Appraisals of stressors and common mental disorder from early to mid-adulthood in the 1946 British birth cohort
Received 6 February 2009; received in revised form 31 March 2009; accepted 31 March 2009.
Abstract
Background
We examined the extent to which perceived life change following experiences of stressful life events, differentiated by type of stressor, influenced mental health during adulthood.
Methods
The analytic sample of 2073 cohort members was drawn from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development, a sample followed since their birth in March 1946. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between stressors reported at 36 and 43 years and common mental disorder at 36, 43, and 53 years. Common mental disorder was measured using the Present State Exam at 36 years, the Psychiatric Symptom Frequency at 43 years, and the 28-item General Health Questionnaire at 53 years.
Results
Data spanning across nearly 20 years suggest that stressors perceived to have contributed to a notable life change increased the likelihood of scoring above the cut off score for common mental disorder in comparison to stressors experienced without subsequent life change. Models were adjusted for gender, educational attainment, social class, relationship status, and past episodes of common mental disorder. This relationship appears to be most evident for proximal family and economic stressors and distal interpersonal relationship stressors experienced by close friends and relatives.
Limitations
All study information is based on self-reports and details about the nature of the life change or cognitive attribution style were not available.
Conclusions
Appraisals of changes following stressful life events may be more important than the occurrence of stressors alone in assessing the impact of stressful life events on adult mental health.
aDepartment of Psychological Medicine, Section of General Hospital Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK
bMedical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing and the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development, UK
cDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health National Health Service Trust, Cambridge, UK
Corresponding author. Department of Psychological, Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, Weston Education Centre, 10 Cutcombe Rd, London SE5 9RJ, UK.
ABSTRACT