The Role of Adversity and Stress in Psychopathology

Some Evidence and Its Implications for Theory and Research

Bibliographic Data

ID2559934
AuthorsB P Dohrenwend (0000-0002-9056-0778, New York State Psychiatric Institute, corresponding author)
Year2000
Volume41
Issue1
Pages1
Publication date2000-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Health and Social Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-1465 • E-ISSN: 2150-6000
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/2676357
PMID10750319
OpenAlexW2081737587
LanguageEN
Citations received160
References cited4

Three lines of research--studies of extreme situations, epidemiological investigations of relations between socioeconomic status (SES) and psychiatric disorders, and a quasi-experimental test of the social causation-social selection issue raised by the epidemiological findings--provide strong evidence that environmental adversity is important in the occurrence not only of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but also of other types of psychopathology, including major depression, alcoholism, substance use disorders, antisocial personality disorder, and nonspecific distress. Leads from this triad of studies are developed into a basic proposition about the nature of the role of adversity and stress. The core of this proposition is that the likelihood of onset of the above types of disorder increases with two factors: (1) the proportion of the individual's usual activities in which uncontrollable negative changes take place following a major negative event; and (2) how central the uncontrollable changes are to the individual's important goals and values. The role of environmental adversity in bringing about these uncontrollable changes varies with gender, ethnic/racial status, and SES in our own and other modern, urban societies. The types of psychopathology that develop and their course vary with both the types of adversity (e.g., whether life threat is involved) and with the personal predispositions of the individuals who experience the adversity and stress (e.g., family history of particular types of psychopathology)

Developmental psychology · Distress · Ethnic group · Personality · Population · Psychopathology · Socioeconomic status · Clinical Psychology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology