causes of stress on the modern generation essay

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Stress Cause and Effect

Categories: Mental Health Stress Management

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Published: Mar 13, 2024

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Causes of stress, effects of stress.

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5 Sources of Stress and Anxiety in the Modern World

If you’re stressed and anxious, this might be part of the problem..

Posted March 30, 2017 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

What Is Anxiety?
Find a therapist to overcome anxiety

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 40 million adults in the United States are affected by anxiety , and millions more are afflicted depression -related disorders.

Overall, they estimate 18 percent of all adults have some form of mental illness. And most of the rest of us have too much stress in our lives, especially during the prime productivity and child-rearing ages of 18-55. [1]

Some folks suffer for very specific reasons—perhaps because of a brain lesion, a genetic mutation, specific episodes of trauma , or an idiosyncratic chemical imbalance.

But many folks with diagnosable disorders simply suffer from more intense versions of the same things that almost everyone is suffering from. Some are just harder-hit than others because of their particular social circumstances, or because they are slightly more susceptible (a difference in degree, not in kind).

So why is there so much stress, anxiety, and depression these days?

Evolutionary psychologists will tell us that part of the problem is that there’s a mismatch between the current environment (with its cities, bureaucracies, inequality, and social media ) and the environment of evolutionary adaptation (tribal life on the savanna).

In order to explore this possibility a bit, we will consider some of the ways the modern world is different from the one our ancestors on the savanna might have encountered.

Here are five ways reasons the modern world might produce more stress, anxiety, and depression than that of our distant ancestors.

1. We interact with a greater diversity of people.

As we meet new people over the course of a year, we confront a greater diversity of skills, knowledge, and values than people have ever encountered before.

Diversity is the source of much good. Diverse groups of qualified people usually come up with better solutions to problems than less diverse groups.

However, modern diversity also strains our brains—especially the diversity in values.

A person has a family. A person also has workmates, schoolmates, and playmates. And people join churches or special interest groups that meet weekly or monthly, in person or on the internet.

Perhaps our families are Democrats our work mates are Republicans, and our school mates are Communists.

Perhaps our families are Catholics, our workmates are Protestants, and our schoolmates are Atheists.

Our families like country music, our school mates like rap and pop, and our work mates like classic rock.

Some of these differences are trivial, and some are not.

Somehow we have to figure out a way to get along with those people in our lives who have influence over our wellbeing. And we must be careful how we do this.

People have a stake in whether we agree with them or not. They need to know what to expect from us, and whether we’re with them or against them. And we need to figure out when it’s necessary to be with them and when it’s OK to be against them, because being on the side of one person sometimes requires being opposed to another.

When our grandfather makes an insensitive statement about members of a different group, perhaps we don’t rebuke him, but give a polite smile and change the subject. Then we feel guilt at the thought of what our friends would think of our not speaking out.

When a friend complains about the alienation of the workforce at the hands of greedy capitalists, we might want to respond in a way that keeps us in good standing with our friend (whether we agree with her or not). But we also have our boss and family members in the back of our heads judging how we respond.

The normative landscape is rugged. And these examples are vastly oversimplified. Most issues are not ones you are simply for or against, but there are dozens of nuanced positions to take. And many groups contain members all along a given value spectrum.

It’s fair to ask whether our brains are fully equipped to handle the degree of diversity we face today.

causes of stress on the modern generation essay

2. We compare ourselves to higher standards.

We watch TV and everyone is beautiful. We are not as beautiful. How many people in a tribe of 150 look like Rosario Dawson? How many look like Jamie Dornan?

We watch TV and everyone is rich. Entrepreneurs are always successful. Authors always get published. People’s houses are considerably nicer than ours.

We watch the Olympics and realize we might as well not even know how to run or swim. And it dawns on us that our synchronized swimming partner sucks.

Only those in the top 1% of 1% of 1% have an opportunity to display their talents, wealth, and beauty before the general public. And those are the people we compare ourselves to. It’s a nearly impossible standard.

It’s natural to want to be the prettiest girl in the tribe, to have the most resources, or to be the best in the known world at something that others understand and respect. Once upon a time we could set goals like that and get away with it.

Today we draw our competition from a pool of 7 billion people, and wanting to be among the elite is most often a recipe for discouragement.

3. We specialize more.

Aristotle read all the intellectual writings that existed in Greece in his time and then went on to add a substantial chunk to this body of knowledge himself.

Even as recently as 1600—if you were reasonably bright and had enough time on your hands—you could have a good grasp of all academic knowledge. You could read all the “classics." You could master the known mathematics, philosophy , rhetoric, and so on.

From 1600 to 1900 you could not master all human knowledge, no matter how bright you were; but, if you worked hard, you could aspire to master a single field—like mathematics, physics, philosophy, or history.

By 1950, you were lucky to master a sub-discipline like Chinese history.

Today, you’re lucky to master a sub-sub-sub discipline—like the history of the first 100 years of the Ch’in Dynasty from the perspective of a house servant.

We now have to work harder than ever to get mastery of ever smaller fields. And the payoff for this work is smaller than ever.

If you were a scholar in the year 1500 and you went to a cocktail party and someone introduced you as “a scholar," that meant something. That meant you knew everything .

Today, you go to a family reunion and tell them you’ve worked for 20 years to become an expert on the realism/anti-realism debate in the meta- ethics sub-sub field of philosophy, and your relatives don’t know what to think of that. Then they ask around and find out you make $35,000/year, and they figure it must not be very important.

You tell someone you develop web-based software. They hear “computers” and they want you to fix their printer. You can’t fix their printer, so you must not really know computers.

We often don’t understand what our neighbor does for a living, and we don’t know how to explain what we do.

We might even be the best in the world at some small little leaf far out on the tree of skill or the tree of knowledge, but no one we grew up with cares.

4. Markets are more efficient (a.k.a. "It's the economy, stupid!")

If you provide a good no one else provides, you can charge a high price and make good money. This probably won’t last long, though. If your profit margin is high enough, others will notice the opportunity and set up shop to compete with you. This will drive down prices. With enough competition, prices will fall to a level not much higher than the cost of production.

As consumers, we love this. As entrepreneurs, we find it frustrating.

This same dynamic applies to the labor market. If you have a skill very few others have, you can charge a high price for your labor. However, if your wages are high enough, others will notice the opportunity and begin developing the skills they need to compete with you. If the supply of qualified workers grows faster than the need for the service, wages will fall.

As business owners, we love this. As workers, we hate it.

On balance efficient markets might work out well for us. The benefits we receive from lower prices and cheaper labor offset the frustrations that come from having to sell our goods and labor at lower prices.

But efficient markets might also fail us personally. If we lose our job, because there’s too much competition for our position, the equation won’t balance in our favor — at least in the short term. And in the long term, some people reap more rewards from efficient markets than others.

Overall, efficient markets have led to higher standards of living on average. Life spans are up. Physical possessions are up. Entertainment options are up. Education levels are up.

But are we happier?

Maybe. And maybe not. Once upon a time, our place in the tribe was secure. Our skills were highly valued, and they would remain that way our whole productive lives. Today our place is not secure. If there’s a lot of competition for our position, we can be replaced with someone better. And there’s almost always someone better.

Today’s worker can be replaced, regardless of how hard they work or how good they are.

Not only that, but whole companies can be replaced. If another company comes along and provides a better or cheaper alternative, everyone can be out of a job through no fault of their own.

Whether you own the business or you work for wages, in the modern world, you very likely live your days with a sword of Damocles hanging over your head.

5. Innovation happens faster.

We live in exciting times. New discoveries are being made every year in almost every field of science. New gadgets are being invented every year. And our existing technologies are being improved every year.

It’s well known that computers have been getting faster. Until recently, computer clock speeds had doubled roughly every 18 months since computers were first developed. Your smartphone is (much) more powerful than the computers NASA used to run the Apollo Project. There’s reason to think this pace of improvement has slowed and will continue to slow, but we are finding other ways, such as parallel computing, to keep finding improvements.

Some improvements are happening even faster. The Human Genome Project set out to sequence the human genome in 1989. It took 13 years and 3 billion dollars to finish.

Toward the end of the Human Genome Project, a private company working in parallel reduced the cost in money and time to $200 million and about one year.

Just 15 years later a machine can sequence a genome in less than a day at a teeny fraction of the cost.

Have you heard about 3-D printers? These machines take a 3-D design for a coffee mug or a bracelet, or pretty much any solid object you can imagine, and print them layer by layer out of plastic. Individuals with a sense of design can invent new gadgets all by themselves.

Currently, the production models of these printers make objects from a single material. And you can’t print a ham sandwich yet. But Star Trek replicators can’t be that far off.

And did you know that we can now re-grow body parts and organs?

True. A woman recently grew a new ear for herself under the skin of her forearm.

Imagine what would happen if we could combine the 3-D printer technology with the ability to grow new body parts. Then you could print a new liver for yourself in your basement.

You laugh. Check this out .

These are exciting times. But they are also disorienting and turbulent times.

New innovations come along so quickly in part because we have such high degrees of specialization, diversity and market efficiency—three factors mentioned above.

But the influence goes the other way as well. New inventions and discoveries require new specializations. Rapid innovation also contributes to some of the negative effects of the efficient market. Not only can we lose our job. Not only can our company go out of business. But with new technologies, entire industries can be swept away.

If 3-D printing becomes extremely cheap and more versatile (and why wouldn’t it?), all you need is a design you can draw up on your computer (or download from someone else’s computer) plus some raw goo, and you can make nearly anything you want. This cuts out a lot of middlemen. Many manufacturing jobs will become obsolete. And many of those workers will need to work very hard to become relevant again.

Not only does rapid innovation make it difficult to keep job skills relevant, but it also makes it difficult to stay “in the know."

Many older folks in their 80s and 90s have not embraced (and likely will not embrace) the internet. When they grew up, electric appliances and automobiles were new industries. Many still walked and rode horses as their primary form of transportation in their youth. In many ways, they had more in common with the young people in the Roman Empire than they have in common with young people today.

They have been left behind. They are irrelevant. After years of helping to build our world, our world no longer has any use for them. And they don’t understand the world they are leaving behind.

Before you pity them, realize something. Because the pace of innovation is increasing, it’s going to be worse for us. We will one day be even more “out of touch” than our octogenarians are today.

Those are five differences between our modern world and life on the savanna. And those five differences might go some way toward explaining why there is so much anxiety in the world today.

We could go deeper at this point and explore how each of these factors affects our basic psychological needs. And we could even try to come up with some remedies for our modern maladies. If that interests you, I take up those themes in “Stop Setting Goals That Don’t Make You Happy.”

[1] https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-anxiety-disor…

Jim Stone, Ph.D., is a philosopher, avid student of motivational psychology, and developer of personal productivity software and workshops.

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Stress and Its Effects on Health Essay

Introduction, physical effects, psychological effects, behavioral effects.

Stress is the emotional strain or tension experienced by an individual due to a reaction toward various demanding and influential situations. The challenging or compelling situations are termed stressors. Stressors can be internal or external and include life changes such as losing a significant figure, low socioeconomic status, relationship problems, occupational challenges, and familial or environmental factors. An individual’s response to stressors influences the outcome of their life. Health is a state of complete social, emotional, and physical well-being and not merely the absence of disease. Stress is a common risk factor for negative health status secondary to negative adaptation and coping with the stressors. Stressors can create a strain on one’s physical, psychological and behavioral well-being, leading to lasting effects that are detrimental to one’s health.

Stress is associated with various physical health impacts on an individual. In an online cross-sectional survey by Keech et al. (2020) to determine the association between stress and the physical and psychological health of police officers, the findings illustrate that stress negatively impacts physical and psychological well-being. One hundred and thirty-four police officers were involved in the study (Keech et al., 2020). The findings demonstrate that stress resulted in various short and long-term physical effects that included increased heart rates, sweating, high blood pressure, and long-term development of the cardiac condition. In addition, stress resulted in the development of gastrointestinal disorders such as peptic ulcer and irritable bowel syndrome. Keech et al. (2020) note that stress’s associated physical health effects are explained by various mechanisms that include overstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis.

Overstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system results in increased sympathetic actions on the peripheral body organs leading to increased sweat production, heart rate, respiration rate, and urinary and bowel elimination. The study notes that chronic stress without positive adaptation measures results in the progressive development of hypertension, peptic ulcers, and irritable bowel syndrome as long-term effects (Keech et al., 2020). Within the gastrointestinal tract, chronic stress activity on the sympathetic nervous system results in increased parietal cell action. Overactivity of the parietal cells results in excessive gastric acid production, gradually eroding the mucosa, and ulceration occurs.

The effects of stress on the cardiovascular system are explained in a review by Kivimäki & Steptoe (2017) to determine the impact of stress on the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases. In the review, stress is identified to cause cardiovascular conditions secondary to the effects of sustained sympathetic action on heart contractility and peripheral vascular resistance (Kivimäki & Steptoe, 2017). The sympathetic nervous system contributes to normal heart and blood vessel contractility. However, when the system is overstimulated, a surge in contractility above the normal limits ensues, leading to the progressive development of heart conditions.

Psychological well-being incorporates a positive mental health status evidenced by an individual’s satisfaction with life, happiness, rational thinking and decision-making, and positive mood patterns. Stress has been associated with alterations in an individual’s psychological wellness. An explanation for alteration in an individual’s psychological well-being secondary to stress is negative adaptation. Keech et al. (2020) note that an individual’s response to a stressor determines whether stress results in positive or negative effects. In the online cross-sectional survey by Keech et al. (2020), the findings illustrate that pressure resulted in the development of anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorders as long-term effects among the participants. Exposure to stressful situations resulted in progressively developing anxiety among the individual secondary to persistent worry over the issue. The anxiety results in other physical manifestations, including increased heart rate, palpitations, sweating, and altered mobility. Depression and bipolar conditions were also associated with chronic stress secondary to the impacts of stress on neurotransmitter function and nerves.

Similar findings are noted in a cross-sectional study by Zhang et al. (2020) to compare the prevalence and severity of stress-associated mental health symptoms, including anxiety, depression, and insomnia among healthcare workers during the COVID pandemic. Five hundred and twenty-four healthcare workers were involved in the study. The study findings illustrate that 31.3% of the participants developed depression secondary to the stressful working environment, 41.2% reported anxiety, and 39.3% reported sleep disturbances (Zhang et al., 2020). The scientific explanation for the relationship between stress and depression was attributed to the effects of stressful periods on neurotransmitter homeostasis. Chronic stress results in the altered regulation of neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. Alterations in serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine resulted in the progressive development of depression and anxiety. Sleep disturbances reported by the participants are attributed to alterations in cortisol hormone homeostasis secondary to overstimulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis.

