[Reactivity to stress as a modular factor in psychopathology]

The relationship between Stress Reactivity and psychopathology, mainly minor psychopathology, in a sample of medical students (n = 76) to whom the Stress Reactivity Questionnaire (CRE-32) and Derogatis' SCL-90-R Questionnaire (Symptom Checklist 90 Revised) were administered, is studied. A higher psychopathological distress, as evidenced in SCL-90-R general psychopathological indexes and psychopathological dimensions scores, is reported by subjects with high stress reactivity compared to those with low stress reactivity (p < 0.001). These results suggest that stress reactivity acts as a buffer of psychopathology. Thus, the assumption of the participation of a "high stress reactivity" in facilitating illness in general, both in psychiatric conditions as in medical ones, is discussed.