title: Trait self-control predicts adolescents' exposure and reactivity to daily stressful events.
abstract: The current study used an influence model of personality and stress processes to examine the association between individual differences in trait self-control and daily stress exposure and reactivity in adolescent youth. A total of 129 adolescents (Mage  = 14.7 years, 59% female) completed individual difference measures of self-control, neuroticism, and measures of responses to stress. Participants then reported on daily stressful events, stress severity, mood, coping, and mindlessness (a predictor of acting on impulse) for 14 consecutive days. Self-control predicted less exposure to daily stress, less reactivity to daily stress, and more adaptive responses to stress. Specifically, adolescents with higher self-control experienced fewer daily stressors and reported lower stress severity, particularly when daily mindlessness was high. Second, adolescents with higher self-control reported less mindlessness in response to daily stress relative to those with lower self-control, but they did not show differences in emotional reactivity to stress. Finally, results also offered evidence for an indirect effect of problem-focused coping strategies between self-control and emotional reactivity to stress. The current investigation illustrates the importance of trait self-control in daily stress processes among adolescents and suggests possible mechanisms through which self-control confers these positive effects.
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Brian M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Galla
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000339:Affect; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D064866:Mindfulness; D055361:Multilevel Analysis; D000075384:Neuroticism; D009511:New England; D010553:Personality Development; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D057566:Self Report; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students