Inventorying stressful life events as risk factors for psychopathology: Toward resolution of the problem of intracategory variability.

Dohrenwend, Bruce P.

doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.477

Cited by 601Psychological Testing and AssessmentAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesMental Health Research Topics

Inventorying stressful life events as risk factors for psychopathology: Toward resolution of the problem of intracategory variability.

Dohrenwend, Bruce P.·2006·Psychological Bulletin

DOI 10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.477

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Abstract

An explosion of research on life events has occurred since the publication of the Holmes and Rahe checklist in 1967. Despite criticism, especially of their use in research on psychopathology, such economical inventories have remained dominant. Most of the problems of reliability and validity with traditional inventories can be traced to the intracategory variability of actual events reported in their broad checklist categories. The purposes of this review are, first, to examine how this problem has been addressed within the tradition of economical checklist approaches; second, to determine how it has been dealt with by far less widely used and far less economical labor-intensive interview and narrative-rating approaches; and, third, to assess the prospects for relatively economical, as well as reliable and valid, solutions.

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Interviewer-based contextual ratings are essential to prevent intracategory variability and to disentangle objective event characteristics from the emotions and behaviors evoked by the event.
“Interviewer-based contextual ratings are essential to prevent intracategory variability and to disentangle objective event characteristics from the emotions and behaviors evoked by the event”
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Many stress assessment instruments include items that are not sufficiently precise to enable consistent reporting over time.
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From Assessing Lifetime Stress Exposure Using the Stress and Adversity Inventory for Adults (Adult STRAIN): An Overview and Initial Validation (2018) · cites this paper as [22]

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Life Event Reports by Psychiatric Patients, Nonpatients, and Their Partners
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Temporal Representation and Event Dating
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The reliability of reporting adverse experiences
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Methodology of Life Events Research
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Rape, Other Violence Against Women, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
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Childhood Victimization: Early Adversity and Subsequent Psychopathology
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Coping and adaptation to facial pain in contrast to other stressful life events.
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Scaling of life events by psychiatric patients and normals
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A Comparison of Life Events Scoring Methods as Predictors of Psychological Symptomatology
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Overview and Initial Results of a Risk Factor Study of Depression and Schizophrenia
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Israeli PERI life event scale: ratings of events by a community sample.
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Poverty in America: trends and new patterns.
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Two-stage screening for stressful life events and chronic difficulties.
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The reliability of subjects' reports on stressful life events inventories: A longitudinal study
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Relationships between Stressful Life Events and Episodes of Major Depression and Nonaffective Psychotic Disorders: Selected Results from a New York Risk Factor Study
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Self-citation
Daily and Within-Day Event Measurement
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Reliability of Life-Event Interviews With Outpatient Schizophrenics
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Measurement of Chronic Stressors
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Assessment of life events in depressive disorders
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Assessing stressful life events in childhood and adolescence.
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Divorce and Psychopathology
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Adversity, Stress, and Psychopathology: A Psychiatric Genetic Perspective
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Symptoms, Functioning, and Health Problems in a Massively Traumatized Population: The Legacy of the Cambodian Tragedy
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Theoretical Integration
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The Model of Stress: The Bereavement Reaction
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Leipziger Frühjahrsmesse 1951
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Untitled work
Caspi (1996) · doi:10.1002/(sici)1234-988x(199607)6:2
Untitled work
(1983) · doi:10.1002/1520-6629(198304)11:2

