Innovations in the measurement of life stress: crisis theory and the significance of event resolution.

Further progress in understanding the significance of stress for psychological well-being requires improved strategies for controlling both inter- and intra-event variability across subjects studied. This paper reports on an innovation in stress measurement suggested by a proposition drawn from crisis theory that recognizes life events as representing opportunities as well as hazards. The crucial contingency is hypothesized to be the outcome of the event with respect to the extent of its resolution in emotional and practical terms. This paper examines the possibility that life events that have been resolved successfully may not contribute to individual stress. Data was gathered from community samples of physically limited individuals and of non-limited comparison subjects. Results from separate analyses of these data generally support this hypothesis.