Am J Psychiatry 1996; 153:21-26
Copyright © 1996 by American Psychiatric Association
Antecedents and consequences of negative life events in adulthood: a longitudinal study
XJ Cui and GE Vaillant
Division of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether negative life events affected
subjects' long-term physical and mental health. METHOD: One hundred
thirteen normal college men completed biennial follow-up questionnaires
from age 26 until age 62. At age 62 they retrospectively assessed 16 major
negative life events with a self-report checklist. A blind rater read each
man's complete records over the 35 years and completed the same checklist
prospectively. The men had independent physical examinations at age 65.
RESULTS: It was demonstrated that negative life events affect men's
psychological health more than their physical health. The correlation of
negative life events with physical health was so low that no significant
relationship between the two variables could be established. Negative life
events were significantly associated with affective spectrum disorder and
its relevant indicators. Further, the Cox proportional hazards model
revealed that negative life events, family history of depression, and
psychosocial stability during the college years were independent and
statistically significant predictors of depression. CONCLUSIONS: This study
supports the widely held belief that biological factors (heredity),
psychological factors (unstable personality), and social factors (negative
life events) are all etiologically related to depression.
