Abstract
The present paper reviews some of the major fields of interest in current life event research. Some theoretical issues are examined: for example, generality versus specificity of life event effects, the time span encompassed by life event research, development of life change scales, and perceptual concensus concerning the severity of life changes. Methodological problems concerned with causal or correlational conclusions and illness behaviour are also discussed. Models of the life event stress process are mentioned with reference to ‘resistance resources’. Finally the field of life event research has been integrated into McGrath’s conceptualization of stress research.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amkraut, A. & Solomon, G.F. (1977). From the symbolic stimulus to the pathophysiologic response: immune mechanisms. In Z.J. Lipowski, D.R. Lipsett & P.L. Whybrow (eds.), Psychosomatic Medicine, pp. 228–250. New York: Oxford University Press.
Andrews, G., Tennant, C., Hewson, D. & Vaillant, G.E. (1978). Life event stress, social support, coping style, and risk of psychological impairment. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 166, 307–315.
Antonovsky, A. (1974). Conceptual and methodological problems in the study of resistance resources and stressful life events. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects. pp. 245–258. New York: John Wiley.
Antonovsky, A. & Katz, R. (1967). The life crisis history as a tool in epidemiological research. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 8, 15–20.
Askenasy, A.R., Dohrenwend, B.P. & Dohrenwend, B.S. (1977). Some effects of social class and ethnic group membership on judgements of the magnitude of stressful life events: a research note. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 18, 432–439.
Brown, G.W. (1974). Meaning, measurement and stress of life events. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects. pp. 217–243. New York: John Wiley.
Brown, G.W. & Harris, T. (1978). The Social Origins of Depression. London: Tavistock.
Cannon, W.B. (1929). Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage. 2nd Edition. New York: D. Appleton.
Caplan, R.D. (1975). A less heretical view of life change and hospitalization. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 19, 247–250.
Chalmers, B.E. (1981). Development of a life event scale for pregnant, white South African women. South African Journal of Psychology, 11, 74–79.
Cobb, S. (1974). A model for life events and their consequences. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, 151–156. New York: John Wiley.
Cohen, S.L. & Hajioff, J. (1972). Life events and the onset of acute closed-angle glaucoma. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 16, 335–341.
Cox, T. (1978). Stress. London: The Macmillan Press.
Cox, T. & Mackay, C. (1981). A transactional approach to occupational stress. In E.N. Corlett & J. Richardson (eds.), Stress, Work Design and Productivity. London: John Wiley.
Dohrendwend, B.P. (1974). Problems in defining and sampling the relevant population of stressful life events. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects. pp. 275–310. New York: John Wiley.
Dohrenwend, B.S. (1973). Life events as stressors: a methodological enquiry. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 14, 167–175.
Dohrenwend, B.S. & Dohrenwend, B.P. (1974a). Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects. New York: John Wiley.
Dohrenwend, B.S. & Dohrenwend, B.P. (1974b). A brief historical introduction to research on stressful life events. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, pp. 1–5. New York: John Wiley.
Dohrenwend, B.S. & Dohrenwend, B.P. (1974c). Overview and prospects for research on stressful life events. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, pp. 313–331. New York: John Wiley.
Dohrenwend, B.S. & Dohrenwend, B.P. (1978). Some issues in research on stressful life events. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 166, 7–15.
Dohrenwend, B.S., Krasnoff, C., Askenasy, A. & Dohrenwend, B.P. (1978). Exemplification of a method for scaling life events. The Peri Life Events Scale. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 19, 205–229.
Eyer, J. & Sterling, P. (1977). Stress related mortality and social organization., Review of Radical Political Economics, 9, 1–144.
Gersten, J.S., Langer, T.S., Eisenberg, J.G. & Orzek, L. (1974). Child behaviour and life events: undesirable change or change per se? In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, pp. 159–170. New York: John Wiley.
Gersten, J.S., Langner, T.S. Eisenberg, J.G. & Simcha-Fagan, O. (1977). An evaluation of the etiologic role of stressful life change events in psychological disorders. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 18, 228–244.
Heisel, S.J. (1972). Life changes as etiologic factors in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 16, 411–420.
