An improved method for counting stressful life events (SLEs) when predicting mental health and wellness

Checklists for registering stressful life events (SLEs) generally correlate negatively, but weakly, with mental health outcome measures. Thus, the present study examined various methodological approaches for improving these relationships.

A total of 1679 participants (women = 943, men = 736, M age-39.8) were randomly drawn from the general Norwegian population (response rate 34%). This prospective cohort study included two follow-ups at 10 (n = 1181) and 23 months (n = 942).

Satisfaction with life and absence of psychological distress (i.e. anxiety and depression) represented a joint measure for indexing 'mental wellness' (MW).

A simple count of SLEs weakly predicted MW, as expected, whereas the addition of a moderator (i.e. manageability of the event) substantially improved predictive power. Four additional moderators were examined: duration, impact, help-seeking and time since onset, but these were non-significant after inserting manageability into the model. This SLE counting method also retained its predictive power after including multiple criterion-related variables that substantially adjusted the longitudinal statistical model.

This new SLE counting method exhibited a considerable improvement to predicting mental health and well-being. It is well suited for use in epidemiological research requiring a short SLE checklist format with high predictive power.