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Sorted by citations

Discrimination and racial disparities in health: evidence and needed research
Williams, D. R., & Mohammed, S. A. (2009) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s10865-008-9185-0 · Cited by 3,371 · see citing works
“Stressors that occur in central role areas of an individual’s life, affect multiple areas, lead to loss of resources, have objective negative impact on the normal activities of the individual, and cause a lot of change, disruption or readjustment are likely to be very consequential (Dohrenwend 2006; Carter 2007).”
Influential
From stress to inflammation and major depressive disorder: A social signal transduction theory of depression.
Slavich, G. M., & Irwin, M. R. (2014) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0035302 · Cited by 2,206 · see citing works
“As we alluded to at the outset of this article, literally thousands of books and articles have considered the issue of how stress promotes depression (e.g., Allen & Badcock, 2003; Beck, 1967, 2008; Brown & Harris, 1978; Coyne & Downey, 1991; Dohrenwend, 2006; Hammen, 2005; Kendler et al., 1999; Kessler, 1997; Mazure,…”
Background
Genetic Sensitivity to the Environment: The Case of the Serotonin Transporter Gene and Its Implications for Studying Complex Diseases and Traits
Caspi, A., Hariri, A. R., Holmes, A., Uher, R., & Moffitt, T. E. (2010) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.09101452 · Cited by 1,346 · see citing works
Whatever does not kill us: cumulative lifetime adversity, vulnerability, and resilience
Seery, M. D., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2010) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0021344 · Cited by 954 · see citing works
“Self-report assessments of life events are not without criticism (Dohrenwend, 2006), but sensitive topics are more likely to be acknowledged in selfreport assessments than in interviews.”
Background
Rumination as a mechanism linking stressful life events to symptoms of depression and anxiety: Longitudinal evidence in early adolescents and adults.
Michl, L. C., McLaughlin, K. A., Shepherd, K., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2013) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0031994 · Cited by 694 · see citing works
Social patterning of stress and coping: Does disadvantaged social statuses confer more stress and fewer coping resources?
Meyer, I. H., Schwartz, S., & Frost, D. M. (2008) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.03.012 · Cited by 693 · see citing works
“For example, Dohrenwend (2006) advocates for an objective definition of stressors.”
Background
Minority stress and physical health among sexual minority individuals
Frost, D. M., Lehavot, K., & Meyer, I. H. (2015) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s10865-013-9523-8 · Cited by 665 · see citing works
“When measured with the externally rated methods recommended by Dohrenwend (2006), minority stress—operationalized as prejudice events—was associated with onset of a physical health problem over a 1-year period among LGB people.”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Considering PTSD for DSM-5
Friedman, M. J., Resick, P. A., Bryant, R. A., & Brewin, C. R. (2011) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.20767 · Cited by 629 · see citing works
“Dohrenwend[22] has developed a methodology for assessing the potential toxicity of different events.”
Method
Distribution of Traumatic and Other Stressful Life Events by Race/Ethnicity, Gender, SES and Age: A Review of the Research
Hatch, S. L., & Dohrenwend, B. P. (2007) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10464-007-9134-z · Cited by 573 · see citing works
“There has been an explosion of research on stressful life events since the publication in 1967 of the Holmes and Rahe inventory of events called the ‘‘Schedule of Recent Experiences’’ (SRE) ( Dohrenwend 2006 ).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citation
Modern Approaches to Conceptualizing and Measuring Human Life Stress
Monroe, S. M. (2008) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.4.022007.141207 · Cited by 567 · see citing works
Childhood IQ and Adult Mental Disorders: A Test of the Cognitive Reserve Hypothesis
Koenen, K. C., Moffitt, T. E., Roberts, A. L., Martin, L. T., Kubzansky, L., Harrington, H., Poulton, R., & Caspi, A. (2009) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.08030343 · Cited by 512 · see citing works
A memory-based model of posttraumatic stress disorder: Evaluating basic assumptions underlying the PTSD diagnosis.
Rubin, D. C., Berntsen, D., & Bohni, M. K. (2008) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/a0013397 · Cited by 494 · see citing works
Stressful life experiences, alcohol consumption, and alcohol use disorders: the epidemiologic evidence for four main types of stressors
Keyes, K. M., Hatzenbuehler, M. L., & Hasin, D. S. (2011) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-011-2236-1 · Cited by 486 · see citing works
“Dohrenwend et al. (Dohrenwend 2006; Dohrenwend et al. 1993, 1978) advocate the use of independent assessments of respondent reported stressful events; this approach is more timely and costly than respondent-driven checklists of stressful events, but when feasible provides well-validated assessment…”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
The moderation by the serotonin transporter gene of environmental adversity in the etiology of depression: 2009 update
Uher, R., & McGuffin, P. (2010) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/mp.2009.123 · Cited by 424 · see citing works
The criterion a problem revisited: Controversies and challenges in defining and measuring psychological trauma
Weathers, F. W., & Keane, T. M. (2007) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.20210 · Cited by 399 · see citing works
Stress and well-being at work: A century of empirical trends reflecting theoretical and societal influences.
Bliese, P. D., Edwards, J. R., & Sonnentag, S. (2017) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/apl0000109 · Cited by 391 · see citing works
“The SRRS has been used in numerous studies (Dohrenwend, 2006), although its relationships with mental and physical symptoms were generally modest, with”
