Social stressors as antecedents of change

The potential importance of social stressors as shapers of long-term change in adult functioning has been recognized in recent theoretical work. This paper evaluated the impact of several types of stressors, including life events, transitions, hassles, and societal problems such as war or economic depression on happiness and symptoms. The role of selected social and psychological characteristics also was explored. Respondents included 62 men and 72 women who were interviewed four times over an 11-year period. Life stage, symptoms, and self-criticism at baseline were found to predict subsequent stress history, and the stress measures themselves were intercorrelated over time. In the prediction phase of the study, the stress measures made the greatest contribution to the prediction of happiness for both men and women, whereas both initial symptom level and social stressors contributed to the prediction of symptoms manifest at the 11-year follow up.