Henderson, S., Byrne, D., Duncan-Jones, P. et al (1980). Social relationships, adversity and neuroses: a study of associations in a general population sample. British Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 574–583.
Hinkle, L.E. Jr (1974). The effects of exposure to cultural change, social change and change in interpersonal relationships on health. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, pp. 9–44. New York: John Wiley.
Holmes, T.H. & Masuda, M. (1974). Life change and illness susceptibility. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, pp. 45–72. New York: John Wiley.
Holmes, T.H. & Rahe, R.H. (1967). The soial readjustment rating scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11, 213–218.
Holmes, T.H., Hawkins, N.S., Bowerman, C.E. et al (1957). Psychosocial and psychophysiological studies of tuberculosis. Psychosomatic Medicine, 19, 134–143.
Holmes, T.S. & Holmes, T.H. (1970). Short-term intrusions into the life style routine. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 14, 121–132.
Hudgens, R.W. (1974). Personal catastrophe and depression: a consideration of the subject with respect to medically ill adolescents, and a requiem for retrospective life event studies. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, pp. 119–134. New York: John Wiley.
Hultsch, D.F. & Plemons, J.K. (1979). Life events and life span development. In P.B. Baltes & O.G. Brin, Jr (eds.), Life Span Development and Behavior. Volume 2, pp. 1–36. New York: Academic Press.
Johnson, J.H. & Sarason, I.G. (1978). Life stress, depression and anxiety: internal-external control as a moderator variable. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 22, 205–208.
Kellam, S.G. (1974). Stressful life events and illness: a research area in need of conceptual development. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects. pp. 207–214. New York: John Wiley.
Kiely, W.F. (1977). From the symbolic stimulus to the pathophysiologic response: neurophysiological mechanisms. In Z.J. Lipowski, D.R. Lipsett & P.L. Whybrow (eds.), Psychosomatic Medicine, pp. 206–218. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lazarus, R.S. (1977). Psychological stress and coping in adaptation and illness. In Z.J. Lipowski, D.R. Lipsett & P.L. Whybrow (eds.), Psychosomatic Medicine, pp. 14–26. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lazarus, R.S. (1981). Little hassles can be hazardous to health. Psychology Today, July, 58–62.
Levi, L. (1965). The urinary output of adrenalin and noradrenalin during pleasant and unpleasant emotional stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 27, 80.
Levi, L. (1974). Psychological stress and disease: a conceptual model. In E.K. Gunderson & R.H. Rahe (eds.), Life Stress and Illness, pp. 8–23. Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.
Markush, R.E. & Favero, R.F. (1974). Epidemiologic assessment of stressful life events, depressed mood, and psychophysiological symptoms — a preliminary report. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, pp. 171–190. New York: John Wiley.
Mason, J.W. (1971). A re-evaluation of the concept of ‘non-specificity’ in stress theory. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 8, 323–333.
Masuda, M. & Holmes, T.H. (1978). Life events: perceptions and frequencies. Psychosomatic Medicine, 40, 236–260.
McGrath, J.E. (1970). Social and Psychological Factors in Stress. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Mechanic, D. (1974). Discussion of research programs on relations between stressful life events and episodes of physical illness. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, pp. 87–97. New York: John Wiley.
Mechanic, D. (1975). Some problems in the measurement of stress and social readjustment. Journal of Human Stress, 1, 43–48.
Mendels, J. & Weinstein, N. (1972). The schedule of recent experiences: a reliability study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 34, 527–531.
Miller, F.T., Bentz, W.K., Aponte, J.F. & Brogan, D.R. (1974). Perception of life crisis events: a comparative study of rural and urban samples. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, pp. 259–273. New York: John Wiley.
Myer, A. (1951). The life chart and the obligation of specifying positive data in psychopathological diagnosis. In F.E. Winters (ed.), The Collected Papers of Adolf Myer, Volume III: Medical Teaching, pp. 52–56. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.
Myers, J.K., Lindenthal, J.J. & Pepper, M.P. (1974). Social class, life events and psychiatric symptoms: a longitudinal study. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, pp. 191–205. New York: John Wiley.
Myers, J.K., Lindenthal, J.J., Popper, M.P. & Ostrander, D.R. (1972). Life events and mental status: a longitudinal study. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 13, 398–406.