Method
Racial Disparities in Child Adversity in the U.S
Slopen, N., Shonkoff, J. P., Albert, M. A., Yoshikawa, H., Jacobs, A., Stoltz, R., & Williams, D. R. (2016) · American Journal of Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2015.06.013 · Cited by 382 · see citing works
“The NSCH employed a crude adversity checklist with dichotomous items, which masks intra-category variability related to chronicity and severity.(58) Our adjusted analyses used cumulative adversity as the outcome; further research that applies an intersectionality approach is needed at the “item level.”
Method
Allostasis and the human brain: Integrating models of stress from the social and life sciences
Ganzel, B., Morris, P. A., & Wethington, E. (2010) · Psychology Review · doi:10.1037/a0017773 · Cited by 370 · see citing works
“Psychosocial theory distinguishes stressor and context in predictions of stress-related outcomes (for reviews, see Brown & Harris, 1989; Dohrenwend, 1998; Dohrenwend, 2006).”
Posttraumatic growth among children and adolescents: A systematic review
Meyerson, D. A., Grant, K. E., Carter, J. S., & Kilmer, R. P. (2011) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.06.003 · Cited by 362 · see citing works
Cumulative adversity and smaller gray matter volume in medial prefrontal, anterior cingulate, and insula regions
Ansell, E. B., Rando, K., Tuit, K., Guarnaccia, J., & Sinha, R. (2012) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.11.022 · Cited by 354 · see citing works
Life events and suicidal ideation and behavior: a systematic review
Liu, R. T., & Miller, I. (2014) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2014.01.006 · Cited by 324 · see citing works
Post‐traumatic growth as positive personality change: Challenges, opportunities, and recommendations
Jayawickreme, E., Infurna, F. J., Alajak, K., Blackie, L. E. R., Chopik, W. J., Chung, J. M., Dorfman, A., Fleeson, W., Forgeard, M. J. C., Frazier, P., et al. (2021) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12591 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
“Finally, life events that are objectively similar are not necessarily experienced similarly by everyone (Dohrenwend, 2006), and neglecting these idiosyncratic experiences may hinder a complete understanding of the effects of life events.”
Background
Life Stress and Health: A Review of Conceptual Issues and Recent Findings
Slavich, G. M. (2016) · Teaching of Psychology · doi:10.1177/0098628316662768 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
“Although self-report checklist measures are inexpensive and relatively easy to administer, researchers have raised concerns about their reliability and validity (Brown, 1974; Dohrenwend, 2006; Hammen, 2005; Monroe, 2008; Paykel, 2001).”
A systems approach to stress, stressors and resilience in humans
Oken, B., Chamine, I., & Wakeland, W. W. (2014) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2014.12.047 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
“Quantifying an individual’s stressors has been attempted [20].”
Assessing Lifetime Stress Exposure Using the Stress and Adversity Inventory for Adults (Adult STRAIN): An Overview and Initial Validation
Slavich, G. M., & Shields, G. S. (2018) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0000000000000534 · Cited by 268 · see citing works
“However, an equally likely contributor involves the fact that many stress assessment instruments include items that are not sufficiently precise to enable consistent reporting over time (22).”
Background
Racial discrimination and the stress process.
Ong, A. D., Fuller‐Rowell, T. E., & Burrow, A. L. (2009) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0015335 · Cited by 264 · see citing works
“Second, we note that the use of retrospective subjective appraisals of stressfulness are notorious for confounding stress exposure and the outcome of interest (for a review, see Dohrenwend, 2006).”
Background
Annual Research Review: Sex, gender, and internalizing conditions among adolescents in the 21st century – trends, causes, consequences
Keyes, K. M., & Platt, J. M. (2024) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.13864 · Cited by 253 · see citing works
The assessment and measurement of adult life stress: Basic premises, operational principles, and design requirements.
Harkness, K. L., & Monroe, S. M. (2016) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/abn0000178 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
“As introduced above, these procedures inevitably result in extensive intracategory variability (see Dohrenwend, 2006).”
BackgroundInfluential
An Upside to Adversity?: Moderate Cumulative Lifetime Adversity Is Associated With Resilient Responses in the Face of Controlled Stressors
Seery, M. D., Leo, R. J., Lupien, S. P., Kondrak, C. L., & Almonte, J. L. (2013) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797612469210 · Cited by 222 · see citing works
“Second, adversity was assessed using a self-report measure, which can have limitations relative to interviews (Dohrenwend, 2006), and the measure entailed a simple count of events rather than an assessment of detailed event characteristics, which could omit relevant information (see Seery, Holman,…”
Frontiers in the Use of Biomarkers of Health in Research on Stress and Aging
Piazza, J. A., Almeida, D. M., Dmitrieva, N., & Klein, L. C. (2010) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/gbq049 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
Lifetime stress exposure and health: A review of contemporary assessment methods and biological mechanisms
Shields, G. S., & Slavich, G. M. (2017) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/spc3.12335 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
“” This issue, which has been called the intracategory variability problem (Dohrenwend, 2006), can cause substantial measurement error and lead to poor concurrent validity of these instruments with more probing, investigator‐based measures of life stress exposure (Monroe, 2008).”
Background
Stress, Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis and Eating Disorders
Lo Sauro, C., Ravaldi, C., Cabras, P. L., Faravelli, C., & Ricca, V. (2008) · Neuropsychobiology · doi:10.1159/000138912 · Cited by 215 · see citing works
