Objective stress was assessed as self-reported major life events in adult life. Subjective stress was assessed as perceived stress within the past four weeks. RESULTS: Both stress measures were positively associated with AL, with a slightly stronger association for objective stress. Adjusting for personality traits did not significantly change these associations. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest measures of objective and subjective stress to have independent predictive validity in the context of personality. Further, it is discussed how different operationalizations of stress and AL may account for some of the differences in observed stress-AL associations.

Components of schizophrenia liability affect the growth of psychological stress sensitivity following major life events.

BACKGROUND: Some argue that physiological and psychological stress sensitivities contribute causally to schizophrenia. Indeed, evidence shows that those with or at risk for schizophrenia have highly sensitive stress responses. However, it is unclear how psychological stress sensitivity develops. Our aim was to test whether psychological stress sensitization develops longitudinally in association with major life events and components of schizophrenia liability. We expected schizophrenia liability to predict higher psychological stress sensitivity; life events to predict subsequent increases in psychological stress sensitivity; and schizophrenia liability to moderate this relationship. METHODS: In a prospective study, undergraduates (n = 184) completed a measure of schizophrenia liability at baseline. Then at 2-month intervals over 6 months, they reported on the occurrence of major life events and completed measures of psychological stress sensitivity. RESULTS: Latent variable growth modelling showed that stress sensitivity increased following incident life events when controlling for baseline life events. Higher cognitive-perceptual and interpersonal scores predicted higher baseline sensitivity. Higher cognitive-perceptual features predicted larger increases in psychological stress sensitivity following life events whereas greater disorganization reduced growth. CONCLUSIONS: This evidence is consistent with the idea that psychological sensitization is involved in the development of schizophrenia and suggests an important link between positive features of schizophrenia liability and the magnification of psychological stress sensitivity.

Body compassion safeguards against the impact of major life events on binge eating.

Body compassion is a fresh construct that incorporates two multidimensional concepts: body image and self-compassion. Although self-compassion has revealed a protective role against body image and eating-related problems (e.g., binge eating), the study of this specific compassionate competence focused on body image is still largely unexplored. The present study aimed to test two moderation models which hypothesized that body compassion moderates the impacts of (i) the cumulative number and (ii) negative appraisal of major life events on binge eating behaviours, in a sample of 458 women from the Portuguese general population. Results showed that body compassion was negatively associated with major life events and binge eating. Moderation analysis results demonstrated the moderator effect of body compassion on the relationship between major life events (both cumulative number and negative appraisal) and binge eating, accounting for 34% and 33% of the variance of binge eating, respectively. The moderator effect of body compassion was confirmed to low to medium levels of body compassion and, overall, results seem to suggest that, for the same levels of major life events (in number or negative appraisal), women who present higher body compassion present less binge eating symptoms. Although these data are preliminary and need support from a longitudinal design research, current findings appear to be promising by suggesting the relevance of promoting body compassion in prevention and treatment programs for disordered eating attitudes and behaviours.

Stressful life events and leucocyte telomere length: Do lifestyle factors, somatic and mental health, or low grade inflammation mediate this relationship? Results from a cohort of Danish men born in 1953.

Exposure to psychosocial stress is associated with increased risk of a number of somatic and mental disorders with relation to immune system functioning. We aimed to explore whether stressful events in early and recent life was associated with leucocyte telomere length (TL), which is assumed to reflect the accumulated burden of inflammation and oxidative stress occurring during the life course. We specifically aimed to address whether childhood constitutes a sensitive period and how much of the relation between stressful life events and TL is mediated through somatic and mental health, lifestyle, and markers of low-grade inflammation. A cohort of Danish men born in 1953 has been followed since birth in the Metropolit Cohort. These men underwent a health examination including blood sampling in 2010 and a subset of 324 also had a quantitative PCR-based measurement of TL. The relation between stressful life events and TL was analysed using structural equation modelling, which also provided an estimate of the proportion of the total effect mediated by somatic and mental health (cardiovascular disease, body mass and depressive mood), lifestyle factors, and low grade inflammation (C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10). Total number of stressful events experienced during the life course was not associated with TL. In terms of sensitive periods, we found that number of stressful events in childhood was associated with shorter TL (ßper number stressful events in childhood=-0.02(SE=-0.02); P=0.05). This relation was particularly strong for being placed away from home (ß=-0.16; P<0.000). Thirty percent of the total effect of stressful events in childhood on TL was mediated by the included variables, with the largest proportion being mediated through depressive mood (16%) and CRP (9%). This study suggests that stressful events in childhood are associated with shorter TL in middle-aged men and that part of this relation is explained by depressive mood and low grade inflammation.