Stressful situations can also lead to alterations in the behavioral patterns of an individual. The most common behavioral effects secondary to stress include the development of eating disorders, altered sleeping patterns, impaired concentration, and drug abuse especially alcohol. Alterations in sleep and eating patterns are linked to stress’s effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPA). Exposure to stressful events leads to increased activation of the HPA axis with a net effect of increased catecholamine production (adrenaline and noradrenaline) (Moustafa et al., 2018). Increased adrenaline and noradrenaline production results in dysregulation in the eating and sleeping patterns. Sustained high levels of cortisol results in difficulty falling asleep and increased metabolic processes. The biological clock regulates the typical sleeping pattern that relies on producing the sleep hormone melatonin. Melatonin production by the pineal gland is regulated indirectly by the concentration of serum cortisol levels and directly by light perception. Imbalances in the serum concentration cycle secondary to stress results in imbalanced melatonin production and concentration with a net effect of sleeping difficulties.

The emotional strain caused by stress increases the risk of alcohol and other illicit drug use and dependence. Moustafa et al. (2018) conducted an integrative literature review to determine the relationship between childhood trauma, early-life stress, alcohol and drug use, addiction, and abuse. The review findings illustrate that stress increases the risk of alcohol and drug use, addiction, and abuse among the victims. An explanation for the increased risk is the individuals’ lack of identification and implementation of effective coping strategies (Moustafa et al., 2018). Lack of effective coping strategies results in maladaptive measures such as illicit drug use and alcohol consumption. Extensive use of the maladaptive measures results in progressive addiction and drug abuse among individuals with an increased predisposition to other health effects. Alcohol consumption and other illicit drug use over time increase the risk of developing cardiac, respiratory, and liver conditions.

Stress is the emotional strain or tension experienced by an individual due to a reaction toward various demanding and influential situations. Individual response to stressors influences their health. Maladaptive response to stress results in various physical, psychological, and behavioral negative effects. Negative effects of stress on physical health include increased heart rates, sweating, high blood pressure, and long-term development of the cardiac condition. Psychological effects include the development of anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorders. The behavioral effects of stress on an individual include the development of eating disorders, altered sleeping patterns, impaired concentration, and abuse of alcohol and other drugs. Based on the research findings, it is essential for healthcare providers to identify strategic measures and health initiatives to educate and sensitize the community members on effective stress management approaches in all settings to aid in combating the health effects.

Keech, J. J., Cole, K. L., Hagger, M. S., & Hamilton, K. (2020). The association between stress mindset and physical and psychological well being: Testing a stress beliefs model in police officers . Psychology & Health , 35 (11), 1306-1325. Web.

Kivimäki, M., & Steptoe, A. (2017). Effects of stress on the development and progression of cardiovascular disease . Nature Reviews Cardiology , 15 (4), 215–229. Web.

Moustafa, A. A., Parkes, D., Fitzgerald, L., Underhill, D., Garami, J., Levy-Gigi, E., Stramecki, F., Valikhani, A., Frydecka, D., & Misiak, B. (2018). The relationship between childhood trauma, early-life stress, and alcohol and drug use, abuse, and addiction: An integrative review . Current Psychology , 40 (2), 579–584. Web.

Zhang, X., Zhao, K., Zhang, G., Feng, R., Chen, J., Xu, D., Liu, X., Ngoubene-Italy, A. J., Huang, H., Liu, Y., Chen, L., & Wang, W. (2020). Occupational Stress and Mental Health: A comparison between frontline medical staff and non-frontline medical staff during the 2019 novel Coronavirus Disease outbreak . Frontiers in Psychiatry , 11 . Web.

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The Oxford Handbook of Stress and Mental Health

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15 Stress Generation and Depression

Constance Hammen, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

Published: 07 June 2018
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This chapter defines stress generation, noting evidence of the bidirectional effects of stress and depression on each other, contributing to recurrence and chronicity of depression and continuing stressors. Studies have documented elevated levels of acute negative life events as well as enduring stressful life circumstances, especially stressful interpersonal situations. Besides depression, predictors of stress generation include maladaptive cognitions and individual traits and experiences that lead to dysfunctional emotional and behavioral reactions, as well as dysfunctional coping styles and resources. Although stress generation may occur in many forms of psychopathology, there appears to be a unique link between major depression and the occurrence of interpersonal dependent stressors. Patterns of vulnerability–stress–depression relationships support an emphasis on the importance of interpersonal and interactional themes in many forms of depression, perhaps especially for women. Stress generation perspectives highlight environmental contributors to and consequences of depression. Goals for future research and clinical implications/applications are noted.

The concept of stress generation arose directly from observations during life stress interviews of individuals participating in longitudinal studies of risk for depression. Conceptually it stemmed indirectly from the mix of ideas about human agency, the views of individuals not as passive recipients or responders to stimuli but as active contributors, responding to environments as perceived. These ideas are elaborated in Hammen (2006) and included Bandura’s reciprocal determinism, Walter Mischel’s emphasis on situational factors as sometimes more reliable predictors of behavior than traits, and the cognitive constructivist ideas of Michael Mahoney (Bandura, 1982 , 1986 ; Mahoney, 1974 ; Mischel, 1968 , 1973 ; Mischel & Shoda, 1995 ). These thinkers were early powerful critics of classical behaviorism and personality models of human behavior, but a good many other intellectual threads also influenced thinking about why some people get depressed and others do not, and these have been relevant to the focus on stress in the lives of depressed people.

This chapter addresses several questions: What is stress generation and why is it important? What is the relevant empirical work on the bidirectional interplay of stress and depression? Can the concept of stress generation be expanded beyond application to acute life events? What are the interpersonal aspects and consequences of stress generation? Is depression unique in aspects of stress generation? What are the origins and predictors of stress generation? Finally, what are the unresolved conceptual, empirical, and methodological issues and implications for treatment and intervention?

What Is Stress Generation and Why Is It Important?

In interviewing research participants multiple times over years (observations also confirmed in clinical work with depressed patients), their descriptions of the context of recent negative events often suggested that some individuals were reporting circumstances in which their characteristics and behaviors contributed to the occurrence of negative events. Subjecting this observation to empirical evaluation, Hammen (1991a) compared total 12-month acute life event impact across four groups of women (all mothers of children aged 12–18): bipolar, unipolar depressed, medically ill, or well women. Women with a previous diagnosis of major depressive disorder (unipolar) had the most stress overall, but when the stressors were subdivided by content categories, the groups did not differ in independent events (fateful, outside the person’s control). However, depressed women had more “dependent” stress (caused at least in part by their own behaviors and characteristics). The effect was particularly strong for events with interpersonal/relational content, and notably, the largest subcategory of interpersonal events had conflict content, and the unipolar depressed women reported remarkably more conflict event impact than all the other groups. Thus, it appears that stress generation in depression is largely about interpersonal stress to which the person has contributed. Significantly also, when the temporal association between depressive episodes and stress occurrence was systematically examined, the majority of the life events did not occur during the episode—some preceded and many followed recovery from the episode. It appeared that depressive mood states were not the sole driver of life difficulties, raising further questions to probe.

There are three key implications of the stress generation phenomenon in depression. If stress triggers depression in the vulnerable, then stress generation experiences likely portend a recurrent or chronic course of depression. Second, continuing patterns of stress and depression predict continuity of stress over many years, and such accumulated stress burden, also called allostatic load ( McEwen, 1998 ), may have additional negative health consequences over time. Third, elevated levels of stress, especially interpersonal stress, likely have a negative impact on others in the life space of a depressed person, and thereby may contribute to distress in family members and friends—including the intergenerational transmission of depression. These implications, plus treatment implications, will be elaborated further next.

Research on Stress Generation and Depression

Depression history predicts dependent stress.

There have been several reviews of the empirical findings on stress generation (e.g., Hammen, 2005 , 2006 ; Hammen & Shih, 2008 ; Liu, 2013 ; Liu & Alloy, 2010 ). As Liu (2013) noted, accounts of stress generation should be limited to studies with stress assessment procedures such as interviews that provide an objective basis for determining the crucial issue of whether an event is “dependent” or “independent” on the person, as the latter life events are not hypothesized to be part of stress generation. A good many studies are therefore not noted because they are based on checklists that obscure the context in which events occurred. Further, the meaning of the same item (their contribution to the event) across different people cannot be determined without further probes (but see more comprehensive reviews by Hammen & Shih, 2008 and Liu & Alloy, 2010 that include diverse stress measures). Also, it is important to emphasize the role of interpersonal life events, based on the original Hammen (1991a) findings, and some studies that did not make distinctions in content are not noted. In a later section, the unique role of interpersonal content and its implications is highlighted. Similarly, many studies have other methodological shortcomings, such as cross-sectional designs, which make it more difficult to determine the temporal order of depression and stress. Additionally, it is important to select and test samples based on their history of depression, rather than current symptomatology, since stress generation does not specify that events occur only or mostly because of depressive symptomatology.

Overall, longitudinal studies of samples with ascertained depression histories have demonstrated stress generation (dependent interpersonal events) in adults (e.g, Chun, Cronkite, & Moos, 2004 ; Cui & Vaillant, 1997 ; Daley et al., 1997 ; Hammen, 1991a ; see also Hammen & Brennan, 2002 ) and children and adolescents (e.g., Hammen, Hazel, Brennan, & Najman, 2012 ; Harkness, Lumley, & Truss, 2008 ; Harkness & Stewart, 2009 ; Rudolph, 2008 ; Rudolph et al., 2000 ; Rudolph, Flynn, Abaied, Groot, & Thompson, 2009 ). As the field has moved more recently toward studies of specificity and predictors of stress generation, additional studies are cited in the following sections.

Depression as a Consequence of Stress Generation

Not only does depression history predict interpersonal dependent stress but also an important corollary is the prediction that stress generation leads to further depression. Most studies have not specifically collected and reported on depression following evidence of stress generation. To some extent this is an omission due to the clear empirical evidence of depression following stress exposure in the literature, but it also reflects a relative dearth of longitudinal studies. However, several longitudinal studies demonstrated that dependent interpersonal events predicted further depression during follow-ups (e.g., Davila, Hammen, Burge, Paley, & Daley, 1995 ; Hammen, Hazel, Brennan, & Najman, 2012 ; Hammen, Shih, & Brennan, 2004 ; Rudolph et al., 2009 ; Shapero, Hankin, & Barrocas, 2013 ).

Continuity of Stress Occurrence

A further implication of stress generation is that stress occurrence is likely to be fairly continuous over long periods of time, thus predicting high rates of interpersonal stress among those depressed individuals who show initial stress generation. For instance, our group has shown stress continuity over periods of 15 years, 20 years, and recently 30 years, beginning with exposure to adverse environments in the earliest years of life. Hazel, Hammen, Brennan, and Najman (2008) found significant stability of stress burden for youth exposed to high levels of family financial hardship, parental marital dissatisfaction, elevated levels of maternal life events, and maternal diagnoses between birth and 5 years and at age 15. Hammen et al. (2012) also found significant stability between youth early adversity exposure and elevated levels of stress generation at ages 15 and 20—and predicted and found bidirectional associations between depressive disorders and stress over the 20-year period. Similarly, when a subset of the same sample was followed up by questionnaires at age 30, similar long-term patterns of bidirectional associations were observed between depression and stress, including childhood adversity, and stress and depression by 15 and 20 predicting stress and depression at age 30 ( Hammen & Brennan, 2016 ).

Uliaszek et al. (2012) , noting the stability of stress exposure over time, posited that stress generation might operate through a stress continuation model (essentially a statistical artifact) rather than a stress causation model. That is, stress might be elevated following depression due to high levels of pre-existing stress. They tested the competing models by controlling for initial levels of stress and found support for the stress causation model when stress was measured by moderate to severe events (see also Harkness & Stewart, 2009 ; Rudolph et al., 2009 ). Thus, stress generation predicts continuing new stressors.

The continuity of stress over many years raises additional considerations. One is that the relationship between stress and depression may alter. The notions of “kindling” and stress sensitization have been investigated in longitudinal studies, and they generally confirm the increasing likelihood that less stress is needed to trigger depressive episodes (see Stroud chapter, this volume). Second, continuity of stress has implications not only for the course of depression. We might speculate that a long-term stress burden perhaps exacerbated by stress generation has the potential for contributing to other adverse conditions besides depression, most particularly if exposure to adversity occurs in the developmentally critical periods of early life. McEwen and others, for example, have written extensively on allostatic load, the detrimental physiological consequences of overload of the allostatic system, the complex interactions between the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems to adapt to environmental challenges and maintain homeostasis (e.g., McEwen, 1998 ; McEwen & Morrison, 2013 ). Considerable research has been devoted to understanding how “toxic” stress “gets under the skin” to promote maladaptive psychological and physical health. Danese and McEwen (2012) , for example, detail the considerable implications of maladaptive stress responses for cognitive development, mental health, and immune dysregulation promoting long-term risk for various health conditions (see also Slavich chapter, this volume).

Expanding Stress Generation: Selection Into Difficult Circumstances

As a general observation, too little research on stress and depression has focused on chronic, ongoing conditions of individuals’ lives, encompassing functioning in typical roles, such as financial, marital and family, and health difficulties. This is a problem, in my view, because in studying diathesis-stress models, depressive episodes and experiences are typically attributed to acute negative life events but commonly neglect the potential impact of unmeasured ongoing, chronic stressors. Hammen and colleagues developed the UCLA Life Stress Interview to include assessment of both acute and chronic stress in adults, which was also expanded and modified for use with child and adolescent samples (e.g., Hammen, Adrian, et al., 1987 ; Hammen, Gordon, et al., 1987 ; Hammen, Marks, Mayol, & deMayo, 1985 ; Rudolph et al., 2000 ).

Assessing ongoing conditions in each of several typical roles, for example, promoted the observation that individuals make choices and select into certain circumstances that have long-range implications. Adolescent choices are among the most developmentally significant experiences, especially those involving establishment of long-term romantic and family, educational, and occupational decisions and commitments.

The notion of selection into certain environments has a distinguished history in conceptualization of gene–environment interplay (e.g., Kendler, Karkowski, & Prescott, 1999 ; Plomin, DeFries, & Loehlin, 1977 ; Scarr & McCartney, 1983 ), as well as in personality and social psychology (e.g., Buss, 1987 ). These investigators challenged the notion of humans as passive in the face of genetic predispositions, and instead they characterized the role of choices and how certain actions and behavioral styles influence how genetic tendencies are played out.

