Skip to main content
Log in

Psychosocial stressors: Concepts, causes and effects

  • Published:
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Key advances in life events research included recognition of the need to differentiate events that were independent of disorder; to take the social context of events into account; to assess life events in terms of the long term threat rather than degree of life change; to determine the temporal linkage between life events and onset of psychiatric disorder; to appreciate the importance of long term difficulties as well as acute events; and to examine the role of vulnerability and protective mechanisms in determining individual differences in response to life events. Stress effects in childhood are considered in terms of possible mediating mechanisms; of turning points in life trajectory; of individual differences in response; of difficulties in the concept and measurement of onset of psychiatric disorder; of possible additivity of negative life events; and of the origins of individual differences in exposure to negative life experiences.

Résumé

Des avancées essentielles dans la recherche sur les événements de vie ont inclues la reconnaissance de la nécessité de différencier les événements qui étaient indépendants du trouble; de prendre en compte le contexte social des événements; d'évaluer les événements de vie en terme de leur menace à long terme plutôt que du degré de changement de vie; de déterminer le lien tempored entre les événements et le début du trouble psychiatrique; d'apprécier l'importance des difficultés à long terme aussi bien que les événements aigus; et d'examiner le rôle des mécanismes de vulnérabilité et de protection dans la détermination des différences individuelles aux réponses aux événements. Les effets de stress dans l'enfance sont envisagés en terme de possibles mécanismes médiateurs; de tournants dans la trajectoire de la vie; de différences individuelles dans la réponse; de difficultés dans la conceptualisation et la mesure du début du trouble psychiatrique; d'une possible sommation des événements négatifs; et des origines des différences individuelles à l'exposition aux expériences de vie négatives.

Zusammenfassung

Zu den zentralen Fortschritten der Forschung über kritische Lebensereignisse gehören: die Erkenntnis, daß Lebensereignisse differenziert werden müssen, die unabhängig von der Störung sind; die Berücksichtigung des sozialen Kontexts der Ereignisse; die Bestimmung kritischer Lebensereignisse hinsichtlich ihrer langfristigen Bedrohung anstatt des Ausmasses an Lebensveränderung; die Bestimmung der zeitlichen Verknüpfung mit dem Beginn psychiatrischer Störungen; die Anerkennung der Bedeutung sowohl langfristiger Schwierigkeiten als auch akuter Ereignisse und die Untersuchung der Rolle von Vulnerabilität und protektiven Mechanismen für die Bedingung individueller Unterschiede in der Reaktion auf kritische Lebensereignisse. Die Auswirkungen von Belastung in der Kindheit werden folgendermaßen betrachtet: unter dem Begriff möglicher Mediatormechanismen; als Wendepunkte der Lebensbahn; als individuelle Reaktionsunterschiede; als Schwierigkeiten des Konzeptes und der Erfassung des Beginns psychiatrischer Störungen; als mögliche Erweiterung negativer Lebensereignisse und als die Ursprünge individueller Unterschiede in der Exposition gegenüber negativen Lebenserfahrungen.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Block, J.H., Block, J. & Gjerde, P.F. (1986). The personality of children prior to divorce: A prospective study.Child Development, 57, 827–840.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, G.W., & Harris, T.O. (1978).Social Origins of Depression: A Study of Psychiatric Disorder in Women. London: Tavistock.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, G.W., & Harris, T.O. (1989).Life Events and Illness. New York: Guilford

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, G.W., & Rutter, M. (1966). The measurements of family activities and relationship: A methodological study.Human Relations, 19, 241–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G.H. (1974).Children of the Great Depression. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G.H. (1979). Historical change in life patterns and personality. In P.B. Baltes and O.G. Brim (Eds.),Life Span Development and Behavior, Vol. 2. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G.H. (1986). Military times and turning points in men's lives.Developmental Psychology, 22, 233–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emery, R.E. (1982). Interparental conflict and the children of discord and divorce.Psychological Bulletin, 92, 310–330.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eth, S., & Pynoos, R.S. (1985).Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children. Washington: American Psychiatric Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garmezy, N., & Rutter, M. (1983) (Eds.).Stress, Coping, and Development in Children. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garmezy, M., & Rutter, M. (1985). Acute reactions to stress. In M. Rutter & L. Hersov (Eds.),Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Modern Approaches (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodyer, I.M. (1990).Life Experiences, Development and Childhood Psychopathology. West Sussex, England: John Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodyer, I.M., Kolvin, I., & Gatzanis, S. (1985). Recent undesirable life events and psychiatric disorder in childhood and adolescence.British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 517–523.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griesinger (1965).Mental Pathology and Therapeutics. New York: Hafner Publishing. (Facsimile of the English edition, 1867).