“Negative emotional states can be a consequence of more or less severe life events, and the association between stressful life events and mental disorders has been extensively studied [”
Background
The reciprocal interaction between serotonin and social behaviour
Kiser, D., SteemerS, B., Branchi, I., & Homberg, J. R. (2012) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.12.009 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
“These contrary findings vioral Reviews 36 (2012) 786–798 reveal a yet unsettled point in the methodological approaches of studies using retrospective questionnaires, as discussed by Caspi et al. (2010), Dohrenwend (2006) and others.”
Mutual reinforcement between neuroticism and life experiences: A five-wave, 16-year study to test reciprocal causation.
Jeronimus, B. F., Riese, H., Sanderman, R., & Ormel, J. (2014) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0037009 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
“Moreover, we interviewed 296 participants five times over 16 years and assessed life events, LTDs, and life situation change with interviews and panel ratings, the current gold standard (Dohrenwend, 2006; Monroe, 2008).”
BackgroundMethod
Quantifying the impact of recent negative life events on suicide attempts
Bagge, C. L., Glenn, C. R., & Lee, H.-J. (2013) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0030371 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
“Finally, given that NLEs, in general, have a greater etiological and pathological association with some psychiatric conditions (e.g., depression, substance disorders; Dohrenwend, 2006) than others, we also examined the effect of psychiatric symptoms on the NLE-suicide association.”
Background
A comparison of PTSD symptom patterns in three types of civilian trauma
Kelley, L. P., Weathers, F. W., McDevitt‐Murphy, M. E., Eakin, D. E., & Flood, A. M. (2009) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.20406 · Cited by 204 · see citing works
Childhood Trauma and Illicit Drug Use in Adolescence: A Population-Based National Comorbidity Survey Replication–Adolescent Supplement Study
Carliner, H., Keyes, K. M., McLaughlin, K. A., Meyers, J. L., Dunn, E. C., & Martins, S. S. (2016) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2016.05.010 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
“This list of event types does not adequately capture the “dose” of the traumatic experience, the severity of the event, or the context in which the event was experienced.(64) This makes it difficult to determine whether familial and sexual violence experiences are more strongly associated with deleterious outcomes bec…”
Background
Sources of stress and worry in the development of stress-related mental health problems: A longitudinal investigation from early- to mid-adolescence
Anniko, M. K., Boersma, K., & Tillfors, M. (2018) · Anxiety Stress & Coping · doi:10.1080/10615806.2018.1549657 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
“Especially in contrast to semi-structured interview measures commonly used that has been recommended as a gold standard in the stressor measurement literature (e.g., Dohrenwend, 2006; Monroe, 2008).”
Background
Disentangling the Stress Process: Race/Ethnic Differences in the Exposure and Appraisal of Chronic Stressors Among Older Adults
Brown, L. L., Mitchell, U. A., & Ailshire, J. (2018) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/gby072 · Cited by 185 · see citing works
“Thus, when measuring respondents’ stress appraisal, it may reflect this stress buffering or modifying the response of these protective resources with lower subjective perceptions of stress (Dohrenwend, 2006).”
Background
Opposite effects of suicidality and lithium on gray matter volumes in bipolar depression
Benedetti, F., Radaelli, D., Poletti, S., Locatelli, C., Falini, A., Colombo, C., & Smeraldi, E. (2011) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2011.07.006 · Cited by 165 · see citing works
“, 2003), early (between age 5 and 15) and recent (last 3 years) stressful life events were scored by trained raters on the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)(Holmes and Rahe, 1967), which focuses on occurrences that lead to readjustment-requiring changes in usual activities and that frequently precede illness ons…”
Method
Gene-Environment Interactions in Depression Research
Monroe, S. M., & Reid, M. W. (2008) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02181.x · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Perceived Discrimination and Hypertension Among African Americans in the Jackson Heart Study
Sims, M., Diez-Roux, A. V., Dudley, A., Gebreab, S., Wyatt, S. B., Bruce, M. A., James, S. A., Robinson, J. C., Williams, D. R., & Taylor, H. A. (2012) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2011.300523 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
Principles of Social Psychiatry
Knapp, M. R. J., & Beecham, J. K. (2010) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9780470684214 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
The Role of Nutrients in Protecting Mitochondrial Function and Neurotransmitter Signaling: Implications for the Treatment of Depression, PTSD, and Suicidal Behaviors
Du, J., Zhu, M. F., Bao, H., Bai, L., Dong, Y., Xiao, C., Zhang, G. Y., Henter, I. D., Rudorfer, M. V., & Vitiello, B. (2014) · Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition · doi:10.1080/10408398.2013.876960 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
“There appears to be a strong relationship between duration of combat exposure and the severity of mental illness (Dohrenwend, 2006), suggesting that the severity of stress may play a role.”
The Meanings of Stress
McLeod, J. (2012) · Society and Mental Health · doi:10.1177/2156869312452877 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Negative and positive life events are associated with small but lasting change in neuroticism
Jeronimus, B. F., Ormel, J., Aleman, A., Penninx, B. W. J. H., & Riese, H. (2013) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291713000159 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
