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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Luo Lu
Luo Lu*
Affiliation:
Graduate Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan (ROC)
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Luo Lu, Graduate Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical College, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (ROC).
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Synopsis

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

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

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