Depression may be relevant to such life choices, decisions, and behaviors in the same way that it predicts generation of dependent interpersonal life events. For example, time and again our interviews in longitudinal studies provided anecdotal support for the observation that individuals with histories of depression often made choices or decisions that had long-term consequences of entrapping them in difficult relationships and creating environments with a high likelihood of continuing challenges and stressors (e.g., Hammen, Rudolph, Weisz, Rao, & Burge, 1999 ). Commonly, we and others had observed “assortative mating” such as depressed women marrying men with psychopathology (e.g., Brennan, Hammen, Katz, & Le Brocque, 2002 ; Hammen, 1991b ; Hammen et al., 1999 ). We applied the concept of “selection” to our data in several specific ways. In our study of youth at risk for depression due to maternal depression, we studied adolescents’ selection into abusive relationships between ages 15 and 20, finding reports of severe physical abuse in 16% of the sample overall, especially women; importantly, youth depressive disorder by age 15 was a significant predictor of being a victim of severe intimate partner violence ( Keenan-Miller, Hammen, & Brennan, 2007 ; see also Capaldi, Knoble, Shortt, & Kim, 2012 ; Rao, Hammen, & Daley, 1999 relating to associations between youth depression and physical violence in romantic relationships). Notably also, depressed youth have been shown to have committed romantic relationships or marriage with low levels of satisfaction ( Gotlib, Lewinsohn, & Seeley, 1998 ). Therefore, in data from our sample of youth at risk for depression, we examined relationship functioning in late adolescence and early adulthood. Katz, Hammen, and Brennan (2013) found that high risk due to maternal depression predicted offspring having a committed romantic relationship at age 20 with lower reported relationship satisfaction (and their partners also reported lower satisfaction; see also Daley & Hammen, 2002 ). Also, Raposa, Hammen, and Brennan (2015) found evidence that youth with depression or risk for depression, and who also experienced childhood adversity, tended to report close friendships at age 20 with young adults with elevated levels of psychopathology; having best friends with internalizing and personality pathology was a predictor of youths’ own further depression several years later.

In addition to mate and friendship choices of depressed individuals that are potentially predictive of long-term interpersonal stress, another life choice portending enduring challenges is the decision to bear children during the teenage years. Young women who were depressed by age 15 were at greater risk for childbearing before age 20 in our high-risk sample ( Hammen, Brennan, & Le Brocque, 2011 ). Many such women in the sample were not currently involved with the father of their babies and often had low educational attainment and lacked financial independence. Interpersonal dysfunction at age 15 was a significant mediator of the link between young women’s prior depression and early childbearing. Notably also, prior depression tended to predict further depression during young motherhood and poorer functioning in the maternal role ( Hammen et al., 2011 ).

Finally, “extended” stress generation is often an outcome for depressed parents because they tend to have offspring with elevated rates of disorder (discussed later). A depressed mother may not only generate stressors in her own life, but she is embedded in an ongoing parental role with children whose behaviors are problematic. Raposa, Hammen, and Brennan (2011) hypothesized that offspring with diagnoses of disorders are likely to contribute to the stress of the mother, eventuating in further maternal depression beyond her prior depression. Specifically, Raposa et al. (2011) found that youth disorders by age 15 predicted mothers’ depressive episodes over the subsequent 5 years. In particular, the investigators focused on stressors experienced by the mothers that involved their child, examining both acute stressors and chronic strain in the mother–child relationship. The link between youth psychopathology and subsequent maternal depression over the next 5 years was mediated by both acute and chronic child-related stress in the mothers’ lives.

In sum, stress generation in depressed individuals may be extended to include selection into and creation of relationships with others who themselves have psychopathology, into maladaptive or less satisfying close relationships with romantic partners and close friends, and into childbearing roles in which the depressed person is ill-equipped or lacking support to function effectively in the maternal role. It should be emphasized that while stress generation may result from decisions and behaviors of the depressed person, in addition individuals also may be entrapped in situations mostly not under their control. Examples might include impaired family networks in which parents or siblings have disorders or dysfunctions that create problems and stressors for others. Financial and work circumstances may be limited due to low educational and socioeconomic conditions and opportunities, or individuals may be encumbered by chronic medical illnesses or dangerous and impoverished neighborhoods where alternatives are not easily available. In short, choices may beget challenging conditions, but depriving environments also beget stressful environments. Clearly a broad “stress generation” perspective has clinical implications requiring a comprehensive view of treatments and interventions for depression that go beyond altering individual symptoms with relatively simple solutions. This topic is addressed further in a later section.

Interpersonal Aspects of Stress Generation

Stress with interpersonal content.

Stress generation has been defined as events at least partly dependent on the person, determined by use of interviews that examine the context in which a negative event occurs. Over time, evidence has emerged that depression-related stress generation should be understood in the context of a broad interpersonal perspective on depression vulnerability and its consequences. In the original Hammen (1991a) study, it was the subcategory of interpersonal content events that was especially associated with history of major depression. Subsequent studies that have examined and analyzed event content have generally reported similar patterns (e.g., Chun et al., 2004 ; Rudolph et al., 2000 ; Shih & Eberhart, 2010 ). Importantly, Conway, Hammen, and Brennan (2012) explored the specificity of the link between disorders and stress generation by use of latent variable modeling to examine the unique contributions of transdiagnostic internalizing and externalizing factors and specific syndromes. Conway et al. (2012) found that once variance due to the internalizing factor was partialled out, only diagnoses of unipolar depression contributed incrementally to the generation of interpersonal dependent stress (but not noninterpersonal dependent stress); the externalizing dimension was unrelated to interpersonal stress.

Throughout our research on risk factors for depression we have found a common theme of dysfunction and high levels of chronic stress in interpersonal roles—family relations, romantic relations, and peer and social difficulties. Review of this extensive body of research is beyond the scope of this chapter (but see Hames, Hagan, & Joiner, 2013 ; Hammen & Shih, 2014 ). Clearly such interpersonal difficulties of depressive individuals are at the heart of stress generation, and a later section deals more explicitly with the characteristics of individuals that are predictive of stress generation.

Impact of Interpersonal Stress on Others

Liu (2013) noted that among the implications of (interpersonal) stress generation is the negative impact on others in the life space of a depressed person. Thus, going beyond the depressive consequences of stress generation for the individual, stress generation appears to have pernicious consequences by exposing others to the effects of stressors. Interpersonal dependent stress may contribute to distress in family members and friends—including the intergenerational transmission of depression.

Coyne (1976a) was one of the first to specifically focus on the impact of depression on other people, finding that it could elicit rejection in strangers because the symptoms may be aversive to others, and even induce negative moods in others, a phenomenon that came to be called “contagion” affecting strangers, roommates, and friends (e.g., Joiner & Katz, 1999 ). Moreover, Coyne and colleagues observed that partners/significant others of a depressed person (or with another disorder) may become engaged in a mutually aversive process in which they attempt to offer help and support but often find that the recipient does not get better or declines to accept advice, leading to frustration and eventually disengagement, which the depressed or ill person experiences as rejection ( Coyne, 1976b ). In one study spouses of patients with depression were troubled and their lives burdened by a number of the patients’ symptoms and consequences of symptoms, to the point that they became significantly distressed themselves ( Coyne et al., 1987 ). Not surprisingly, depression is often associated with marital difficulties, disruption, and dissatisfaction (e.g., reviewed in Davila, Stroud, & Starr, 2014 ). In one epidemiological survey, for example, Zlotnick, Kohn, Keitner, and Della Grotta (2000) found significantly more marital dissatisfaction among depressed patients than in individuals with nondepressive disorders. Hammen and Brennan (2002) showed that while marital dissatisfaction is highest among couples with a currently depressed spouse, such dissatisfaction is relatively high even when not in a depressive episode compared to never-depressed couples. Although not directly tested in these studies, it is presumed that at least part of the contribution to distress is conflicts, as well as other problematic behaviors contributed by the depressed person.

Perhaps the most dramatic example of stress generation effects on others is intergenerational transmission of depression and elevated risk to offspring for other disorders and impaired functioning in relevant roles (meta-analysis in Goodman et al., 2011 ; reviewed in Hammen, 2017 ). Impaired parenting is likely the most critical mediator of the effects of parental depression on children (reviewed in Goodman, 2007 ; Stein et al., 2014 ). However, maternal depression is also commonly correlated with high levels of maternal (generated) stress, to which the child is exposed ( Hammen, Brennan, & Shih, 2004 ; Hammen et al., 1987 ; Hammen, Hazel, et al., 2012 ; Hammen, Shih, & Brennan, 2004 ). Similarly, as noted, marital discord rates are high among depressed individuals, and interparental conflicts are stressful and have a negative impact on children’s emotional and behavioral development (e.g., reviewed in Cummings & Davies, 2002 ). For example, Hanington, Heron, Stein, and Ramchandani (2012) examined the contributions of parental depression and marital discord, and found that marital discord partially mediated the association between parental depression and child outcomes defined as emotional and conduct problems.

Gender Differences in Interpersonal Stress Generation

A second implication of the role of interpersonal life events is the likelihood of gender differences in stress generation and in depressive reactions to relational life events. A good many stress generation studies were conducted on female-only samples, or they did not examine gender differences or controlled for gender. However, the Liu and Alloy (2010) review suggests a trend toward finding stronger evidence of the pattern among females. Rudolph et al. (2000) found that adolescent girls in a clinical sample reported more interpersonal stress than boys did. Similarly, Shih, Eberhart, Hammen, and Brennan (2006) found that adolescent girls in a maternal depression high-risk sample reported more dependent interpersonal events than boys did. Clearly further studies are needed to address the issue in adult samples.

To the degree that females are generally socialized and predisposed to nurture and emphasize bonds among family and friends, the quality of such ties to others is a high priority for maintaining personal well-being and thus a source of vulnerability when interpersonal conflicts, rejections, and exits occur. Women who are vulnerable to depression might not only be susceptible to depression in the face of relational difficulties, but also their cognitions and behaviors relevant to evaluating and maintaining the quality of their bonds may result in maladaptive responses that actually impair ties with others. Such maladaptive relational styles might be especially likely to occur in those who have been exposed in early life to harsh or neglectful parenting and were also unable to acquire adequate interpersonal problem-solving skills, a topic which is addressed further in a later section.

Is Stress Generation Specific to Depression?

To a considerable extent, all forms of psychopathology are intertwined with stressors and stressful circumstances: Chronic and episodic psychological disorders invariably have the potential to disrupt performance in expected roles, and diagnostic criteria typically require such evidence. Symptomatology clearly contributes to the occurrence of acute major life events, such as legal violations, car accidents, relationship failures, school expulsion, and serious debt or bankruptcy, as well as impaired functioning in one or more key roles—marital and parental relationships, social functioning, finances, and work. Stressors and stressful conditions are likely to exacerbate the severity and duration of symptomatology, and influence the timing of relapses and recurrence over the course of disorder. Unfortunately, however, despite increasing numbers of research articles linking course of disorders and stress, few studies have examined stress generation and bidirectional associations between stress and disorders, or used contextual interview measures to ascertain details of event occurrence, dependence/independence, and objective ratings of magnitude of stress in longitudinal designs.

Apart from depression, studies of stress generation with suitable methodologies have been more common for anxiety disorders and have found evidence of increased levels of dependent stress among those with anxiety disorders or comorbid anxiety and depression disorders ( Connolly, Eberhart, Hammen, & Brennan, 2010 ; Daley et al., 1997 ; Harkness & Luther, 2001 ; Phillips, Carroll, & Der, 2015 ; Uliaszek et al., 2012 ). Axis II pathology was found to be associated with stress generation in a study by Daley, Hammen, Davila, and Burge (1998) . Controlling for prior depression status, Cluster B symptoms were incremental predictors of dependent and conflict stressors over the subsequent 2 years. In a separate sample of high school women, Daley, Rizzo, and Gunderson (2006) found that the link between borderline personality disorder symptoms and subsequent depression was mediated by interpersonal stress. Powers, Gleason, and Oltmanns (2013) also found that borderline personality disorder symptoms predicted more interpersonal life events in a community sample of men and women, aged 55–64.

Few studies have explicitly examined the role of externalizing disorders in the generation of stress. However, Rudolph et al. (2000) and Rudolph (2008) explored the topic in separate samples of children and adolescents. Rudolph et al. (2000) studied clinic-referred youth aged 8–18. The expected patterns of stress generation were observed for depression, but also externalizing disorders (controlling for comorbid depression) predicted dependent noninterpersonal (but not interpersonal) stress, with somewhat different patterns for boys and girls—boys more likely displaying associations between externalizing symptoms and dependent noninterpersonal life events such as school problems. Rudolph (2008) , in a community sample of youth in the transition to puberty, found that externalizing psychopathology was not predictive of dependent interpersonal stress, but it did predict dependent noninterpersonal stress. Thus, stress generation occurs with externalizing disorder symptomatology but specifically only with noninterpersonal stress, such as school-related events.

As previously noted, Conway et al. (2012) examined stress generation in a large sample of youth at risk due to maternal depression, using latent variable modeling to test the association of both individual diagnoses and transdiagnostic internalizing and externalizing factors with dependent stress. They found evidence that both of the broad transdiagnostic variables predicted stress generation (e.g., externalizing predicted noninterpersonal but not interpersonal dependent stress). The critical test of whether depression has a unique stress generation effect determined that major depression was an incremental predictor of dependent interpersonal events (but not dependent noninterpersonal events) once the broad factors and all individual diagnoses were partialled out. Thus, it does appear that while stress generation may be common across diverse disorders, history of depression is uniquely linked to dependent interpersonal events.

Predictors of Stress Generation

In recent years most research has been directed less to the evidence of stress generation than to the question of predictors of stress generation, particularly among depressed individuals. What is it that depressed people or those at risk for depression “do” that contributes to the occurrence of stressors, especially those with interpersonal content? In this section, three general topics are discussed: how individuals’ cognitions about themselves and others influence maladaptive perceptions likely leading to dysfunctional emotional and behavioral reactions; the individual dispositions, experiences, and characteristics that influence the nature and magnitude of emotions and behavioral patterns; and the resources and coping styles available for solving interpersonal problems to prevent them from turning into major stressful life events. These three domains are not distinct, and their grouping herein is somewhat arbitrary. Furthermore, it is likely that the predictors of stress generation are the same or overlap with what we consider to be risk factors for depression. To put it another way, the traditional diathesis (vulnerability)-stress model of depression is essentially a moderation model in which the effects of stressors on depression depend on level of the moderating vulnerability factor, whereas stress generation is in part a mediation model in which vulnerabilities associated with previous depression predict dependent stress occurrence, which in turn triggers further depression. These are not mutually exclusive processes, to be sure.

Cognitive Predictors of Stress Generation

It is generally understood that the ways in which individuals interpret the self, others, and the environment determine emotions and behaviors. The cognitive model of depression has a long history of elaborating on the dysfunctional processes that constitute risk for depression: negatively biased thoughts, expectations, and interpretations of events and experiences that are based on selective attention to, and exaggeration of, the magnitude and meaning of experiences that “confirm” acquired negative schemas about the self, others, and the world. Thus, as an example, a person who is vulnerable to depression is hypothesized to expect herself or himself to be thwarted and inadequate at succeeding at desired goals, or rejected or abandoned or harmed in relationships with others. Consequently, even objectively minor happenings relevant to views of the self may be misconstrued as significant and threatening, and they may promote a cascade of emotional and behavioral responses culminating in a negative life event that triggers depression. Safford, Alloy, Abramson, and Crossfield (2007) compared undergraduate participants selected for high and low levels of negative cognitive style (a composite based on dysfunctional attitudes and negative attribution style) and assessed life events over the following 6 months. They found that those with high levels of negative cognitive styles generated more dependent and interpersonal life events, and results were significant for women but not men. Shih, Abela, and Starrs (2009) also found negative attributional style predicted dependent interpersonal events over a 1-year period in children of depressed parents, but they did not observe gender differences. Kercher and Rapee (2009) studied seventh graders and found evidence that prior depression predicted subsequent depression, partly mediated by dependent events (without distinction made between interpersonal or noninterpersonal) and a cognitive composite composed of negative attribution style and rumination. Cognitive vulnerability interacted with dependent events such that experiencing dependent stressors predicted greater depression for the high cognitively vulnerable youth compared to the low vulnerability group. Hamilton and colleagues (2013) found evidence that negative cognitive style but not rumination predicted the generation of interpersonal dependent events and also relational aggression; girls were particularly likely, compared to boys, to experience increased depression in the context of relational aggression. Dependent interpersonal events mediated the association between negative cognitive style and depression at follow-up. Notably, Shapero et al. (2013) found that cognitive vulnerability variables no longer predicted stress generation after accounting for correlated social functioning and demographic factors such as age and gender. Overall, there is some evidence for a role of negative cognitive style in the generation of stress. However, it is likely that it works in complex ways with other variables, some of which we discuss further later.

