The influence of hardiness on the relationship between stressors and psychosomatic symptomatology.
Thirty male and 58 female students responded to questionnaires based on a 9-month period in a prospective study of the impact of hardiness, life events, and hassles on reports of somatic symptoms. The data were analyzed utilizing cross-lagged panel analyses, analyses of variance, and multiple regression analyses. The results suggested that life events, hassles, and symptoms were significantly related in a recursive, mutually interactive manner. Although life events shared a high degree of variance with hassles, hassles consistently contributed above and beyond life events in predicting somatic symptoms. In addition, hardiness tended to have additive and opposite effects to that of stressors in its impact on symptomatology. Finally, and perhaps most important, compared to lower-hardy individuals, those higher in hardiness tended to experience less frequent stressors and to perceive the minor events they did experience as less stressful.
Banks
J K
JK
Department of Psychology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale 62901.
Gannon
L R
LR
D000328:Adult; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*