“…some LEs (e.g. moving house) may elicit mixed emotional responses, NLEs/PLEs may have complementary longitudinal relationships (e.g. divorce and remarriage ; Overbeek et al. 2010), and PLEs may buffer the impact of NLEs (Dohrenwend, 1978 ; Rutter, 1987 ; Baumeister et al. 2001; Dohrenwend, 2006).”
Background
Post-traumatic stress reactions among Rwandan children and adolescents in the early aftermath of genocide
Neugebauer, R., Fisher, P. W., Turner, J. B., Yamabe, S., Sarsfield, J. A., & Stehling-Ariza, T. (2009) · International Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/ije/dyn375 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Targeted Rejection Predicts Hastened Onset of Major Depression
Slavich, G. M., Thornton, T., Torres, L. D., Monroe, S. M., & Gotlib, I. H. (2009) · Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1521/jscp.2009.28.2.223 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
“…the vast majority of studies on life stress and depression have utilized self-report checklist measures of stress for which the limitations (e.g., variability in reporting, as well as confounding between life stress and the symptoms of depression ) are well documented (see Dohrenwend, 2006).”
Influential
Associations among daily stressors and salivary cortisol: Findings from the National Study of Daily Experiences
Stawski, R. S., Cichy, K. E., Piazza, J. R., & Almeida, D. M. (2013) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.06.023 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
“Some researchers have suggested that the same nominal type of stressor can have differential effects on health and well-being depending on the characteristics of the stressor and circumstances surrounding it (Dohrenwend, 2006; Almeida et al., 2010).”
Background
Perceived discrimination is associated with health behaviours among African-Americans in the Jackson Heart Study
Sims, M., Roux, A. V. D., Gebreab, S. Y., Brenner, A. B., Dubbert, P. M., Wyatt, S. B., Bruce, M. A., Hickson, D. A., Payne, T., & Taylor, H. A. (2015) · Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health · doi:10.1136/jech-2015-206390 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
“1,41 Notably, our findings suggest that stress associated with discrimination may be more important in the health of women in this sample.”
Strength through adversity: Moderate lifetime stress exposure is associated with psychological resilience in breast cancer survivors
Dooley, L. N., Slavich, G. M., Moreno, P. I., & Bower, J. E. (2017) · Stress and Health · doi:10.1002/smi.2739 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
“Additionally, there is a substantial literature demonstrating the reliability and validity of the core questions and interview methods from which the STRAIN was developed (for reviews, see Dohrenwend, 2006; Hammen, 2005; Monroe, 2008; Monroe, Slavich, & Georgiades, 2014).”
Should PTSD Criterion A be retained?
Kilpatrick, D. G., Resnick, H. S., & Acierno, R. E. (2009) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.20436 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
A Longitudinal Study of Negative Life Events, Stress, and School Experiences of Gifted Youth
Peterson, J. S., Duncan, N. C., & Canady, K. (2008) · Gifted Child Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0016986208326553 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
“One was a checklist completed annually, and the other was an open-ended questionnaire requesting retrospective self-appraisals (cf. Dohrenwend, 2006) as the students graduated.”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Stressful Life Events, Chronic Difficulties, and the Symptoms of Clinical Depression
Muscatell, K. A., Slavich, G. M., Monroe, S. M., & Gotlib, I. H. (2009) · Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/nmd.0b013e318199f77b · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Predeployment, deployment, and postdeployment risk factors for posttraumatic stress symptomatology in female and male OEF/OIF veterans.
Vogt, D. S., Smith, B. N., Elwy, A. R., Martin, J. A., Schultz, M. R., Drainoni, M., & Eisen, S. V. (2011) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0024457 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Stress and social support in gay, lesbian, and heterosexual couples: Direct effects and buffering models.
Graham, J. M., & Barnow, Z. B. (2013) · Journal of Family Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0033420 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Predictors of Relapse in Bipolar Disorder: A Review
ALTMAN, S., Haeri, S., Cohen, L. J., Ten, A., BARRON, E., GALYNKER, I. I., & DuHamel, K. N. (2006) · Journal of Psychiatric Practice · doi:10.1097/00131746-200609000-00002 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Psychometric properties of the List of Threatening Experiences—LTE and its association with psychosocial factors and mental disorders according to different scoring methods
Motrico, E., Moreno‐Küstner, B., Luna, J. D. D., Torres‐González, F., King, M., Nazareth, I., Montón-Franco, C., GildeGómez-Barragán, M. J., Sánchez-Celaya, M., Díaz-Barreiros, M. Á., et al. (2013) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2013.05.017 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
“This problem is named “intracategory variability” and more usually underlies a recognized lack of reliability and validity in traditional life events checklists (Dohrenwend, 2006).”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Evidence for a sensitive period in the effects of early life stress on hippocampal volume
Humphreys, K. L., King, L. S., Sacchet, M. D., Camacho, M. C., Colich, N. L., Ordaz, S. J., Ho, T. C., & Gotlib, I. H. (2018) · Developmental Science · doi:10.1111/desc.12775 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
“Informant agreement is generally low (De Los Reyes & Kazdin, 2005), and the moderate positive effect size may be larger than expected based on similar work (Dohrenwend, 2006).”
Background
Rapid Treatment Response of Suicidal Symptoms to Lithium, Sleep Deprivation, and Light Therapy (Chronotherapeutics) in Drug-Resistant Bipolar Depression
Benedetti, F., Riccaboni, R., Locatelli, C., Poletti, S., Dallaspezia, S., & Colombo, C. (2014) · The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry · doi:10.4088/jcp.13m08455 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Life events in panic disorder-an update on “candidate stressors”