Dispositions, Experiences, and Characteristics That Predict Stress Generation

In this section we discuss the role of formative environmental experiences, traits and dispositions, and characteristic ways in which individuals view and interact with the social world (interpersonal styles). This disparate group of variables is incomplete (omitting, for example, genetic influences), with relatively inadequate knowledge of mechanisms and their interrelationships with each other. Nevertheless, selected relevant studies represent a starting point for fuller understanding of stress generation.

Among formative environmental factors are adverse childhood experiences, including abuse; attachment security based on early parent–child interactions; and evidence of dysfunction in social relationships presumably accumulating from childhood. Childhood abuse and adversity experiences are strongly predictive of a variety of disorders, including depression (e.g., Green et al., 2010 ; Kessler et al., 2010 ). There is a body of research indicating that childhood adversity and abuse experiences contribute to social maladjustment and inadequate coping and social problem-solving skills (e.g., Bolger & Patterson, 2001 ; Hammen et al., 2012 ; Kim & Cicchetti, 2010 ). Some evidence has supported the association between childhood abuse and negative cognitive style, and child abuse and stress generation (e.g., Hankin, 2005 ; Uhrlass & Gibb, 2007 ), but these studies did not distinguish between dependent and independent stressors. Harkness et al. (2008) showed a significant effect of past childhood abuse in predicting stress generation (dependent interpersonal event onset after depression onset) compared to occurrence of events prior to depression onset, and the effect was strongest for those youth who experienced a first onset. Liu, Choi, Boland, Mastin, and Alloy (2013) studied associations between several forms of child abuse and stress generation in college students with histories of depression, and they hypothesized that links between abuse and stress generation of dependent events would be mediated by negative cognitive style. They found that emotional abuse but not sexual or physical abuse predicted stress generation, and the association was mediated by negative cognitive style.

Another type of adverse early experience that may affect individuals’ functioning in social relationships is attachment security. Insecure attachment representations are considered a risk factor for depression (Bowlby, 1969 , 1980 ), commonly viewed as emotional-cognitive-behavioral patterns about self-worth, and self in relation to others and the world, that are acquired in the context of quality of parenting behaviors during infancy. We position research on attachment and stress generation in the category of dispositions and experiences, but arguably they could also be described as dysfunctional cognitions about the self and the relationship between self and others. Several studies have examined associations among checklist measures of attachment representations and stress generation. A study by Hankin, Kassel, and Abela (2005) examined stress generation as a function of insecure attachment, and they found that interpersonal negative events mediated the association between attachment and Time 2 anxiety and depressive symptoms 2 years later in a sample of undergraduates. Hankin et al. (2005) also found that negative cognitive style mediated the relationship between insecure attachment beliefs and later depressive symptoms (see also Shapero et al., 2013 , who found links between avoidant attachment beliefs and dependent interpersonal events over 5 months in a sample of adolescents).

Other investigators have pursued the hypothesis that certain interpersonal styles and behaviors may create stressful situations in relationships. An example is excessive reassurance-seeking , derived from Coyne’s model of the depressive spiral in which depressed individuals seek reassurance to address their doubts that others really care about them, provoking negative reactions from others. Excessive efforts to verify and elicit reassurance may be annoying to others, eventuating in rejection prompting further depression. A series of studies has shown that measures of excessive reassurance-seeking behaviors are psychometrically sound, and they reliably predict and are specific to depressive symptoms (e.g., Joiner & Metalsky, 2001 ; Starr & Davila, 2008 ). Several studies have demonstrated that excessive reassurance-seeking tendencies predict the generation of dependent interpersonal life events ( Shih et al., 2009 ; Shih & Auerbach, 2010 ; Shih & Eberhart, 2008 ). Stewart and Harkness (2015) found that excessive reassurance-seeking predicted higher rates of partner-initiated romantic breakups during a 1-year follow-up. Stroud, Sosoo, and Wilson (2018) demonstrated that excessive reassurance-seeking mediated the association between rumination and dependent interpersonal events.

Eberhart and Hammen (2009) asked the question, how do women in close relationships who are at risk for depression behave on a daily basis that may generate stress? Undergraduate women in committed relationships were assessed for attachment insecurity and reassurance-seeking tendencies, and they were asked to keep daily records of relationship behaviors that included examples of those constructs (e.g., “I worried that my partner will not want to stay with me,” “I found myself asking my romantic partner how he or she truly feels about me”) as well as records of daily conflict events. Also, interviews of negative life event occurrence were conducted 4 weeks after initial testing. As predicted, attachment insecurity behaviors and reassurance-seeking behaviors were significantly related to romantic relationship strains on a daily basis and to romantic conflict life events over 4 weeks, controlling for initial depression (and women who currently met diagnostic criteria for current depression were omitted from the study). Further analyses also showed that the link between interpersonal style and depression level 4 weeks later was mediated by romantic conflict stress generation ( Eberhart & Hammen, 2010 ).

Taken together, several studies have implicated interpersonal styles that enact attachment insecurity and excessive reassurance-seeking as predictors of stress generation. The Eberhart study suggested that even minor, daily instances of dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors may contribute to the occurrence of negative life events in the romantic domain. It should be noted that other studies of interpersonal styles and depression have focused on related constructs such as dependency, sociotropy, and rejection sensitivity, which are similarly predictive of (but not necessarily specific to) depression (e.g., Joiner & Metalsky, 2001 ; see review in Hammen & Shih, 2014 ).

An additional contributor to the occurrence of dependent interpersonal events is the trait or disposition of neuroticism, also termed high negative/emotionality (NE). Its counterpart is positive emotionality/extraversion (PE). Neuroticism is characterized by experiences of heightened distress including anxiety, anger, and dysphoria, and excessive reactions to perceived stress, and is associated with a variety of mental health conditions, negative medical health outcomes, and relatively poor functioning in close relationships (e.g., Lahey 2009 ). Lahey’s review (2009; see also Klein, Kotov, & Bufferd, 2011 ) indicates an association or predictive relationship between high neuroticism scores and occurrence of diverse acute and chronic stressors, such as marital, family, work, and health difficulties—and heightened depression and other emotional reactions to stress. In a specific test of stress generation as a function of neuroticism, Kercher, Rapee, and Schniering (2009) tested a large sample of young adolescent girls for depression and neuroticism at Time 1 with a Time 2 follow-up 12 months later assessing depression and recent stressful life events. They found that higher neuroticism predicted dependent negative events, and the link between neuroticism and later depression was fully mediated by negative events. Stroud, Sosoo, and Wilson (2015) also demonstrated that high NE predicted interpersonal chronic and acute stress generation.

Resources and Coping Styles That Predict Stress Generation

Stress generation is a construct that was never intended to “blame” the individual for the stresses that triggered his or her depression, but rather to characterize a more inclusive perspective on risk factors and mechanisms of depression. Accordingly, no discussion of contributors to stress generation would be complete without also considering negative environmental factors that represent not only stress exposure but also affect coping resources and behaviors available for responding to or reducing the magnitude and consequences of stressors. The topic of “coping” is far too broad and complex for comprehensive coverage in this chapter (see Compas, Vreeland, & Henry chapter, this volume). Instead, a few illustrative considerations are noted.

Disadvantaged social status confers elevated exposure to stressors, limited options and opportunities for developing flourishing lives, and diminished resources for coping with challenges. Epidemiological studies clearly indicate that, at least within middle- and high-income nations, low income is correlated with and likely predictive of depression, as is low educational attainment, being female, being divorced or widowed, and ethnic minority status and discrimination (e.g., Bromet et al., 2011 ; Hasin, Goodwin, Stinson, & Grant, 2005 ). As an example, being a young single mother with low economic resources is strongly associated with depression (e.g., Wang, Wu, Anderson, & Florence, 2011 ). Sociodemographic factors associated with depression doubtless contribute to the symptoms because living in disadvantaged conditions is stressful via both chronic and acute stress experiences, and also because such conditions provide fewer resources with which to manage and deal with stressful challenges (e.g., Baum, Garofalo, & Yali, 1999 ; Lorant et al., 2003 ). Thus, some individuals are born into highly stressful conditions with features over which they have little control, and which provide minimal socioemotional resources to manage such stressors. Such environments continue to exert limitations on opportunities to develop and surpass limitations—a process that is especially pernicious in childhood and adolescence.

In terms of intraindividual resources and coping skills, disadvantaged individuals commonly have (or had) parents or caregivers struggling with burdens that exceed their coping capabilities and impair effective functioning as models of successful problem-solvers and skillful interpersonal processes. Thus, a child born into highly stressful conditions may learn maladaptive coping skills for managing emotional difficulties and resolving interpersonal difficulties and conflicts.

With respect to coping behaviors and stress generation, Davila and colleagues were the first to demonstrate that a measure developed to quantify interpersonal problem-solving skills showed that lower quality of social problem-solving significantly predicted the generation of interpersonal life events in a sample of high school women ( Davila et al., 1995 ). In view of research showing that certain types of coping strategies are associated with higher rates of depression than others, Holahan and colleagues predicted that avoidance coping, marked by cognitive and behavioral strategies such as denial, minimization, and resisting dealing directly with problematic issues, would predict generation of stress ( Holahan, Moos, Holahan, Brennan, & Schutte, 2005 ). Their large longitudinal study of older adults showed that avoidance coping style predicted more chronic and acute stress 4 years later, and greater depression when assessed at 10 years (although the study did not distinguish between dependent and independent events and chronic stressors).

Another form of passive coping is rumination, defined as a repetitive effort to think about emotional distress and its causes and consequences instead of taking active steps to solve the problems causing the distress. As McLaughlin and Nolen-Hoeksema (2012) noted, such a passive and maladaptive coping strategy typically exacerbates or prolongs the dysphoric symptoms. Their study of rumination among young adolescents showed that higher levels of ruminative responses predicted having higher levels of peer conflict (being the target of peer victimization and rejection), which in turn predicted increases in depressive symptoms (see also Michl, McLaughlin, Shepherd, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2013 , although their studies used self-report checklist measures of stress and did not determine dependent/independent event content). Flynn, Kecmanovic, and Alloy (2010) demonstrated that ruminative response style predicted generation of dependent interpersonal stress and subsequent elevations in depression.

The research on the topic of predictors and mechanisms of stress generation is obviously incomplete, and an area of continuing development. The chapter ends with some thoughts about preliminary conclusions and future directions.

Unresolved Conceptual, Empirical, and Methodological Issues in Stress Generation: Future Directions

It has been more than 25 years since the Hammen (1991a) stress generation paper. The importance of stress in understanding the triggers and mechanisms of depression has grown substantially during this time, prompted in part by developments in genetics and neural and neuroendocrine processes, but also in recognition of the dynamic and bidirectional relationships between stress and depression. As the current chapter has shown, it is now well established that depressive individuals contribute to the occurrence of stressors and may create ongoing or recurrent stressful life conditions. The impact of stress takes an enormous toll on the individual and the course of depression. Stress generation also contributes to distress and dysfunction in spouses, offspring, and other associates.

It further seems likely that it is largely stressors with interpersonal content that are the most problematic, and that are most likely to promote depressive reactions in susceptible individuals. Indeed, a conceptual and empirical priority for further advances, therefore, is the issue of whether and how depression may be—for many but not certainly not all—a disorder of vulnerability in relational functioning. Are the processes that account for depressive reactions the same as, or overlap with, the processes that lead to stress generation? An example of a risk factor that might cause both depression and stress generation is neuroticism, or its related constructs. Neuroticism refers both to biobehavioral mechanisms that are expressed as negative cognitive and emotional reactions to life events and perceived undesirable situations, and to interactional styles and characteristic behaviors that others might find difficult and frustrating, potentially leading to ruptures in the relationship (e.g., Lahey, 2009 ). Is insecure attachment also both an aspect of the mechanisms of depressive reactions in the face of loss and rejection? Other constructs, however, might be more clearly distinctly related to mechanisms of depression but are unrelated to social behaviors, or the reverse.

Stress generation is also relevant to nondepressive disorders, in which it may similarly represent a contributory factor in course and consequences. More research is needed, for example, to explore externalizing disorders and noninterpersonal types of stressors, and to learn more about potential mechanisms and predictors of the role of stress generation in different disorders.

What are the challenges that need to be addressed in the next phase of stress generation research? In some ways this is a global issue for all psychopathology research: how to more fully characterize and integrate environmental and interactional factors into models that are necessarily complex, and that include a developmental perspective on the origins, progression, and expression of manifestations of vulnerability and disorder. For research on depression involving stress generation, an important question that has emerged in recent years and needs further clarification concerns the causes and predictors of stress generation. Given the centrality of interpersonal difficulties for many cases of depression, the focus is likely to be both the innate and acquired affiliative needs, beliefs, expectations, skills, and strategies that organize what individuals seek in relationships and enact in social interactions. This focus includes response patterns that guide the monitoring and managing of getting and keeping relational bonds that are viewed by the person as essential to self-worth and well-being. What are the essential elements of healthy social functioning, and how do they develop normally—or go awry in depressogenic ways? Although significant leads have emerged, as this review has suggested, there is room for considerably more extensive conceptualization and research effort. Hammen and Shih (2014) noted the gaps in basic knowledge of fundamental processes of intimate relationships from a multiple levels of analysis perspective. Conceptualizing relational bonds is beyond the scope of the current chapter, but it would seem that while attachment theory is a major organizing model, further big questions arise about how to identify and characterize key elements of relating that are central to depressive reactions in the face of social threat, rejection, and loss of close relationships. As one example of an expansive perspective, Slavich and Irwin’s (2014) social signal transduction theory of depression focuses on multiple interacting processes, in which perceptions of social threat upregulate components of the immune system related to inflammatory processes. Other broad models of depression and interpersonal processes would be welcome that build on current neurobiological and genetic processes of stress reactivity, and that further elaborate on all the levels of analysis relevant to the generation of interpersonal stress.