Psychosocial risk factors for the metabolic syndrome: A prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Metabolic deregulations and development of metabolic syndrome may be an important pathway underlying the relationship between stress and cardiovascular disease. We aim to estimate the effect of a comprehensive range of psychosocial factors on the risk of developing metabolic syndrome in men and women. METHODS: The study population consisted of 3621 men and women from the Copenhagen City Heart Study who were free of metabolic syndrome at baseline and reexamined after 10years. The data was analyzed by multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for age, education, income, menopausal status and life style factors. RESULTS: We found major life events in adult life (OR 1.48, 95% CI 0.93 to 2.36) and major life events at work (OR 2.75, 95% CI 1.38 to 5.50), lacking a confidant (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.07 to 3.53) and dissatisfaction with social network (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.11 to 2.11) to be risk factors for developing the metabolic syndrome in women, while vital exhaustion (OR 2.09, 95% CI 0.95 to 4.59) and intake of sleep medications (OR 2.54, 95% CI 0.92 to 5.96) may play a more important role in men. CONCLUSIONS: Experiencing major life events in work and adult life and/or dysfunctional social networks is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome in women, and stress reactions such as vital exhaustion and intake of sleep medications may play a more important role in the development of metabolic syndrome men.

Maintaining Perceived Control with Unemployment Facilitates Future Adjustment.

Unemployment is a major challenge to individuals' development. An important personal resource to ameliorate the negative impact of unemployment may be perceived control, a general-purpose belief system. Little is known, however, about how perceived control itself changes with the experience of unemployment and what the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of such change in perceived control are in different ages. We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (N = 413 who experienced unemployment and N = 413 case-matched controls; time period of data collection: 1994 - 1996) to examine whether perceived control changes with unemployment, explore the role of socio-demographic, psychosocial and health factors in moderating such change, and investigate whether levels of perceived control prior to unemployment and unemployment-related change in perceived control predict unemployment-related outcomes up to five years following. Results indicated that, on average, perceived control remained relatively stable with unemployment, and that younger and older workers did not differ in this regard. However, there were sizeable individual differences in change in perceived control, with women and those with fewer years of education experiencing greater unemployment-related declines in perceived control. Lower levels of perceived control prior to unemployment and steeper unemployment-related decrements in perceived control were each associated with a higher risk of remaining unemployed in the 12 months immediately following unemployment. Steeper unemployment-related declines in perceived control also predicted lower life satisfaction up to five years following. We discuss possible pathways by which perceived control may facilitate adjustment to unemployment, consider the role of perceived control for better understanding the dynamics of unemployment, and suggest routes for further more process-oriented inquiry.

Time-clustered Deaths and Substance Use Disorder among Young Adults.

This study assesses whether experiencing multiple deaths of loved ones clustered in time increases risk for substance use problems. Using survey data from a community sample of young adults in Miami, Florida (N = 1747), time-clustered deaths were categorized based on the age of the respondent at the time of each death, with less time between deaths representing greater time-clustering. Results indicate that young adults experiencing multiple deaths that are highly time clustered are at increased risk for substance use disorder and alcohol use. This study provides an alternative way of thinking about how young people may be affected by major life events. It suggests that the increased risk for substance use disorder associated with multiple deaths may be more likely to materialize when the deaths are highly clustered in time.