Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T13:37:36.175Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

University transition: major and minor life stressors, personality characteristics and mental health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Luo Lu
Luo Lu*
Affiliation:
Graduate Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan (ROC)
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Luo Lu, Graduate Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical College, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (ROC).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

One hundred and two first-year students at an independent college in Taiwan participated in a questionnaire study. Measurements of stressors (major life events, minor daily hassles and perceived university stress), personality (locus of control, extraversion and neuroticism) and mental health (depression, anxiety and somatic symptoms) were taken. Using multivariate analyses, we found that: (1) life events predicted anxiety, while daily hassles predicted depression; (2) locus of control and extraversion correlated negatively, while neuroticism correlated positively with university stress; and (3) neuroticism had a main effect on symptom reportings across the board, while extraversion had a vulnerability effect on somatic symptoms. Relationships between life events and daily hassles, and the roles of personality in the stress process, are discussed.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , February 1994 , pp. 81 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Argyle, M. & Lu, L. (1990 a). The happiness of extraverts. Personality and Individual Differences 11, 1011–1017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Argyle, M. & Lu, L. (1990 b). Happiness and social skills. Personality and Individual Differences 11, 1255–1261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burks, N. & Martin, B. (1985). Everyday problems and life change events: ongoing versus acute sources of stress. Journal of Human Stress 11, 27–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, S. & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin 98, 310–357.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cooper, C. L. & Payne, R. (1967). Extraversion and some aspects of work. Personnel Psychology 20, 45–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa, P. T. & McCrae, R. R. (1980). Somatic complaints in males as a function of age and neuroticism: a longitudinal analysis. Journal of Behavioral Medicine 3, 245–257.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeLongis, A., Folkman, S. & Lazarus, R. S. (1988). The impact of daily stress on health and mood: psychological and social resources as mediators. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 54, 486–495.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Derogatis, L. R., Rickels, K. & Rock, A. F. (1976). The SCL-90 and the MMPI: a step in the validation of a new self-report scale. British Journal of Psychiatry 128, 280–289.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dohrenwend, B. S. & Dohrenwend, B. P. (Eds) (1981). Stressful Life Events and Their Contexts. Prodist: New York.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. (1967). Biological Basis of Personality. Charles C. Thomas: Illinois.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1975). Manual for the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Hodder & Stoughton: London.Google Scholar
Fisher, S. & Hood, B. (1987). The stress of the transition to university: a longitudinal study of psychological disturbance and vulnerability to homesickness. British Journal of Psychology 78, 425–442.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R. S., Dunkel-Schetter, C., DeLongis, A. & Gruen, R. (1986). The dynamics of a stress encounter: cognitive appraisal, coping and encounter outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 50, 992–1003.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holahan, C. J. & Moos, R. H. (1985). Life stress and health: personality, coping and family support in stress resistance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 49, 739–747.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holahan, C. J. & Moos, R. H. (1986). Personality, coping and family support in stress resistance: a longitudinal analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51, 389–395.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holder, E. & Levi, D. (1988). Mental health and locus of control: SCL-90-R and Levenson's IPC scales. Journal of Clinical Psychology 44, 753–755.3.0.CO;2-A>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holmes, R. H. & Rahe, R. H. (1967). The Social Readjustment Rating Scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 11, 213–218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joe, V. C. (1971). Review of the internal–external control construct as a personality variable. Psychological Reports 28, 619–640.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kessler, R. C. & Mcleod, J. D. (1985). Social support and mental health in community samples. In Social Support and Health (ed. Cohen, S. and Syme, S. L.), pp. 219–240. Academic Press: New York.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Price, R. H. & Wortman, C. B. (1985). Social factors in psychopathology: stress, social support, and coping processes. Annual Review of Psychology 36, 531–572.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kline, P. (1987). Factor analysis and personality theory. European Journal of Personality 1, 21–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krause, N. (1985). Stress, control beliefs, and psychological distress the problem of response bias. Journal of Human Stress 11, 11–19CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lefcourt, H. M., Miller, R. S., Ware, E. E. & Sherk, D. (1981). Locus of control as a modifier of the relationship between stressors and moods. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 41, 357–369CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levenson, H. (1973). Multidimensional locus of control in psychiatric patients. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 41, 397–404CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lu, L. (1989). Individual differences in vulnerability to stress. D.Phil thesis, University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Lu, L. (1990). Adaptation to British universities: homesickness and mental health of Chinese students. Counselling Psychology Quarterly 2, 225–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, L. (1991). Daily hassles and mental health: a longitudinal study British Journal of Psychology 82, 441–447.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lu, L. & Argyle, M. (1991). Happiness and cooperation. Personality and Individual Differences 12, 1019–1030.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCrae, R. R. & Costa, P. T. Jr. (1985). Comparison of EPI and psychoticism scales with measures of the five-factor model of personality. Personality and Individual Differences 6, 587–597.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neufeld, R. W. J. (Ed.) (1989). Advances in the Investigation of Psychological Stress. John Wiley & Sons: New York.Google Scholar
Ormel, J. (1983). Neuroticism and well-being inventories: measuring traits or states? Psychological Medicine 13, 165–176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paulhus, D. & Christie, R. (1981). Sphere of control. In Research with the Locus of Control Construct, vol. 1 (ed. Lefcourt, H. M.), pp. 11–37. Academic Press: New York.Google Scholar
Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 30, 241–256CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petrosky, M. J. & Birkimer, J. C. (1991). The relationship among locus of control, coping styles, and psychological symptom reporting. Journal of Clinical Psychology 47, 336–345.3.0.CO;2-L>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rabkin, J. & Struening, E. (1976). Life events, stress and illness. Science 194, 1013–1020.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rice, P. L. (1992). Stress and Health. Pacific Grove: California.Google Scholar
Rotter, J. B. (1966). A new scale for the measurement of interpersonal trust. Journal of Personality 55, 651–665.Google Scholar
Rowlison, R. T. & Feiner, R. D. (1988). Major life events, hassles, and adaptation in adolescence: confounding in conceptualization and measurement of life stress and adjustment revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 55, 432–444.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, T. W., Pope, M. K., Rhodewalt, F. & Poulton, J. L. (1989). Optimism, neuroticism, coping and symptom reports: an alternative interpretation of the Life-Orientation Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 56, 640–648.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Strube, M. J. & Boland, S. M. (1986). Postperformance attributions and task persistence among Type A and B individuals: a clarification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 50, 413–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strube, M. J., Berry, J. M., Goza, B. K. & Fennimore, D. (1985). Type A behaviour, age and psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 49, 203–218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sutherland, V. J. & Cooper, C. L. (1990). Understanding Stress: A Psychological Perspective for Health Professionals. Chapman and Hall: London.Google Scholar
Wallston, K. A. & Wallston, B. S. (1982). Who is responsible for your health? The construct of health locus of control. In Social Psychology of Health and Illness (ed. Sanders, G. S. and Suls, J.), pp. 65–89. Erlbaum: Hillsdale, NJ.Google Scholar
Wheaton, S. (1982). A comparison of the moderating effects of personal coping resources in the impact of exposure to stress in two groups. Journal of Community Psychology 10, 293–311.3.0.CO;2-K>CrossRefGoogle Scholar