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, T., Brown, G.W., & Bifulco, A. (1986). Loss of parent in childhood and adult psychiatric disorder: The Wathhamstow Study I. The role of lack of adequate parental care.Psychological Medicine, 16, 641–659.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hennessey, J.W., & Levine, S. (1979). Stress, arousal, and the pituitary-adrenal system: a psycho-endocrine hypothesis. In J.M. Sprague & A.N. Epstein (eds.),Progress in Psychobiology and Physiology Psychology (pp. 133–178). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, T.H., & Rahe, R.H. (1967). The Social Readjustment Rating Scale.Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11, 213–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hultsch, D.F., & Plemons, J.K. (1979). Life events and life span development. In P.B. Baltes & O.G. Brim (Eds.),Life-Span Development and Behavior, Vol. 2. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, J.M., & Smith, M.A. (1990). Factors protecting children living in diharmonious homes: Maternal reports.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29, 60–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, J.H. (1982). Life events as stressors in childhood and adolescence. In B.B. Lahey & A.E. Kazdin (Eds.),Advances in Clinical Child Psychology, Vol. 5 (pp. 219–253). New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, J.H., & McCutcheon, S. (1980). Assessing life stress in older children and adolescents: Preliminary findings with the life events checklist. In: I.G. Sarason & C.C. Spielberger (Eds.),Stress and Anxiety, Vol. 7 (pp. 111–125). Washington, DC: Hemisphere Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knight, B.J., Osborn, S.G., & West, D.J. (1977). Early marriage and criminal tendency in males.British Journal of Criminology, 17, 64–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolvin, I., Miller, F.J.W., Scott, D.M., Gatzanis, S.R.M., & Fleeting, M. (1990).Continuities of Deprivation? The Newcastle 1,000 Family Study. Avebury: Aldershot.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R.S., & Launier, R. (1978). Stress-related transactions between person and environment. In L.A. Pervin & M. Lewis (Eds.),Perspectives in Interactional Psychology (pp. 287–327). New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, A. (1957).Psychobiology: A Science of Man. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monck, E., & Dobbs, R. (1985). Measuring life events in an adolescent population: methodological issues and related findings.Psychological Medicine, 15, 841–850.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paykel, E.S. (1974a). Life stress and psychiatric disorders. In B.S. Dohrenwend & B.P. Dohrenwend (Eds.),Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects (pp. 139–149). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paykel, E.S. (1978). Contribution of life events to causation of psychiatric illness.Psychological Medicine, 8, 245–253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickles, A., & Rutter, M. (1991). Statistical and conceptual models of “turning points” in developmental process. In D. Magnusson & L. Bergman (Eds.),Stability and Change: Methods and Models for Data Treatment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Plomin, R., & Bergeman, C.S. (1991). The nature of nuture: Genetic influences on “environmental” measures.Behavioral and Brain Sciences (in press).

  • Quinton, D., & Rutter, M. (1976). Early hospital admissions and later disturbances of behaviour: An attempted replication of Douglas' findings.Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 18, 447–459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinton, D., & Rutter, M. (1988).Parenting Breakdown: The Making and Breaking of Inter-Generational Links. Aldershot: Avebury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riese, W. (1969).The Lagacy of Philippe Pinel. New York: Springer Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins, L.N. (1966):Deviant Children Grown Up. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1979) Separation experiences: A new look at an old topic.Journal of Pediatrics, 95, 147–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1981a).Maternal Deprivation Reassessed (2nd ed.) Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1981b). Stress, coping and development: Some issues and some questions.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 22, 323–356.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1985). Family and school influences on behavioural development.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 26, 783–804.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1986). Meyerian psychobiology, personality development, and the role of life experiences.The American Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 1077–1087.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1989). Pathways from childhood to adult life.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 23–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1990). Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. In J. Rolf, A. Masten, D. Cicchetti, K. Nuechterlein & S. Weintraub (Eds.),Risk and Protective Factors in the Development of Psychopathology (pp. 181–214). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1991a). A fresh look at “maternal deprivation”. In P. Bateson (Ed.),The Development and Interpretation of Behaviour (pp. 331–374). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1991b). Origins of nurture: It's not just effects on measures and it's not just effects of nature.Behavioural and Brain Sciences (in press).

  • Rutter, M., & Brown, G.W. (1966). The reliability and validity of measures of family life and relationships in families containing a psychiatric patients.Social Psychiatry, 1, 38–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M., & Pickles, A. (1991). Person-environment interactions: Concepts, mechanisms and implications for data analysis. In T. Wachs & R. Plomin (Eds.),Conceptualization and Measurement of Organism-Environment Interactions. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stacey, M., Dearden, R., Pill, R., & Robinson, D. (1970).Hospitals, Children and Their Families: The Report of a Pilot Study. Routledge and Kergan Paul: London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stattin, H., & Magnusson, D. (1990).Pubertal Maturation in Female Development. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, D.J. (1982).Delinquency, Its Roots, Careers and Prospects, London: Heinemann Educational.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yule, B., Udwin, O., & Murdoch, K. (1990). The “Jupiter” sinking: Effects on children's fears, depression and anxiety.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 31, 1051–1061.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rutter, M., Sandberg, S. Psychosocial stressors: Concepts, causes and effects. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 1, 3–13 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02084429

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02084429

Keywords

Navigation