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Responses to daily stressors may impact long-term mental health

Heightened emotional reactions to daily stressors predicted greater general emotional distress and an increased likelihood of having an affective disorder 10 years later, according to new study results.

“These findings suggest that the average levels of negative affect that people experience and how they respond to seemingly minor events in their daily lives have long-term implications for their mental health,” the researchers wrote.

Susan T. Charles, PhD, professor of psychology and social behavior at the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues examined the relationship between daily negative emotions and reactivity to stressors and mental health outcomes measured 10 years later in 711 participants aged 25 to 74 years. The researchers used data from two national surveys. The first was completed between 1995 and 1996, which assessed participants’ emotional state and daily stressors. The second survey was completed 10 years later by the same participants, who then reported on general emotional distress and affective disorders. Diagnoses of affective disorders were based on DSM-III criteria.

Results also indicated that increased levels of negative emotions — unrelated to daily stressors — predicted general distress and symptoms of an affective disorder 10 years later.

According to Charles and colleagues, the results suggest that emotional responses to minor events can have an impact on an individual’s mental health.

“Instead of paralleling Nietzsche’s maxim, ‘that which does not kill him makes him stronger,’ findings more accurately reflect the view of long-term damage to individuals’ mental health,” the researchers wrote.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.