Stressful life events and psychiatric disturbance in junior school children

Stressful life events have been implicated in the aetiology of childhood psychiatric disorders. Previously, the measurement of life events and exploration into the social origins of childhood psychopathology has predominantly utilized clinic samples and parental information.

A population-based study was performed to measure experienced stressful life events and the levels of psychiatric disturbance in 8-11-year-old children. Essentially, the project consisted of two stages. First, using an adapted life events questionnaire, 352 children were initially screened to identify two extreme groups: 30 high and 30 low life event scorers. Second, these identified children subsequently completed a detailed life events interview and the questionnaire was re-administered. Additionally, for each child, responses to a parent version of the life events questionnaire were obtained and three measures of psychiatric disturbance were made.

The child life events questionnaire had reasonable overall test-retest reliability (r = 0.650); although differential reliability between the individual items was found. Employing the parent version as the criterion, it was established that the questionnaire had fairly good concurrent validity (sensitivity 79 per cent, specificity 73 per cent). Higher levels of psychiatric disturbance were discovered in the group of high life event scorers; that is, in those children who had experienced a greater number of major stressful life events.

The developed child life events questionnaire is a beneficial screening instrument for use in community populations. Future investigations into the aetiological role of life events may assist in the prevention of childhood psychiatric morbidity.