Another big question at the other end of the complexity spectrum is whether there are depression-relevant interpersonal vulnerability endophenotypes that could help to bring greater precision to research questions and strategies, in view of the enormous heterogeneity of depression. Relevant endophenotypes for reward processing and stress reactivity (e.g., Bogdan, Nikolova, & Pizzagalli, 2013 ), or facets of neuroticism or similar dispositions (e.g., Goldstein & Klein, 2014 ), for example, might be refined for relevance to relational stimuli involving fear of abandonment or threat of or oversensitivity to rejection.

There are numerous methods for defining elements of interpersonal vulnerability, such as fear of abandonment or insecure attachment that may be risk factors for depression. These measures may include not only questionnaires and interviews but also potentially neural and genetic constructs that are pertinent indicators and mechanisms of interpersonal processes (e.g., amygdala responses to angry faces). A further step is to determine the extent and processes by which relevant constructs are related to behavior and to each other, and that lead to stress generation and to depression. Eberhart and Hammen (2009) approached this issue through assessment of daily self-reported romantic relationship behaviors, but additional longitudinal fine-grained studies are needed to shed light on how maladaptive interpersonal styles such as rejection sensitivity, excessive reassurance-seeking, and insecure attachment representations end up provoking negative events that are depression inducing.

There are also intriguing questions about relationship choices that could be pursued to learn more about propensities for stress generation. One such issue is assortative or nonrandom mating, a well-known phenomenon in psychopathology (e.g., Mathews & Reus, 2001 ), and it is to be anticipated that marriages between spouses with depression and other disorders could have troubled courses. Marital distress and stressful events pertaining to threats to a marriage are highly depressogenic (e.g., Cano & O’Leary, 2000 ; Whisman, Uebelacker, & Weinstock, 2004 ). Although there is clear evidence of concordance for depression in spouses, there is very little empirical information to guide research that would help clarify problematic romantic relationship choices among adolescents. Whether choosing partners with dysfunction reflects complementarity or some other processes, partner (and friend) selection research could reveal strategies that inform opportunities for prevention of unwise choices. Along these lines, it would be especially useful to learn more about depressed young women’s selection into relationships that are eventually abusive (including their own perpetration as well as victimization). Of course, this issue is relevant to a broad public health issue beyond depression, but further study might identify choice points and predictors that would be informative for treatment interventions potentially aimed at preventing or reducing depression in youth at risk for depression due to problematic romantic relationship choices and ensuing difficulties beyond the vulnerable youths’ ability to manage successfully (e.g., Davila, 2008 ).

In addition to exploring particularly risky situations into which interpersonally vulnerable individuals select themselves, there are numerous interesting questions about the origins and developmental pathways of relationship vulnerabilities. There are bodies of research on interpersonal and social problems in children and adults that stem from adverse family situations such as early childhood adversity (abuse, marital disruption, parental disorder, and substance abuse), as well as low socioeconomic status and its associated stressors, and intergenerational transmission of marital violence, conflict, and divorce (e.g., Bolger & Patterson, 2001 ; Conger, Conger, & Martin, 2010 ; Cui & Fincham, 2010 ; Diekmann & Schmidheiny, 2013 ; Franklin & Kercher, 2012 ; Kim & Cicchetti, 2010 ). However, further research is needed on the specific types of interactional dysfunction and relevant moderators and mediators that predict depressive outcomes.

Methodologically, future research gains depend on sound measurement of stressors ; in stress generation studies it is essential to be able to distinguish the degree of dependence/independence on the person. Accordingly—and also for a variety of issues pertaining to validity and objectivity of stressor severity indicators—contextual threat interview methods are strongly recommended, as well as assessment of chronic stressful conditions ( Hammen, 2016 ; Harkness & Monroe, 2016 ). Also, longitudinal designs are important as a means of ensuring that the depression or hypothesized risk for depression was present before the stressor so that it can validly be claimed that the negative event was not entirely due to depressive symptomatology. Furthermore, such longitudinal designs permit more compelling tests of mediators than do cross-sectional designs. Good measurement and design practices seem obvious and essential, and yet vast numbers of studies in the depression field, just as an example, suffer from inadequacies of various kinds, including lack of validation and standardization of measures and procedures, small and heterogeneous samples that cannot easily be compared, and designs inadequate to clarify causal directions, to name but a few shortcomings.

Treatment Implications

Stress generation in depression has treatment implications that include targets of treatment, outcome measures, and preventive interventions. Given the history of treatment of depression and the complexity of changing dysfunctional behaviors, developing novel interventions, or effecting long-term change, the following ideas are offered as matters of emphasis in established interventions, rather than as brave new treatment methods. Attention to stress generation would not be a “new” kind of therapy as much as a perspective to be included in a comprehensive approach to recurrent or chronic depression. Although a modest proposal, consideration of stress generation, especially given its interpersonal context, seems like a long-overdue target.

Targeting stress generation in a currently depressed patient would serve the goal of attempting to alter the course of depressive disorders, contrasting with interventions that primarily address symptom reduction. Although all therapies include strategies to maintain symptom reduction, relapses and recurrences are nonetheless common and problematic. Strategies aimed at reduction of stress generation would be most appropriate for depressed individuals who have patterns of chronic or recurrent depression triggered by repeated stressors; likely even relatively “mild” stressors serve to promote dysphoria. Stress generation interventions would serve as an extension to symptom reduction techniques such as medication management (psychopharmacology), behavioral activation (cognitive-behavioral therapy), or targeting a specific interpersonal problem (interpersonal therapy). For individuals for whom assessment and case formulation reveal particular interpersonal sources of stress, therapists need to assess relevant interpersonal skills and relational response styles and cognitions. On the assumption that dysfunctional styles commonly translate into disruptive daily behaviors, programs for identifying common problem cognitions and behaviors, and learning more effective strategies for problem solving would need to be developed. To some extent, most empirically supported psychotherapies include at least implicit “subroutines” for dealing with problematic romantic/marital and parenting issues, but such programs could be expanded and fine-tuned to deal more specifically with prevention or reduction of interpersonal stressful life events and daily stressors. Two discussions of potential applications of depression therapies to directly address stress-generating interpersonal contexts targeting their behavioral and cognitive contributors represent useful efforts in this direction ( Beach, Whisman, & Bodenmann, 2014 ; Dobson, Quigley, & Dozois, 2014 ).

Measurement of treatment outcomes should go beyond assessment of symptom and syndrome status, and many have called for increased attention to changes in functional outcomes, such as successful employment, and more stable and effective marital and parenting roles. In the case of stress generation in depression, the goal is to reduce the amount or frequency of stressful encounters with others, and possibly to measurably improve interpersonal problem-solving skills as well as promote more adaptive beliefs and expectations about the self in relation to close others.

Finally, the stress generation perspective has particular implications for preventive interventions. It is not difficult to marshal evidence for the early identification of youth at risk for depression, and cutting across the boundaries of many forms of disorder are risk factors that affect interpersonal adjustment and social functioning. Moreover, adolescence is a time of particular importance for many disorders, including depression, as youth encounter increasingly challenging developmental tasks and make more choices that affect their adult life courses. We can predict that some youth are at ultra-high risk for recurrent depression, for example, in the context of exposure to adverse conditions in childhood, including family discord and parental depression, and youths’ own early-onset depression typically occurring in the face of high levels of personal and family stressors ( Hammen & Brennan, 2016 ; Weissman et al., 2016 ). These are the youth at greatest risk not only for recurrent stress and depression but also continuing intergenerational transmission of depression.

No discussion of preventive intervention is complete without acknowledging the importance of social policies and institutional resources that are essential for creating communities that build prosperity, safety, and opportunity for all, and that support the efforts of individuals and families to pursue paths to healthy development. Stress generation occurs at the civic level, to be sure, and those who are dedicated to the improvement of mental health and well-being are well aware that there is much to be done outside the clinic or consultation room.

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Article on Causes of Stress on Modern Generation

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The present day youth are greatly stressed due to cut-throat competition and consumerist culture. Write an article in 150-200 words on the causes of the stress on the modern generation suggesting suitable solutions.

Stressed on Modern Generation

Today, we are living in an age when people are more stressed than relaxed. Due to extreme competitiveness in every aspect of life, there is always a lack of time. This then leads to high level of anxiety, mental tension and of course, the feeling of dissatisfaction.

A cut-throat competition starts at school level with parents pressurising children to work extra hard and score high marks in all subjects. Students too feel the pressure of performing better than the rest. Therefore, they get stressed when they are unable to perform according to expectation. The stress builds on until it turns into health hazards, which stays on forever.

Then there is stress at work front, which is worse than scoring high. Students might acquire highest marks, but this does not guarantee that it would land their desired jobs. Even if they do, there are other reasons for one to feel the stress. Desired salary, timely promotion, material growth, such as own house and car, marriage, etc. often come along with anxiety, stress and lifestyle diseases.

Therefore, it is suffice to say that the present day youth are greatly stressed and to some extent, the consumerist culture is to be blamed for this.

Fortunately, there is a solution to avoid stress at all times. Regular exercise and yoga improves concentration and keeps the mind healthy. It decreases physical ailments, reduces behavioural problems, reduces depression, stress, thus calming one’s mind.

One should also spend some quality time with one’s family, friends and loved ones, do charity/ community service, adopt pets, go for walks or pursue a hobby in order to de-stress.

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10 Causes of Stress (and How to Avoid Them)

What events cause the most stress and how can we avoid them.

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10 Causes of Stress (and How to Avoid Them)

Everyone encounters stressful situations on an almost daily basis, from minor pressures that we hardly notice, to occasional traumatic situations which can cause ongoing stress. Many of us do not realise that some forms of stress, known as eustress, can have a positive effect on our performance, and instead refer to those experiences which cause us negative distress as stressful.

In recent decades, stress, its causes and our bodily response to stress have been the subject of numerous psychological studies . Today, stressful events tend to fall into one of three key categories:

Acute - Short-term events which do not last long but if traumatic, can have a lasting impact on us.
Episodic Stress - Situations which are also short-term but which we find ourselves in regularly, such as rushing to work or other recurring stressful experiences in the workplace.
Chronic - Ongoing stresses which last into the long-term. These may include the stress of illness or the friction of a fractious relationship.

What are some common examples of these stressors, and what techniques can people use to avoid them or reduce the stress that they cause?

Work Stressors

We spend much of waking lives at work, so it is perhaps unsurprising that the workplace is a key source of stress. A survey published by the American Psychological Association in 2012 found that as many as 70% of Americans reported suffering from workplace stress. 1

Professional strain can take its toll on the individual concerned, but can also cost employers dearly, with 13.5 million sick days estimated to have been linked to stress between 2007 and 2008 in the UK alone. 2

Separating work-related tasks from leisure and family time, such as resisting the urge to catch up with emails in an evening, can help prevent workplace stress from spilling into other areas of your life.

Personal Appearance

Do you worry about spots, wrinkles, weight or balding? If you do, you are in good company. Concerns over our personal appearance can have an exaggerated effect on people’s confidence and their self image .

Take weight worries, for example. Whilst researching the sources of everyday stress, psychologist Allen Kanner and his colleagues developed Hassles and Uplifts Scales , ranking stressors in terms of their impact on people’s lives. Of those surveyed, more than half admitted to worrying about their weight, placing it at the top of Kanner’s Hassles Scale (Kanner et al, 1981). 3

A study published in the International Journal of Sport Psychology reported that undertaking activities such as exercise can help boost self esteem in a study of middle-aged participants (Alfermann and Stoll, 2000). 4

The pressure to conform and be seen to succeed in everyday life can encourage stress, and the aspiration towards ideals and success nurtured in the media can be unrealistic and unhelpful. Ideas of a desirable body image, for example, have been linked to both negative self images and eating disorders.

The stress created by our environment can also have lasting consequences. Iian Meyer of the UCLA School of Law noted the effect that social pressures can have on health. Studying the stress experienced by social minority groups who are commonly subjected to various forms of prejudice, such as being excluded by the wider community, bullied or encouraged to internalise discrimination, Meyer developed the concept of “minority stress”, the experience of which can in turn lead to mental health problems (Meyer, 2007). 5

Competition

Despite the health-related drawbacks of experiencing stress, it can also impact our performance in more positive ways. The pressure we feel to meet a deadline, accomplish a goal or meet the demands of a schedule, for example, can motivate us to improve our performance. In contrast to the distress that we usually refer to as ‘stress’, this type of stress is known as eustress .

In competitive sports, eustress can encourage athletes to focus on training for a match and to commit to practise when they would rather do other things, but we all experience it to some degree in the form of pressures in everyday life, such as the need to pass exams at school .

Health Worries

Fears over one’s own health or the wellbeing of a relative or friend are a common cause of stress.

The experience of an illness, and the loss of control over events, can lead to persistent worry about both the current and possible future situations. Paradoxically, the stress caused by health worries can itself lead to problems and the body’s reaction to stress, General Adaptation Syndrome , can have physical effects as we deplete our energy reserves to cope with a stressful situation.

Life Changes

When moving homes, people will often tell you that moving home is one of the most stressful events you will experience in your life. More generally, any situation which requires change, positive or negative, requires us to adapt to new circumstances and can be a source of stress. Such events can include leaving home, commencing a new job and starting a family.

Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe produced an inventory of life-changing events known as the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) which, surprisingly, ranks the act of moving home as the 28th most stressful life change. Far more severe are changed in relationships, such as a partner’s death or separation (Holmes and Rahe, 1967). 6

Financial Worries

Even outside of a recession, financial worries can affect us all and lead to unnecessary stress which can be a burden to yourself and those close to you.

Loans, ever-increasing bills, the ability to pay off credit cards, being able to live comfortably and retire when we wish all contribute to a sense of financial insecurity.

Kanner’s Hassles Scale found that a feeling of not being able to pay bills and live comfortably, as well as the burden of supporting others financially to be a key strain in our everyday lives (Kanner et al, 1981). 3

Whilst improved management of money can alleviate financial stress, the unique situation of each individual makes a one-size-fits-all solution to this source of stress impossible. Left unaddressed, however, financial worries can have a significant effect on our lives and can impact on relations with close friends and family.

Relationships

Even the happiest of relationships can be a source of stress for both parties involved. Cohabiting can bring a host of problems, from the loss of a personal ‘breathing space’ to having to adapt to the different habits of a partner. Over time, these demands can impact on relationships and lead to stressful arguments, leading to a vicious circle which can lead to break-ups. Yet, the Hassles and Uplifts Scales (Kanner et al, 1981) rates good relations with partners and friends as the two most significant factors which can help to improve our wellbeing and counteract life’s stresses. 3

Whilst compromise is needed on both sides for a relationship to endure, it is a practise which might not always lead to a reduction in stress for those involved and can even become the focus of arguments. A study in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy has, however, identified “mindfulness” as a factor in reducing relationship stress (Barnes et al, 2007). This practise requires an awareness of the feelings of the other partner and an understanding of the impact one’s own actions might have on those around us. 7

Bereavement

Understandably, the loss of a loved one can be one of the most painful experiences a person can endure. The shock or enduring worry of losing a friend or relative can lead to stress, especially when the person we lose is a relative or close friend.

Events during and shortly after loss, such as end-of-life care and funeral arrangements contribute to stress and it can take a long time to adjust to not being able to meet or speak to the person, and acceptance of the new circumstance is difficult.