Klauke, B., Deckert, J., Reif, A., Pauli, P., & Domschke, K. (2010) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.20667 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Cumulative effects of negative life events and family stress on children’s mental health: the Bergen Child Study
Bøe, T., Serlachius, A., Sivertsen, B., Petrie, K., & Hysing, M. (2017) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-017-1451-4 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Urban adolescent stress and hopelessness
Landis, D., Gaylord‐Harden, N. K., Malinowski, S. L., Grant, K. E., Carleton, R. A., & Ford, R. E. (2007) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2007.02.001 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Alcohol Consumption and Posttraumatic Stress After Exposure to Terrorism: Effects of Proximity, Loss, and Psychiatric History
Hasin, D. S., Keyes, K. M., Hatzenbuehler, M. L., Aharonovich, E., & Alderson, D. (2007) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2006.100057 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
“Future studies should attempt to replicate our findings and, in addition, investigate whether the long-term significance of an exposure varies systematically with the type of exposure (which, in turn, may alter the type of response).(39) Under normal circumstances, PTS reactions might be expected to result more from t…”
Background
The differential impact of major life events on cognitive and affective wellbeing
Kettlewell, N., Morris, R. W., Ho, N., Cobb‐Clark, D. A., Cripps, S., & Glozier, N. (2019) · SSM - Population Health · doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100533 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
“However, such studies generally assess the impact through checklists that treat life-events as equal (Dohrenwend, 2006; Gray, Litz, Hsu, & Lombardo, 2004; Wethington, Brown, & Kessler, 1997); or are restricted to the impact of a small set of life events on a single measure of wellbeing (Luhmann, Hofmann, Eid, & Lucas,…”
Background
Gene-environment interaction in posttraumatic stress disorder
Koenen, K. C., Nugent, N. R., & Amstadter, A. B. (2008) · European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/s00406-007-0787-2 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
“Determining whether or not a specific potentiallytraumatic event is fateful is complex and may require time consuming assessment procedures [38].”
Background
Life stress and kindling in bipolar disorder: Review of the evidence and integration with emerging biopsychosocial theories
Bender, R. E., & Alloy, L. B. (2011) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.01.004 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
“The LEDS has considerably higher test–retest reliability and intra-pair agreement than checklist measures (Dohrenwend, 2006).”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Non-suicidal self-injury and life stress: A systematic meta-analysis and theoretical elaboration
Liu, R. T., Cheek, S. M., & Nestor, B. A. (2016) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2016.05.005 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
“…feature that is notably rare in the existing literature are interview-based assessments of life stress, particularly contextual threat life stress interviews, which are considered the gold standard in life stress research (Dohrenwend, 2006; Hammen, 2005; Kessler, 1997; Monroe, 2008; Paykel, 2001).”
Background
Contributions of the social environment to first-onset and recurrent mania
Gilman, S. E., Ni, M. Y., Dunn, E. C., Breslau, J. A., McLaughlin, K. A., Smoller, J. W., & Perlis, R. H. (2014) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/mp.2014.36 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Early parental loss and depression history: Associations with recent life stress in major depressive disorder
Slavich, G. M., Monroe, S. M., & Gotlib, I. H. (2011) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.03.004 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Emotion dysregulation mediates the relationship between lifetime cumulative adversity and depressive symptomatology
Abravanel, B. T., & Sinha, R. (2015) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2014.11.012 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Subtyping Major Depressive Disorder
Lichtenberg, P., & Belmaker, R. H. (2010) · Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics · doi:10.1159/000286957 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
“It is a striking biological fact that substances and medical conditions as diverse as therapeutic corticosteroids, illicit cocaine use or pancreatic carcinoma can cause depression. The pathophysiological mechanisms of these depressions may differ from each other, as well as from depressions without underlying substanc…”
Background
Experience of a serious life event increases the risk for childhood type 1 diabetes: the ABIS population-based prospective cohort study
Nygren, M., Carstensen, J., Koch, F.-S., Ludvigsson, J., & Frostell, A. (2015) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s00125-015-3555-2 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Temporal association of stress sensitivity and symptoms in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis
DeVylder, J., Ben‐David, S., Schobel, S., Kimhy, D., Malaspina, D., & Corcoran, C. M. (2012) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291712001262 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
“Checklists are also subject to recall errors, as evidenced by their low test–retest reliability (Steele et al. 1980), which may be exacerbated by psychiatric conditions (Dohrenwend, 2006).”
Background
Measuring adolescents' exposure to victimization: The Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study
Fisher, H. L., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., Wertz, J., Gray, R., Newbury, J., Ambler, A., Zavos, H., Danese, A., Mill, J., et al. (2015) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579415000838 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
