Combining Major Life Events and Recurrent Hassles in the Assessment of Stress in Chinese Adolescents: Preliminary Evidence

Abstract

Major life events and hassles have been considered 2 distinct constructs in the measurement of stress. Research also shows that chronic events are more impactful than time-limited ones. This study reports a new approach to measuring stress in which major life events are combined with recurrent hassles to form a single index-the Adolescent Stress Index (ASI). High school students (N = 365) in Hong Kong responded twice at a 3-month interval to measures of major life events and hassles, the ASI, and measures of physical and depressive symptoms. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results showed that the ASI predicted symptoms concurrently and prospectively above and beyond the effects of existing measures of major life events and hassles. The ASI is a viable instrument for documenting the cumulative impact of major and minor events in the lives of adolescents. © 2010 American Psychological Association.