Past Events

Past events can be a key source of stress. Whilst any danger a person has experienced may have passed, the stress of the trauma can continue to affect them for many years afterwards. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs estimates that around 50% of women experience a traumatic event at least once in their life, and are more prone to be victims of sexual violence than men. However, 60% of men also experience trauma, a difference which it attributes to males being more likely to be involved in accidents. 8

Persistent stress which lasts long after a traumatic event has passed is often identified as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a condition which the NHS estimates to affect a third of people who experience trauma. 9

North, A.C., Hargreaves, D.J. and McKendrick, J. (1999). The effect of in-store music on wine selections. Journal of Applied Psychology . 84 (2). 271-276.
Milliman, R.E. (1982). Using Background Music to Affect the Behavior of Supermarket Shoppers. Journal of Marketing . 46 (3). 86-91.
Yalch, R.F. and Spangenberg, E.R. (2000). The Effects of Music in a Retail Setting on Real and Perceived Shopping Times. Journal of Business Research . 49 (2). 139-147.
Areni, C.S. and Kim, D. (1993). The influence of background music on shopping behavior: classical versus top-forty music in a wine store. Advances in Consumer Research . 20 . 336-340.
Jacob, C., Guéguen, N., Boulbry, G. and Sami, S. (2009). 'Love is in the air': congruence between background music and goods in a florist. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research . 19 (1). 75-79.
Kellaris, J.J. and Rice, R.C. (2006). The influence of tempo, loudness, and gender of listener on responses to music. Psychology & Marketing . 10 (1). 15-29.
Spangenberg, E.R., Grohmann, B. and Sprott, D.E. (2005). It's beginning to look (and smell) a lot like Christmas: the interactive effects of ambient scent and music in a retail setting. Journal of Business Research . 58 (11). 1583-89.

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Managing stress in the modern world

Please note that this video was recorded in 2020 and refers to the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects on stress levels. However, the advice on how to manage stress and build positive mental health is applicable in all times and situations.

Stress – the feeling of emotional or physical tension, often in reaction to circumstances and surroundings – is by no means new. It’s also not necessarily always a bad thing. Although this video was recorded in 2020 and refers to the Covid-19 pandemic, the advice on how to manage stress and build positive mental health is applicable just as much now as it was then.

It's all too easy to feel overwhelmed and for negative emotions to dominate our lives. So how can we all better manage the ‘stressors’ of modern life? What impact does our environment have on how we feel? And what steps can we take to look after both our bodies and our minds?

Sarah Ashworth, Director of our Schools and Families Programme, explores the importance of understanding and normalising stress in the 21 st century, particularly in the context of Covid-19. She also considers some of the strategies that may help you to manage stress and build positive mental health and wellbeing going forward.

We hope you can find the time to watch the full webinar. If not, we’ve summarised the key parts for you below.

What is ‘good mental health’? (1:20)

It’s really important first to be clear: mental health is not just the absence of mental disorder. We all have a state of mental health which fluctuates over time in the same way that our physical health fluctuates - it can be impacted, both positively and negatively, by many different factors.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines mental health as a state of wellbeing in which every individual realises his or her own potential, with the ability to cope with the normal stresses of life. An individual with good mental health can work productively and fruitfully, and make a positive contribution to her or his community.

Normal is the point of emphasis here, especially against the unsettling and unpredictable backdrop of 2020.

Historically, our ancestors’ main stress factors revolved around the need for food, shelter, safety and relationship - essential for their tribe and future prosperity. 10,000 years ago, our ancestors were unable to think about complex problems when they were threatened - and neither are we, all these years later in the fast-paced 21st century.

The evolution of stress (3:14)

The brains and bodies of our caveman ancestors, when faced with a threat, reacted. The sympathetic nervous system was triggered; key areas of the brain responded and the adrenal glands released stress hormones including adrenalin and cortisol. As blood pressure and heart rate increased, pupils dilated and muscles tensed up, our ancestors’ bodies prepared themselves to survive: to fight, flight, freeze or flop .

After the danger passed, the parasympathetic nervous system kicked in. Their bodies returned to a calm, alert state: the immune system restored itself, breathing slowed down, circulation improved and digestion was restored - all the human body’s clever way of creating the ability for our ancestors to once again rest and recuperate.

10,000 years ago, this was normal life. Now, in 2020, stress is experienced very differently.

Our expectations, these days, are much more complex. From our early days in education, we face pressure at being labelled either a ‘failure’ or a ‘success’ - pressure that many of us carry with us throughout our lives. We strive to be the best, to get a good job and really enjoy life: buying a house and nice car, travel the world, look a particular way and fall in love, ultimately achieving true happiness. Or so we are led to believe.

Yet when the reality doesn’t match the expectations, we may feel that something is wrong - with others, with the world, or even with ourselves.

The ‘normal’ stressors of modern life (6:47)

The stressors that we face today are far more complex than those faced by our ancestors - especially in 2020.

Many argue that social media has a negative impact on wellbeing, yet right now it’s one of the few ways we can safely stay in contact with those we love and with the wider world. Social media is not all bad; it’s the way that we use it, and how much focus we place on building digitally-healthy households , that can have a positive or negative effect on our wellbeing.

Mobile phones are an essential part of modern life, yet spending too much time glued to our devices (at the expense of other activities) can have an adverse impact on our wellbeing. Notifications and endless digital opportunities demand our attention and are hard to resist, especially during times of ‘lockdown’ restrictions.

When stressed, it’s easy to reach for addictive substances that make us feel better in the very short-term: alcohol, caffeine and highly-processed junk food, to name but a few.

We also sleep less these days than at any point in history, even though we all know how vital it is to get a good night’s sleep . The use of electronic devices, the allure of 24/7 instant access entertainment and any concerns that may be worrying us all affect our sleep - as does the ‘doom and gloom’ of negative news cycles; countless voices weighing in on the uncertainty and anxiety around the world today, and the Government’s response to an unprecedented crisis. It all adds up and impacts us, leading to a physiological stress response akin to our ancestors’ response; our brainpower is directed towards escape, yet we can’t easily escape from modern stressors.

The environment’s impact on our stress levels (9:20)

Stress in our environment affects us not only physically, but it also impacts our emotions and the way we think and behave. Our ‘environment’ can include the family we cohabit with, our cultural surroundings, where we study or work and even the weather.

The current global environment is unsettling for many; societal changes, family stress, long periods of isolation and social distancing and job/study uncertainty all combine to create a great deal of ongoing stress.

Yet the past also has a role to play in how we feel and behave: our successes, setbacks, losses, as well as the support or criticism we’ve received from others all influence how we respond to stressful situations and behave in the face of adversity.

We all differ in our capacity to manage stress. Our individual genetics, lifestyle and diet all make a difference, alongside our past experiences and upbringings.

It can be helpful to consider your stress levels as a ‘bucket’. Some of us have a large bucket, capable of holding a lot before overflowing. Others have a much smaller bucket, which will be full to the brim sooner. We are all different. Yet we can all incorporate coping strategies (imagine a tap on the side of the bucket) to deal with stress, whatever our capacity.

Not all stress is bad (11:58)

We need a certain amount of stress in our lives. Cortisol, the stress hormone, wakes us up in the morning and gets us ready to embrace the day.

Optimal levels of stress actually enhance our performance, taking us from an under stimulated state of being to a level of alertness that’s necessary to achieve our goals in life. Stress allows us to face the challenges of the day: we are able to perform at our best, to be sharp and to be focused.

Yet when stress gets too much for us and goes unchecked, we can find ourselves feeling panicked, fatigued and exhausted.

The power of our thinking on stress (12:40)

William Shakespeare once famously said “ …there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. ”

The thoughts running through our heads, which we’re often unaware of, are hugely influential in terms of whether we perceive a situation to be positive or negative.

We are hard-wired to turn our attention towards perceived threats. We are also more likely to think negatively when we are stressed. Faced with a crisis like Covid-19, it’s natural to think “ It’s all too much” and “I can’t cope ”. Negative thinking is a normal response.

Yet left unchecked, negative thought patterns can leave to changes in our behaviour that can cause big problems. This can include:

FIGHT: Becoming more irritable and prone to emotional outbursts
FLIGHT: Avoiding difficult situations and procrastinating over tasks and decisions
FREEZE: Compulsive checking of social media, emails and news outlets
FLOP: Withdrawal, inactivity and low mood.

Promoting wellbeing: the three essential paths to wellness (15:03)

There are many steps that we can take to effectively manage stress and promote our own wellbeing.

The human body is remarkable - and far more complex than any machine invented. And just like a machine, it runs better if it is looked after properly.

EAT WELL: The brain and body need the right kind of fuel for mental wellbeing and the immune system. Highly processed ‘junk’ food contributes to poorer mental health and immune function; a little is fine but moderation is the key. Eating a ‘rainbow’ of foods regularly is recommended in order to benefit from a range of essential vitamins and minerals, supported by drinking plenty of water (ideally, 6-8 glasses a day) - even slight dehydration leads to increased anxiety.

REGULAR MAINTENANCE: Exercise is crucial to both our wellbeing and for a well-functioning immune system. The best form of exercise should be something you can do, will do, and may actually enjoy!

SLEEP WELL: Many of us find sleep difficult, yet it’s so vital. Keeping to a regular sleep schedule makes a big difference, as does avoiding caffeine later in the day and having sufficient exposure to daylight and essential Vitamin D. A personal ‘wind down’ routine is recommended, such as a warm bath before bed, reading in bed, and avoiding electronic devices for at least 90 minutes before bedtime wherever possible.

Are you a good friend to yourself? (20:02)

The internal dialogue we engage in throughout the day can influence our stress levels - and our thoughts tend to be more negative when we’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed. After a difficult day, it’s easy to give yourself a hard time, criticising your performance or comparing yourself to others.

Negative thinking can all too easily become a habit. Would you talk to someone you really cared about in such a harsh way? Probably not. Being self-critical when stressed only leads to greater levels of stress.

The STOPP approach can help to transform negative self-talk:

S TOP - As soon as you notice you’re feeling tense, stressed or overwhelmed, stop what you’re doing

T AKE A BREATH - Spend a few moments focusing on your breathing: take a deep breath, hold and release

O BSERVE - Ask gently and without judgement: What am I thinking? What am I reacting to? What am I feeling?

P ULL BACK - See the bigger picture and put the situation in some perspective. Is this fact or opinion? P RACTICE - Find what works for you, either now or in the past, and focus on practicing this.

Positive self-talk, especially during current times, can look like this:

“I ’m finding it hard, but so are most people right now. I ’m doing my best; these are tough times! ”

“I notice I am having negative thoughts. That ’s normal. I am OK. ”

If we are able to accept our negative thoughts and feelings, we might find that they reduce in frequency and intensity. Being a good, compassionate friend to yourself isn’t easy: it takes time, patience and practice. But it’s worth it. You are worth it.

Wellbeing 5-A-Day (24:10)

There are five steps that we can all take to promote our wellbeing and reduce stress.

CONNECT: This is how our ancestors survived, and it’s as important now as it was then. Feeling connected to others helps our immune function, and while there are significant limitations right now to how we connect with others, find ways to share experiences with friends, family, colleagues and those in your local community.

BE ACTIVE: Exercise should be something that you can do, will do and that you enjoy. Most importantly, don’t overdo it but try and commit to daily exercise - in whatever form feels right to you.

TAKE NOTICE: Bring yourself back to the present moment by appreciating nature and practicing mindfulness. Grounding yourself in the here-and-now focuses the mind away from thinking about things from the past, ruminating on mistakes and worrying about the future. A digital detox can be a good way to focus on the present; try and take a walk out in nature without the constant pings of notifications and see how that makes you feel.

KEEP LEARNING: Seeking out new knowledge and experiences makes us feel good. From studying online courses to figuring out how things work and even exploring more about yourself and ways of coping, all learning is positive.

GIVE: Giving your time, attention or support to someone else shifts the focus away from yourself and away from negative thought patterns. It’s also equally important to give to, and reward, yourself.

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Stress In The Modern World – What Causes It And How To Prevent It

From work deadlines to relationships, everything can cause stress. Stress is actually a natural reaction; it’s our body’s way to tell us something is wrong. Stress becomes a problem when we cannot eliminate pressure. In this particular case, stress can lead to serious issues including physical health and mental health problems.

The modern world gave us easy access to information and many tools to improve our lives; however, for all the good things we have, there is a negative side that can cause unwanted stress. Thankfully, if we identify the causes, stress is manageable with the right tools and mindset.

What Causes Stress?

People are unique and the way they experience stress is just as unique as they are. Some see certain situations as opportunities, while others see them as stress factors. Perspective is very important because nothing is 100% good or 100% bad. In the next paragraphs, you’ll discover that all modern sources of stress are, in essence, good things. The pressure we put on ourselves turned these positive things into stressful situations.

As amazing and beautiful as diversity is, it can be a source of stress for many people. With diversity comes different skill levels, more knowledge, and different values. In order to get along with different people, we have to get to know them and to understand them. When our values don’t align with theirs or when we feel threatened by their abilities, we become stressed and we forget to enjoy the wonderful side of diversity.

Comparing our lives, abilities, and goals with other people is a great source of stress these days. Comparison is not inherently bad; it can lead to healthy competition, progress, evolution, and new discoveries. The way we compare ourselves to others is bad because we do it in an unrealistic way. The standards we have are impossible and, usually, the things we think we know about others are not true. Everybody has a highlight reel but when we compare our worst days with someone’s best days, we develop unrealistic goals and expectations that can only cause us harm.

Knowledge is power but knowledge is also a source of stress. We’re bombarded with information every single day and, unless we learn how to filter, we become overwhelmed with stress and negative emotions.

In this day and age, you have to be capable to provide something different if you want to live a stress-free life. Nevertheless, there’s so much competition that this seems like an impossible task. The truth is everybody brings something different to the table even when they are doing the same thing so stressing over individuality is redundant since we already are unique.

We live in a fast world. Everything moves fast and changes fast so it’s hard to keep up with all the technological innovations and new discoveries. Rapid innovation is a great thing because it can solve many problems that had no solutions in the past but it can also be a source of stress since it’s hard to stay up to date with everything.

How to Deal with Stress?

Essentially, none of the modern sources of stress is a bad thing per se; however, our perception and the way we react is what makes the difference between a good thing and a bad thing.

Everything in life requires us to make a choice. Even stress does. You can let it take over your life and affect it in a negative way or you can turn stress into opportunities by choosing to look at the positive side of things.

Step Away From the Stress Source

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Stay or Become Active

Exercising stimulates the brain and puts you in a better place to deal with stress and all its side effects. Keep moving, stay active, and you’ll notice that stress is manageable again.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

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Improve Your Sleeping Habits

Sleepless nights don’t fix problems. In fact, they create more, thus it is important to rest and recover if you want to prevent bad outcomes.

Embrace Change

Whether you like it or not, change is inevitable. You can’t prevent it but you can learn how to embrace it. Learn to control the things that can be controlled and accept the ones that you have no power over.