“structured questionnaires (Brown, 1989; Dohrenwend, 2006; Gorman, 1993; Monroe, 2008; Paykel, 2001), because interviews are believed to be less influenced by respondent bias and subjective interpretation of questionnaire items (Dohrenwend, 2006; Grant, Compas, Thurm, McMahon, & Gipson, 2004; Hepp et al.”
BackgroundInfluential
A Longitudinal Test of the Vulnerability-Stress Model with Early Maladaptive Schemas for Depressive and Social Anxiety Symptoms in Adolescents
Calvete, E., Orue, I., & Hankin, B. L. (2014) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-014-9438-x · Cited by 105 · see citing works
“However, in this study, the occurrence of events was used as indicator of stress in the analyses, because the measures obtained from evaluating the degree of stress experienced can easily be contaminated by depressive symptoms and cognitive style (Dohrenwend 2006).”
Method
Acceleration of Anxiety, Depression, and Suicide: Secondary Effects of Economic Disruption Related to COVID-19
Brenner, M. H., & Bhugra, D. K. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.592467 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
“Considerable research over multiple generations have used the SSRS, and its many alternate versions, to assess the extent of stress in people’s lives and thus attempt to predict heightened illness rates, especially mental health disturbances, emanating from a sum of such life alterations (77, 79).”
Background
Life Stress and Major Depression
Monroe, S. M., & Reid, M. W. (2009) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01611.x · Cited by 102 · see citing works
“Further, it is now recognized that respondents often interpret and respond to self-report checklist items idiosyncratically (Dohrenwend, 2006).”
Background
Stress Overload: A New Approach to the Assessment of Stress
Amirkhan, J. H. (2011) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10464-011-9438-x · Cited by 103 · see citing works
“The flaw in objective measures may be even more profound: By eliminating subjectivity altogether, they do not allow that a given event might have different impacts on different people (Dohrenwend 2006; Hough et al. 1976).”
Influential
Psychosocial stressors and the prognosis of major depression: a test of Axis IV
Gilman, S. E., Trinh, N., Smoller, J. W., D, M. F. M., Murphy, J. M., & Breslau, J. A. (2012) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291712001080 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
“This work should incorporate detailed assessments of stressors that cover the entire lifespan, that include information on the psychological impact of stressors, and that overcome the limitations of stressful event checklists (Dohrenwend, 2006).”
Background
Life trajectories and burden of adversity: mapping the developmental profiles of suicide mortality
SÉGUIN, M., LESAGE, A., TURECKI, G., BOUCHARD, M., CHAWKY, N., TREMBLAY, N., DAIGLE, F., & GUY, A. (2007) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291707000955 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
“Interviewers seek to accumulate sufficient narrative detail about life events to allow trained raters to pass judgement on the key characteristics of the events ( Dohrenwend, 2006 ).”
Background
Toward understanding the impact of trauma on the early developing human brain
Thomason, M. E., & Marusak, H. A. (2017) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.02.022 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
“Moreover, early adversity is strongly associated with poorer response to treatment, increased chronicity of symptoms, and suicide risk (Dube et al., 2001, Zlotnick et al., 2001, Brown et al., 2014).”
Background
Charting adult development through (historically changing) daily stress processes.
Almeida, D. M., Charles, S. T., Mogle, J. A., Drewelies, J., Aldwin, C. M., Spiro, A., & Gerstorf, D. (2020) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/amp0000597 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
“The life event tradition focuses on discrete, observable, and objectively reportable life changes that are relatively infrequent (e.g., marriage, divorce, or job loss) and require significant adjustment on the part of the individual (e.g., Dohrenwend, 2006).”
Background
Stress generation: Future directions and clinical implications
Liu, R. T. (2013) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2013.01.005 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
“These second-generation inventories have been found to be more reliable than traditional checklists (see Dohrenwend, 2006, for a more detailed discussion), and thus should be used in preference over the latter when more intensive life stress interviews are not a possibility.”
Effects of Social Support and Stressful Life Events on Health-Related Quality of Life in Coronary Artery Disease Patients
Staniūtė, M., Brožaitienė, J., & Bunevičius, R. (2013) · The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing · doi:10.1097/jcn.0b013e318233e69d · Cited by 97 · see citing works
“Stressful life events are defined as occurrences that require readjustment in people’s usual activities.(6) Stressful life events have psychological as well physiological consequences.”
Background
Youth and young adult suicide: A study of life trajectory
Séguin, M., Renaud, J., LESAGE, A. D., Robert, M., & Turecki, G. (2011) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.05.005 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Early Maladaptive Schemas as Moderators of the Impact of Stressful Events on Anxiety and Depression in University Students
Cámara, M., & Calvete, E. (2011) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-011-9261-6 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
“In this study, we used the total number of events experienced as the measure, because those scores obtained by evaluating the degree of stress experienced can easily be contaminated by depressive symptoms and cognitive styles (Dohrenwend 2006).”
Method
Mental health in non-heterosexuals: Minority stress theory and related explanation frameworks review
Pitoňák, M. (2016) · Mental Health & Prevention · doi:10.1016/j.mhp.2016.10.002 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Developmental model of suicide trajectories
