Stressors, personality and mental health: a follow-up study

One hundred and two Taiwanese subjects participated in a questionnaire follow-up study. Measurements of stressors (major life events, minor daily hassles and perceived stress of university life), personality (locus of control, extraversion and neuroticism) and mental health (depression, anxiety and somatic symptoms) were taken at Time 1; mental health was measured again at Time 2 eight months later. Using multivariate analyses, we found that (1) depressive, anxiety and somatic symptoms were all quite stable over an 8-month period; (2) daily hassles could still predict somatic symptoms at Time 2; and (3) locus of control could also predict anxiety symptoms at Time 2. Impacts of life events and daily hassles and the roles of personality in the stress process are discussed.