An examination of life events as possible antecedents to change

The focus of this paper is on stress events as possible antecedents of stability and change in adulthood. At baseline the life span sample consisted of 52 high school seniors, 50 newlyweds, 54 middle-aged parents, and 60 persons facing retirement. Contacted at three points over a 5-year interval, these men and women were questioned about their emotional experiences and symptomatology. Exposure to stress events during the past year was assessed at the third contact. Repeated measurement analysis of variance statistics indicated that the emotions and symptoms of women were more affected by exposure to stress; men changed more as a function of time than of stress. There was also evidence that psychological characteristics of both sexes may predispose them toward greater or lesser exposure to stress.