Séguin, M., Beauchamp, G., Robert, M., DiMambro, M., & Turecki, G. (2014) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.113.139949 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Peer stressors and gender differences in adolescents' mental health: the TRAILS study.
Bakker, M. P., Ormel, J., Verhulst, F., & Oldehinkel, A. (2010) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.10.002 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
“A limitation of this study is that the life events were measured retrospectively, without regard to contextual information, and were based on self-reports [36].”
Method
Sex, stressful life events, and adult onset depression and alcohol dependence: Are men and women equally vulnerable?
Slopen, N. B., Williams, D. R., Fitzmaurice, G. M., & Gilman, S. E. (2011) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.06.022 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Major depression in adolescent children consecutively diagnosed with mitochondrial disorder
Koene, S., Kozicz, T., Rodenburg, R. J., Verhaak, C. M., de Vries, M. C., Wortmann, S. B., van den Heuvel, L. P., Smeitink, J. A. M., & Morava, É. (2008) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2008.06.023 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
“Besides the genetic background stressful life events and environmental factors significantly contribute to the development of depression as well (Paykel, 1994, 2001a,b; Dohrenwend, 2006; Fountoulakis, 2004).”
Background
Daily minority stress and affect among gay and bisexual men: A 30-day diary study
Eldahan, A. I., Pachankis, J. E., Rendina, H. J., Ventuneac, A., Grov, C., & Parsons, J. T. (2015) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2015.10.066 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
“Further, the self-report nature of this study’s measurements might have yielded biased estimates, given the known confounds between mental health status and reports of stress (Dohrenwend, 2006; Meyer, 2003a).”
Developmental trajectories of clinically significant attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms from grade 3 through 12 in a high-risk sample: Predictors and outcomes.
Sasser, T. R., Kalvin, C. B., & Bierman, K. L. (2016) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/abn0000112 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Psychotic-Like Symptoms and Stress Reactivity in Daily Life in Nonclinical Young Adults
Cristóbal-Narváez, P., Sheinbaum, T., Ballespí, S., Mitjavila, M., Myin‐Germeys, I., Kwapil, T. R., & Barrantes‐Vidal, N. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0153557 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
“However, given that comprehensive interviews that rely on objective definitions of adversity allow for a more precise assessment [24, 26] and may be better suited for delineating more specific models of the effects of adversity exposures (e.”
Background
Childhood Adversity and Cumulative Life Stress: Risk Factors for Cancer-Related Fatigue
Bower, J. E., Crosswell, A. D., & Slavich, G. M. (2014) · Clinical Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/2167702613496243 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
“In addition, a large literature exists that has shown the reliability and validity of the core questions and interviewing procedures on which the STRAIN is based (for reviews, see Dohrenwend, 2006; Hammen, 2005; Monroe, 2008; Monroe, Slavich, & Georgiades, 2009).”
The Speedometer of Life
Almeida, D. M., Piazza, J. R., Stawski, R. S., & Klein, L. C. (2010) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-380882-0.00012-7 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Stress measurement using speech: Recent advancements, validation issues, and ethical and privacy considerations
Slavich, G. M., Taylor, S., & Picard, R. W. (2019) · Stress · doi:10.1080/10253890.2019.1584180 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
“Interview-based measures can be time-consuming and costly, though, and self-report questionnaires often lack item specificity and validity (Cohen, Kessler, Underwood, & Gordon, 1997; Dohrenwend, 2006; Shields & Slavich, 2017).”
Background
Stress, coping, and depression: Testing a new hypothesis in a prospectively studied general population sample of U.S.-born Whites and Blacks
Keyes, K. M., Barnes, D. M., & Bates, L. M. (2010) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.12.005 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
“Substantial evidence indicates that objectivemeasures of stressful experiences aswell as information on the context of the experience is necessary to fully analyze and interpret stress in mental health research (Dohrenwend, 1998, 2006).”
Background
Alexithymia Profiles and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress
Preece, D. A., Mehta, A., Petrova, K., Sikka, P., Pemberton, E., & Gross, J. J. (2024) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.02.071 · Cited by 82 · see citing works

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Self-citation
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Authors: Dohrenwend, B. P.
Affiliations: Columbia University Irving Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author: Dohrenwend, Bruce P.
ORCID: Dohrenwend, Bruce P.
Venue: Psychological Bulletin
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 2006
Volume: 132
Issue: 3
Pages: 477-495
ISSN: 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
1939-1455
DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.477
OpenAlex: W2043830713
Cited by: 601
References: 160
Citations by year: 2026: 19 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 45 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 39 · 2014: 45 · 2013: 39 · 2012: 29
FWCI: 3.15
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders: National Institute of Mental Health (K05MH14663; MH26208; MH59627)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
Keywords: life events, psychopathology, reliability and validity, risk factors
MeSH terms: Mental Disorders, Conflict, Psychological, Humans, Life Change Events, Risk Factors, Narration

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Inventorying stressful life events as risk factors for psychopathology: Toward resolution of the problem of intracategory variability.

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