[Critical life change events and disease: approaches, findings and omissions]

One of the most popular approaches concerned with the etiological significance of psychosocial factors is life event research. Life event research concentrates on the relationship between psychosocial events normally occurring in people's lives and the onset of somatic or psychic illnesses. Starting with the approach of Holmes and Rahe a systematic survey about fundamental approaches in life event research is given, guided by the question of the definition of critical events and the question of how to quantify their impact. Based on this survey, representative findings with regard to the relation between life events and illness-related measures are presented, followed by a critical discussion of the relevance of life event research. This discussion concentrates on the problem that life events do not account for a substantial proportion of the variance in the criterion variables. In this context several omissions of previous and recent life event research are noted. It is emphasized that further progress in life event research will only be possible through a substantial conceptual reorientation.