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Stress Generation Research in Depression: A Commentary

The concept of stress generation is a powerful tool that is consistent with existing cognitive-behavioral theories of depression. In this brief commentary on the literature on stress generation in depression, we highlight several issues that we believe will help to advance the stress generation field. Specifically, we discuss important methodological considerations, issues related to generality and specificity, and theoretical and clinical implications of stress generation. We then address common misperceptions of the stress generation hypothesis. Finally, we end by posing several questions about the mechanisms driving stress generation that should be addressed in future research. Advancing the field’s knowledge about stress generation will yield a tangible direction for theory-driven, targeted intervention. Our hope is that this commentary will help to stimulate and frame future research in this exciting area.

According to the stress generation hypothesis ( Hammen, 1991 ), depressed individuals and those prone to depression, influenced by their beliefs, expectations, and personal characteristics, are likely to behave in ways that contribute to the occurrence of negative events in their lives (i.e., dependent events that are at least partially influenced by the individual). That is, not only are these individuals vulnerable to depression when confronted with life stressors, as articulated in vulnerability-stress models of depression ( Abramson, Metalsky, & Alloy, 1989 ; Levinson, 2006 ), but they are also more likely to generate the very stressors that increase their risk for this disorder. Thus, stress and depression (or depressogenic vulnerabilities) are posited to share a transactional relation, with each exerting an influence on the other in a bidirectional manner. There is now a considerable body of research supporting the stress generation effect in clinical ( Harkness, Monroe, Simons, & Thase, 1999 ) and community samples ( Kercher, Rapee, & Schniering 2009 ), and in children ( Shih, Abela, & Starrs, 2009 ) and adults ( Daley, Hammen, Davila, & Burge, 1998 ).

In this article, we highlight several issues that will be important to consider as the stress generation field advances. Specifically, we discuss important methodological considerations, issues related to generality and specificity, and theoretical and clinical implications of stress generation. We then address common misperceptions of the stress generation hypothesis. Finally, we end by posing several questions about the mechanisms driving stress generation.

Methodological Issues in Stress Generation Research

What constitutes an ideal study of stress generation? Hammen and colleagues (1986) outlined three characteristics of well-designed stress-depression studies: (1) a prospective design, (2) interview-based measures of life stress, and (3) an interview-based assessment of depression. Employing a prospective framework with frequent assessment points would allow for accurate and sensitive measurement of life events. As it pertains specifically to stress generation research, not only would relatively brief assessment intervals greatly enhance recall accuracy (e.g., one to five months; Brown & Harris, 1982 ; Hammen et al., 1986 ), especially for minor events, but such an approach may allow researchers to delineate more precisely the parameters of the stress generation effect of depression. For example, just as depression onset appears more related to recently occurring events (e.g., within the past several weeks to months) than to more distant ones ( Hammen et al., 1986 ), the reverse may also hold true. That is, given the transactional relationship between stress and depression, depressive episodes and symptoms may similarly be more prospectively predictive of dependent events occurring in the near future than those experienced over longer intervals. Thus, the use of multiple assessments over brief intervals would provide a more accurate and fine-grained evaluation of the stress generation effect. Additionally, the inclusion of large samples would be particularly important with this approach, not only in terms of providing sufficient power to detect relatively small effect sizes, but also for buffering against possible attrition.

A common methodological limitation of stress generation studies is the reliance on self-report measures of stress ( Liu & Alloy, 2010 ). Given the focus of the stress generation hypothesis, it is particularly crucial for researchers not only to document actual rather than perceived events, but also accurately to distinguish between dependent and independent events. The use of self-report checklists of stressful life events poses limitations on both accounts; compared to interview-based assessments, they are more susceptible to participants’ interpretative biases (Brown & Harris, 1978), and do not provide the rich contextual information particularly essential to differentiating between dependent and independent events. For example, depression itself and vulnerability to depression are associated with a tendency to perceive or report benign events as stressful ( Joiner, Wingate, Gencoz, & Gencoz, 2005a ). In particular, individuals with depressogenic cognitive styles may interpret relatively innocuous events as stressful and over-report them. This possibility underscores the inadequacy of self-report stress checklists, which are inherently susceptible to biased or subjective reporting, and the importance of utilizing more objective interview-based measures of life stress. The use of multiple informants may further increase assessment accuracy, a practice that has traditionally been more frequently used in research with children and early adolescents. Such an approach facilitates cross-validation of reported events, as well as the collection of richer contextual information from which to determine dependence ratings for individual events. Finally, it is essential to comprehensively document the occurrence of life events across various content domains, in order to examine associations between different vulnerabilities and patterns of specific dependent stressors.

A third feature of an ideal study is the inclusion of assessments of both depressive episodes and inter-episode symptoms, especially as both clinical depression and subclinical symptomatology have been implicated in the stress generation effect ( Krackow & Rudolph, 2008 ). For similar reasons to those outlined above for life events measurement, these depression assessments should occur over several brief intervals, and include diagnostic interviews rather than simply self-report measures.

In order to advance stress generation research toward the examination of more complex mediational or moderational models, and to evaluate the unique contribution of individual vulnerabilities, it will be important to concurrently assess multiple depression vulnerabilities.. It should also be noted that, to date, research in this area has relied almost exclusively on self-report measures of depressogenic vulnerabilities, very seldom utilizing task-based assessments. Therefore, future studies could build on the literature by integrating behavioral assessments of possible predictors of stress generation (e.g., cognitive inflexibility), thus examining this processes at multiple levels of analysis.

Finally, sophisticated statistical techniques (e.g., hierarchal linear modeling and growth curve analyses) offer a more sensitive (i.e., idiographic) means of handling longitudinal data than is possible with traditional statistical approaches (e.g., multiple regression) restricted to nomothetic analyses. The use of multiple assessments of stress and depression over brief intervals, mentioned above, is especially amenable to these more advanced forms of analyses.

Generality and Specificity of Stress Generation Effects

Despite the need for future methodological improvements, the extant literature has yielded some notable empirical trends and questions. First, to what degree is stress generation general across age and gender? There is some evidence that this process occurs to a degree across all age groups, including children ( Harkness & Stewart, 2009 ; Shih et al., 2009 ), young adults ( Daley et al., 1998 ), and older adults ( Moos, Schutte, Brennan, & Moos, 2005 ). However, stress generation may become more pronounced during adolescence, thus potentially offering an explanation for the rise in depression at this age. Adolescence is notable as a period of increase in stressful life events, autonomy, and individuation, especially within interpersonal domains, as adolescents take a greater role in shaping their social contexts ( Parke & Bhavnagri, 1989 ; Wagner & Compas, 1990 ). Also, negative cognitive styles appear to consolidate during adolescence and early adulthood ( Gibb, Uhrlass, Grassia, Benas, & McGeary, 2009 ), and may thereby serve as another mechanism for increased rates of dependent stressors during this developmentally transitional period. That said, there is an even greater dearth of research on stress generation processes in older adults. The preponderant focus of most studies has been on children and young adults, with only one study to date assessing the relation between depression and generated stress in a sample of older adults (i.e., Moos et al., 2005 ). Just as an increase in stress generation may be observed during adolescence, a mirroring attenuation of this process may occur during late adulthood, corresponding to decreases in depression ( Jorm, 2000 ), life stressors and hassles ( Birditt, Fingerman, & Almeida, 2005 ; Folkman, Lazarus, Pimley, & Novacek, 1987 ), and emotional and behavioral reactivity to stress, especially those of an interpersonal nature ( Birditt & Fingerman, 2003 ; Birditt, Fingerman, & Almeida, 2005 ; Charles, Piazza, Luong, & Almeida, 2009 ), often observed in this older age group. Longitudinal studies focusing on adolescence and older samples will be essential in determining possible age-related or developmental period-related changes in stress generation patterns. There is a need to understand better what aspects of stress generation are specific to age or developmental stage, and what aspects are generally stable across the lifespan.

With respect to gender, there is some evidence that stress generation may be stronger for females, with gender moderating the stress generation effect of depression, and cognitive and interpersonal vulnerabilities to depression ( Rudolph & Hammen, 1999 ; Safford et al., 2007 ; Shih et al., 2009 ; see also Liu & Alloy, 2010 , for a review). This gender difference may be due in part to the greater emphasis on and salience of interpersonal relationships, especially those characterized by intimacy and self-disclosure, that emerge in females during adolescence ( Berndt, 1982 ; Laursen, 1996 ). This greater investment and sensitivity to interpersonal relationships in females may lead to greater opportunities to experience interpersonal stressors. Additionally, gender differences in depression and depressogenic cognitive styles (e.g., rumination and negative inferential styles) may serve to increase subsequent dependent stressors in females ( Hankin & Abramson, 2001 ).

Second, although the stress generation effect of depression has been consistently documented, to what degree is this trend general across cultures and ethnic groups? The overwhelming majority of studies to date have evaluated stress generation among North American samples, and the few exceptions consist almost exclusively of Western samples (e.g., Kercher et al., 2009 ; Orth, Robins, & Meier, 2009 ; Shahar & Priel, 2003 ). Moreover, we are aware of only two studies that expressly examined and found stress generation in other ethnic or cultural groups (i.e., Abela et al., 2009 ; Wingate & Joiner, 2004 ).

Third, is stress generation limited to the clinically depressed state? The stress generation hypothesis specifies that the generation of dependent stress is not exclusively due to periods of clinically significant depression. Consistent with this view, research suggests that formerly depressed individuals may continue to show increased rates of dependent stress, even during remitted periods ( Daley et al., 1997 ; Hammen, 1991 ). Also, stress generation occurs among individuals with dysphoria or subsyndromal depressive symptoms (e.g, Joiner et al., 2005a ; Joiner, Wingate, & Otamendi, 2005b ), which may in part account for the relation between past depression and generated stress ( Shih & Eberhart, 2008 ). These findings are important for two reasons. First, to demonstrate that the phenomenon reflects more than acute, symptom-related functional impairment, stress generation must also be observed outside periods of diagnosable depression. Second, the presence of stress generation outside of diagnosable episodes is important to the theory’s purported ability to explain recurrences over the longitudinal course of the disorder.

Fourth, is the stress generation phenomenon general across depressogenic cognitive and interpersonal vulnerabilities, independent of depression? Although the findings are still somewhat mixed, several studies have implicated various stable cognitive vulnerabilities in the stress generation effect, including negative cognitive styles in women but not men ( Safford, Alloy, Abramson, & Crossfield, 2007 ), co-rumination in adolescent boys and girls ( Hankin, Stone, & Wright, 2010 ), and self-criticism in an adolescent sample ( Shahar & Priel, 2003 ). Similarly, a number of personality and interpersonal vulnerabilities have been found to predict stress generation, including neuroticism in a sample of adolescent girls ( Kercher et al., 2009 ), dependency in adolescents ( Shahar & Priel, 2003 ), and excessive reassurance-seeking in adults ( Potthoff, Holahan, & Joiner, 1995 ). Moreover, cognitive/personality vulnerabilities to anxiety disorders, looming maladaptive cognitive style, and anxiety sensitivity, also have been found to predict stress generation in a predominantly female sample of young adults ( Riskind, Black, & Shahar, 2010 ).

Finally, how general is the stress generation effect across different disorders? Hammen (2006) speculated that this phenomenon may not be unique to depression, but that different disorders may be associated with their own unique pattern of dependent stress. Consistent with this possibility, bipolar disorder may be associated with the generation of dependent stressors relating to reward sensitivity ( Urošević et al., in press ). Thus far, however, studies examining other disorders alone or in comparison to depression generally suggest that the stress generation effect may be stronger in depression, and co-morbid conditions appear to augment this effect in depressed individuals ( Daley et al., 1997 ; Harkness & Luther, 2001 ; for a review, see Liu & Alloy, 2010 ).

Common Misunderstandings of the Stress Generation Hypothesis

The stress generation hypothesis is an example of action theory, in which individuals shape their own environments ( Hammen, 2006 ). Stress generation models rest on the general assumption that individuals vulnerable to or diagnosed with depression causally contribute to stressful life events. Perhaps this is most evident when a stressful event directly and immediately results from an individual’s behavior. The stress generation process, however, may also exert an effect through more indirect and less immediately observable means. Specifically, vulnerable individuals may self-select into environments that are more stressful, thus increasing the likelihood of exposure to life stressors ( Hammen, 2005 ). A specific example of this would be positive assortative mating ( Daley, Burge & Hammen, 2000 ; Ellinbogen & Hodgins, 2004 ). Furthermore, individuals may find themselves in stressful environments because of their families of origin. As a result, and coupled with an increased likelihood of genetic predisposition, they are more likely to develop depression. This explanation is also consistent with a harsh environment model ( Ellinbogen & Hodgins, 2004 ), an implication of which is that stress generation may differ across age as children are less able to select their environments.

In order to definitively support a stress generation model, research methodologies must be able to distinguish among these various sources of stress. Carefully distinguishing between dependent and independent stress represents one step towards clarifying this puzzle. However, researchers vary in their conceptualization and measurement of event dependence. As mentioned earlier, the use of narrative-rating procedures (e.g., LEDS-based interviews) in which contextual information is elicited, and independent raters evaluate the extent of a person’s contribution, can also aid in discriminating between these direct and indirect effects of stress generation. It seems likely that both harsh environment and stress generation effects operate to different degrees, across individuals and stages of development. Increased theoretical and methodological precision is required in order to determine whether depressed individuals play direct, indirect, or passive roles in the stressful events they experience.

Theoretical and Clinical Implications of Stress Generation for Depression

Stress generation has important theoretical implications for our understanding, prevention, and treatment of depression. When considered within the context of vulnerability-stress models of depression, the stress generation effect implies a “two-hit” model of the effects of depressogenic vulnerabilities. Specifically, not only are depression-prone individuals more likely to become depressed when confronted with stressful life events, but they may also be more likely to act in ways or self-select into environments that increase their exposure to these very stressors. As dependent stressors, particularly interpersonal ones, are more strongly associated with depression than are independent stressors ( Kendler, Karkowski, & Prescott, 1999 ), stress generation may serve as an explanatory mechanism for depressive onset, relapse, and recurrence.

The stress generation model also has important implications for the clinical treatment of depressive disorders, related to the aforementioned “two-hit” vulnerability-stress model. Specifically, treatments must adopt a dual emphasis on (1) teaching vulnerable individuals more adaptive strategies for coping with life events, such as modifying cognitive interpretations and obtaining social support, and (2) teaching vulnerable individuals to identify and reduce their own roles in generating stressful events. This dual emphasis requires the development of both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping skills. Stress generation is easily addressed in the context of many empirically supported treatments for depression, including cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal therapies. Incorporating components of dialectical behavior therapy (e.g., interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance; Harley, Sprich, Safren, Jacobo, & Fava, 2008 ; Linehan, Dexter-Mazza, & Barlow, 2008 ) may also aid in the reduction of maladaptive stress generation processes. The optimal therapeutic approach will depend largely on the mechanisms in operation, as well as the specificity of stress generation effects. However, simply incorporating the general idea of stress generation may empower depressed individuals to take a more proactive role in managing the course of their disorders.