Nuckolls, K.B., Cassell, J. & Caplan, B.H. (1972). Psychosocial assets, life crisis and the prognosis of pregnancy. American Journal of Epidemiology, 95, 431–441.
Paykel, E.S., Prusoff, B.A. & Uhlenhuth, E.H. (1971). Scaling of life events. Archives of General Psychiatry, 25, 340–347.
Paykel, F.S. (1974). Life stress and psychiatric disorder: applications of the clinical approach. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, pp. 135–149. New York: John Wiley.
Porter, C.A. & Suedfeld, P. (1981). Integrative complexity in the correspondence of literary figures: effects of personal and societal stress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 321–330.
Rabkin, J.S. & Streuning, E.L. (1976). Life events, stress and illness. Science, 194, 1013–1020.
Rahe, E.H., Meyer, M., Smith, M. et al (1964). Social stress and illness onset. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 8, 35–44.
Rahe, R.H. (1974). The pathway between subjects’ recent life changes and their near-future illness reports: representative results and methodological issues. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, pp. 73–86. New York: John Wiley.
Rahe, R.H. (1977). Epidemiological studies in life change and illness. In Z.J. Lipowski, D.R. Lipsett & P.L. Whybrow (eds.), Psychosomatic Medicine, pp. 421–434. New York: Oxford University Press.
Rahe, R.H. & Lind, E. (1971). Psychological factors and sudden cardiac death. A pilot study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 15, 19–24.
Rahe, R.H. & Paasikivi, J. (1971). Psychosocial factors and myocardial infarction 2. An outpatient study in Sweden. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 15, 33–39.
Rahe, R.H., Lundberg, U., Theorell, T. & Bennett, L.K. (1971). The social readjustment rating scale: a comparative study of Swedes and Americans. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 15, 241–249.
Ruch, R.D. (1977). A multidimensional analysis of the concept of life change. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 18, 71–83.
Selye, H. (1956). The Stress of Life. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Shapiro, M.B. (1979). The social origins of depression by G.W. Brown and R. Harris: its methodological philosophy. Behavior Research and Therapy, 17, 597–603.
Simonton, D.K. (1977). Creative productivity, age and stress: a biographical time-series analysis of 10 classical composers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 791–804.
Smith, R.E., Johnson, J.H. & Sarason, I.G. (1978). Life change, the sensation seeking motive and psychological distress. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 348–349.
Tennant, C. & Andrews, G. (1977). A scale to measure the stress of life events. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 10, 27–33.
Tennant, C., Bebbington, P. & Hurry, J. (1981). The role of life events in depressive illness: is there a substantial causal relation? Psychological Medicine, 11, 379–389.
Theorell, T. (1974). Life events before and after the onset of a premature myocardial infarction. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (eds.), Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects, pp. 101–117. New York: John Wiley.
Theorell, T. & Rahe, R.H. (1971). Psychological factors and myocardial infarction — I. An inpatient study in Sweden. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 15, 73–88.
Thurlow, H.J. (1971). Illness in relation to life situation and sick role tendency. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 15, 73–88.
Vinokur, A. & Selzer, M.L. (1975). Desirable versus undesirable life events: their relationship to stress and mental distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 329–337.
Whybrow, P.C. & Silberfarb, P.M. (1977). Neuroendocrine mediating mechanisms: from the symbolic stimulus to the physiological response. In Z.J. Lipowski, D.R. Lipsett & P.L. Whybrow (eds.), Psychosomatic Medicine, pp. 219–227. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wolff, H.G. (1956). Life stress and bodily disease — a formulation. In H.G. Wolff, S.G. Wolff Jr & C.C. Hare (eds), Life Stress and Bodily Disease, pp. 1059–1094. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
Wyler, A.R., Masuda, M. & Holmes, T.H. (1971). Magnitude of life events and seriousness of illness. Psychosomatic Medicine, 33, 115–122.
Yamamoto, K.J. & Kinney, D.K. (1976). Pregnant women’s ratings of different factors influencing psychological stress during pregnancy. Psychological Reports, 139, 203–214.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chalmers, B.E. Stressful life events: Their past and present status. Current Psychological Reviews 2, 123–137 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02684495
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02684495