College students and stress

New survey explores effects of negative life events

By Susan Williams

‘I believe that relationships may pose the greatest challenge for emotional development among young people, simply because people can offer or deny us their friendship.’

Pamela Jackson

“Given the rash of shooting sprees in high schools around the nation, I decided to explore whether young people—specifically first-year college students—were especially vulnerable to negative life events,” said Pamela Jackson, Indiana University associate professor in the Bloomington campus’ Department of Sociology. “I wanted to know if they overreacted in terms of feeling anger, anxiety and depression compared to their older peers. I also wanted to know what types of things made them react this way.”

Jackson, a social psychologist who studies the effect of stressful life events on mental health, was an assistant professor of sociology at Duke University from 1993-2000 before returning this past July to IU where she received her doctorate in 1993. She and fellow researcher Montenique Finney of Ohio State University compiled their findings from a survey designed to answer the questions posed in a paper titled “Negative Life Events and Psychological Distress Among Young Adults.” The paper will be published in an upcoming issue of Social Psychology Quarterly.

The survey included responses from approximately 863 undergraduates recruited from three universities located in the southeast in 1996. Researchers asked the ethnically diverse sample of traditional-aged students to examine a list of 50 “life events” and check those that they had experienced since coming to college. The students indicated their levels of anger/hostility, depression and anxiety using sub-scales designed to measure their current mental-health status.

According to Jackson, three significant findings stand out. As expected, she said, area-specific life events including relationships, race relations, school events, deviance and physical assault (or being stalked), were associated with psychological distress.

“Affiliative opportunities, or relationships with peers, are very stressful for all students, as is the experience of having been physically accosted,” said Jackson. “Being physically accosted has direct implications for self-esteem and feelings of mastery.”

The second finding was also anticipated. Freshmen, indeed, have the highest stress reaction to negative life events.

“Freshmen who reported negative events happening to them were more emotionally distressed than seniors who reported the same types of events,” said Jackson. “Sophomores and juniors were also more upset by these problems than seniors, but freshmen were the most vulnerable.”

The third finding—that anger/hostility was the most common emotional reaction to negative life events—was somewhat unexpected.

“I was surprised to find that negative life events predicted anger/hostility more often than the traditional indicators of psychological distress, such as depression and anxiety,” said Jackson.

“I was not surprised that affiliative opportunities were a source of stress among students,” she continued, citing the 1997 shooting spree by Luke Woodham at Pearl High School in Pearl, Miss., that centered on the breakup with a girlfriend.

“I believe that relationships may pose the greatest challenge for emotional development among young people, simply because people can offer or deny us their friendship. Forming relationships with others increases the possibility of being rejected.

“At the same time, I believe that friends are important sources of comfort in the time of stressful life conditions. While young people may become leery of developing intimate relationships with others, part of the healing process includes seeking support from peers.”

The good news, according to Jackson, is that most students show progressive emotional growth through experience and maturity as they continue through their college careers.

“I learned that maturity tapers anger,” said Jackson. “After examining the responses to a set of questions asking students how they usually cope with stress, I found that a higher percentage of seniors report facing problems squarely and doing something about them, whereas their younger peers are more likely to say that they try to relax and not let things bother them. This passive approach is not very useful in addressing practical problems.

“Although anger represents but one facet of the emotional experience, it can be quite perilous,” continued Jackson. “Anger has both physiological and cognitive components. Being angry can result in physical health problems, and anger also has been linked to suicide attempts by adolescents.”

Jackson also pointed out, however, that anger has a positive function.

“It can prepare us for action,” she said. “Perhaps young adults who become angry enough about social problems, such as poor race relations or being physically assaulted, will be moved to respond and change the situation.”