Directions for Future Research: Mechanisms of Stress Generation

Since the original formulation of the theory, researchers have made considerable progress in describing and modeling stress generation processes. However, many questions remain empirically unanswered. Most notably, the mechanisms through which stress generation operates are not well understood. Given the wide range of vulnerabilities associated with stress generation effects (e.g., negative cognitive style, rumination, neuroticism, self-criticism, anxiety sensitivity, excessive reassurance-seeking), what are the essential characteristics or “active ingredients” driving the phenomenon? Is there a unitary factor that precipitates stress generation, or is the process caused by specific combinations of vulnerabilities? Research suggests that depression could be caused by an interaction between specific types of vulnerabilities and stressors. So, too, could individuals generate specific types of stressors according to the idiographic nature of their vulnerabilities. A closer examination of the event domains most strongly associated with a stress generation effect may provide insight into underlying mechanisms. For example, is stress generation related to an event’s valence, content, severity, predictability, controllability, degree of associated life change, degree of associated psychological distress, or some combination?

Moreover, the mechanisms critical to stress generation may vary across subgroups such as gender ( Davila, Bradbury, Cohan, & Tochluk, 1997 ; Safford et al., 2007 ), culture, context, depression severity, or diagnostic comorbidity ( Daley et al., 1997 ; Daley, Hammen, Davila, & Burge, 1998 ; Harkness & Luther, 2001 ). Finally, research indicates that the relationship between psychosocial stress and episode initiation may change over the course of recurrent depression ( Monroe & Harkness, 2005 ; Post, 1992 ; Stroud, Davila, & Moyer, 2008 ). If this is the case, the implications of stress generation are likely to change over time as well.

In conclusion, existing research clearly supports the idea that individuals with or vulnerable to depression may generate stressful, depressogenic events. However, current empirical knowledge provides only a general outline of this undoubtedly complex, nuanced, and transactional process. Methodological improvements will provide a more valid, fine-grained analysis of stress generation. For example, a prospective design is critical to examining stress generation, because temporal sequencing is of fundamental importance to this model. Multiple brief assessment intervals, interview-based life stress assessments with collateral reports, measurement of depression at both the syndromal and subsyndromal levels, and combined idiographic and nomothetic statistical approaches will also be important. Increased emphasis should also be placed on issues relevant to generality and specificity, underlying assumptions and mechanisms of the model, and clinical implications of the stress generation phenomenon.

The concept of stress generation is a powerful tool that is consistent with existing cognitive-behavioral theories of depression. Advancing the field’s knowledge about stress generation will yield a tangible direction for theory-driven, targeted intervention. Our hope is that this commentary will help to stimulate and frame future research in this exciting area.

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Compared to our parent’s generation, life has become much more stressful. As a result, stress-related illnesses are on the increase around the world. Why is stress such a problem in the modern world and what do you think can be done to overcome the problems caused by stress?

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In some countries, young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.

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Stress Essay

IELTS Stress Essay

This is a model IELTS stress essay. It is about stress in modern society and how to prevent it.

It is a causes and solutions type essay. In other words, you have to identify what causes stressand then suggest solutions.

Stress is now a major problem in many countries around the world.

What are some of the factors in modern society that cause this stress and how can we reduce it?

This type of essay lends itself to two body paragraphs - one explaining the causes and the next discussing some possible solutions.

As is important with any IELTS essay, you must always read the question carefully.

The topic is often narrowed down to a particular group of people or topic.

Narrowing Down the Topic

The key here is that ' modern society ' is mentioned.

If you just talk about stress in general but don't connect it to modern society you may be in danger of not fully answering the question .

You need to brainstorm some issues specific to the world we live in today that may result in stress.

What things effect us today that did not (or not too such an extent) 10, 20, 30 years ago?

Using Personal Pronouns

Also, you may notice that ' we ' is used a lot in the stress essay.

Remember an IELTS essay is not quite the same as an academic essay you will normally write. It is can be more personal as you only have your own experience to support your answer with.

You should avoid too many personal pronouns if possible such as ' I ' throughout the essay but you may wish to use this to give your opinion or examples from your own experience at times. This is ok, but don't overdo it.

This question specifically says how can ' we ' reduce it. So it is already making it personal. So it is ok to write about what all of us, or ' we ', can do.

Model Stress Essay

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

What are some of the factors in modern society that cause this stress, and how can we reduce it?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words.

Stress Essay Model Answer

Stress is a problem that can have detrimental effects on many people’s lives, and there are various factors in modern society responsible for this. However, there are ways to limit the potential impacts.

The modern world we live in today presents us with many issues that we did not have to cope with in the past. Firstly, there are issues of terrorism that we are constantly confronted with in the media. Whether these are real or not, we are led to believe our lives are in constant danger, be it flying on a plane or travelling on public transport. Climate change is another worry that everyone has to face. The results of a significant rise in temperatures could radically affect our ways of life, and our children’s too. There are also more health issues to be concerned about than in the past, with rises in alzheimer’s, diabetes, and stroke to name but a few. All of these concerns can result in stress.

Tackling such problems will not be easy, but there are measures that can be taken. Governments and the media could play their part by ensuring that instead of persistently bombarding us with such negative images and information about the world in which we live, we are given more positive stories too. However, given this is unlikely to happen, we need to develop our own strategies to distract us from these influences. Of course exercising regularly is one thing we should do as this has been shown to increase endorphin levels and lead to feelings of happiness. Sleeping enough helps us to recuperate and restore our body. Finally, eating properly can improve our health and result in less worry about potential diseases.

All in all, although there are many factors around us today which lead to stress, we can take steps to reduce it. Given that the strains we face in modern society will likely get worse, ignoring it is not an option for many people.

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Causes of stress in modern life

IELTS essay Causes of stress in modern life

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5.5 band In many countries, traffic problems are increasing every passing day. What can be the reason? What measures can be taken at the level of government and society to solve these problems Nowadays, traffic issue is main problem in many part of the world it cause many problems for the natives. In the following essay, I aim to indentify the sources of this problems as well as some viable solutions to it. From my perspective, one of the significant problem of the transportation is the ...
5 band Discuss your favorite memory at school There are plenty of memories that I have associated with my time at school. I remember sitting at Khokha (a canteen there) with my friends and doing number of activites. That was indeed a great time. We used to sit there and gossip about our faculty and other members in school. We discussed many of ...
Language is wine upon the lips. – Virginia WoolfInspirational quotes for language learners Virginia Woolf
6 band The use of budget government has been in the headline for quite a long time. The use of budget government has been in the headline for quite a long time. Although it appears convincing to many people that the state should invest more in resident’s health and education, i lean towards the idea that their improvements in arts. There are several reasons why arts should be focu ...
5 band Firstly, an increased dependency on computers to type up essays and notes has had detrimental effects on the handwriting of students. For example, many students rely on their devices to type up their work leading to sloppy handwriting as they have not written for periods of time. However, in the future when apply for visas or documents everything must be handwritten, hence proving problematic. In order to avoid this, schools should implement mandatory assignments which have to be done by hand. Firstly, an increased dependency on computers to type up essays and notes has had detrimental effects on the handwriting of students. For example, many students rely on their devices to type up their work leading to sloppy handwriting as they have not written for periods of time. However, in the fut ...
The joy of knowing a foreign language is inexpressible. I find it really difficult to express such joy in my mother tongue. Munia Khan
5 band The pictures below show the process of making clothes from recycled plastic bottles The given illustration depicts many steps involved in how the outfits are made from reused plastic bottles In general, It can be seen that the whole production consists of 13 stages starting with raw materials and ending with the completed costumes The whole procedure begin when goods which are not ...
6 band the computer with internet access is one modern day convenience that i cannot do without In the 21st century, gadgets and devices with internet access is necessary to all the people especially when this is the era of science and technology. This time, people cannot life without technology when everything has change because of coronavirus that hit the whole world. First and foremost, co ...
Language is not a genetic gift, it is a social gift. Learning a new language is becoming a member of the club – the community of speakers of that language. Frank Smith

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IELTS Writing Task 2/ Essay Topics with sample answer.

Ielts writing task 2 sample 798 - why is stress such a problem in the modern world, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, compared to our parent’s generation, life has become much more stressful. as a result, stress-related illnesses are on the increase around the world. why is stress such a problem in the modern world and what do you think can be done to overcome the problems caused by stress.

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Causes of stress in the modern generation?
Forms Of Stress And Their Diagnosis
(PDF) Causes of Stress
The Impact Of Job Demands And Workload On Stress And Fatigue
5 reasons why modern life causes stress (and what to do about it)
Cause And Effect Essay On Stress

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reasons why modern life causes stress
Force Management Systems: Sustainment and Generation
Consequences of Stress
Understanding Stress: Causes and Coping
Biological and Neurobiological Perspectives on Motivation and Emotion
Everyday Activities: Habits, Stress, and Health

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5 reasons why modern life causes us stress (and what to do about it)
Other life events that increase stress are outlined in the Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory, and include the death of a life partner, divorce, major personal injury, retirement, and pregnancy. Daily hassles - ordinary challenges we face in daily - can also cause stress. These include having too much to do, cost of living, and conflict at work.
PDF Stress in America™ 2020
Only reports of mass shootings as a significant source of stress have declined significantly since 2019 (71% in 2019). Nearly 2 in 3 adults (65%) say the current amount of uncer-tainty in our nation causes them stress. Further, 3 in 5 (60%) say the number of issues America faces currently is over-whelming to them.
Stress Cause And Effect: [Essay Example], 576 words
The effects of stress on individuals can be profound and far-reaching, impacting both physical and mental health. Chronic stress has been linked to a range of health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and digestive issues. The constant activation of the body's stress response can lead to a weakened immune system, making ...
5 Sources of Stress and Anxiety in the Modern World
1. We interact with a greater diversity of people. As we meet new people over the course of a year, we confront a greater diversity of skills, knowledge, and values than people have ever ...
Stress and Its Effects on Health
Individual response to stressors influences their health. Maladaptive response to stress results in various physical, psychological, and behavioral negative effects. Negative effects of stress on physical health include increased heart rates, sweating, high blood pressure, and long-term development of the cardiac condition. Psychological ...
Causes Of Stress On The Modern Generation
Many sufferers experience feelings of "stress," anxiety, and discomfort without an easily identifiable cause. Some people are stressed for clearly identifiable reasons: being fired, bereavement, or ill health. While this is something everyone experiences, the causes of stress can vary from person to person. Stress can be external and ...
Stress Among Youth: Causes and its Management in Recent Times
1. Introduction. Stress is the reaction of person's body and mind to. something that causes a change in balance. Stress is a. common aspect of many different emotions like frustratio n, anxiety ...
The stress of life: a modern complaint?
According to Ballard's dystopian vision, the frustration, insecurity and loneliness of modern lives are only capable of generating communities oppressed by social unrest, political instability, immorality and injustice. Although eccentric and controversial, Ballard's fictional portrayals of a species under stress captured an emergent reality.
Stress and its effects across generations
Stress-related psychiatric conditions such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a strong heritable component (Eichler et al., 2010, Kendler, 2001), but, despite many twin and genome-wide association studies, genetics has only been able to explain a minor portion of heritability (Eichler et al., 2010).This is a limiting factor in understanding and adequately treating ...
15 Stress Generation and Depression
Abstract. This chapter defines stress generation, noting evidence of the bidirectional effects of stress and depression on each other, contributing to recurrence and chronicity of depression and continuing stressors. Studies have documented elevated levels of acute negative life events as well as enduring stressful life circumstances ...
Stress: Why does it happen and how can we manage it?
Stress is the body's natural defense against predators and danger. It causes the body to flood with hormones that prepare its systems to evade or confront danger. People commonly refer to this ...
Article on Causes of Stress on Modern Generation
March 26, 2020. The present day youth are greatly stressed due to cut-throat competition and consumerist culture. Write an article in 150-200 words on the causes of the stress on the modern generation suggesting suitable solutions. Stressed on Modern Generation. by Rahul. Today, we are living in an age when people are more stressed than relaxed.
10 Causes of Stress (and How to Avoid Them)
Fears over one's own health or the wellbeing of a relative or friend are a common cause of stress. The experience of an illness, and the loss of control over events, can lead to persistent worry about both the current and possible future situations. Paradoxically, the stress caused by health worries can itself lead to problems and the body ...
Causes of Stress on Modern Generation and Its Cure
P erpetually tethered. Today's modern generation has factored Work-stress as the most common source of stress, and it differs due to being simply 'inescapable.'. One thing that entirely ...
Managing stress in today's world
Sarah Ashworth, Director of our Schools and Families Programme, explores the importance of understanding and normalising stress in the 21st century, particularly in the context of Covid-19. She also considers some of the strategies that may help you to manage stress and build positive mental health and wellbeing going forward.
Stress In The Modern World
From work deadlines to relationships, everything can cause stress. Stress is actually a natural reaction; it's our body's way to tell us something is wrong. Stress becomes a problem when we cannot eliminate pressure. In this particular case, stress can lead to serious issues including physical health and mental health problems. The modern world gave us easy access to information and many ...
Stress Generation Research in Depression: A Commentary
The concept of stress generation is a powerful tool that is consistent with existing cognitive-behavioral theories of depression. In this brief commentary on the literature on stress generation in depression, we highlight several issues that we believe will help to advance the stress generation field. Specifically, we discuss important ...
Common Causes of Stress & Their Effect on Your Health
Causes of work stress include: Being unhappy in your job. Having a heavy workload or too much responsibility. Working long hours. Having poor management, unclear expectations of your work, or no ...
Compared to our parent's generation, life has become much ...
The relentless pace of modern life has placed an unprecedented burden on our mental well-being, transforming stress from an occasional occurrence to a pervasive and pervasive problem. Unlike our parents' generation, who faced a more predictable and structured lifestyle, we are constantly bombarded with demands, challenges, and uncertainties, leaving us feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and ...
IELTS Stress Essay
IELTS Stress Essay. This is a model IELTS stress essay. It is about stress in modern society and how to prevent it. It is a causes and solutions type essay. In other words, you have to identify what causes stressand then suggest solutions. Stress is now a major problem in many countries around the world.
IELTS Essay # 1217
Write at least 250 words. Model Answer 1: Stress slays us from the inside and can lead to personal, social, physical and psychological issues that drive us to the verge of dilapidation. Stress and anxiety are far more severe and widespread among the modern generation than in their forefathers.
IELTS essay Causes of stress in modern life
Modern life is full of troubles, frustrations, and deadlines. If people live under stress for a long period of time, it has a bad consequence on health and mental. This essay will discuss on causes of stress. Firstly, according to the studies, money is the top cause of stress in modern life. Stress about budget maybe results in insufficient income.
IELTS Writing Task 2/ Essay Topics with sample answer.
You should write at least 250 words. Model Answer 1: Nowadays stress has become a serious problem than it was in the past. Over the world, many different diseases are caused by stress. In today's world, some people ask themselves why stress is such a big issue as well as how to reduce it. This essay will discuss the causes to stress related ...