SPECIFICITY OF THE RELATION BETWEEN LIFE EVENTS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMATOLOGY

Examined the specificity of the relation between two types of stressful life events, separations and conflicts, and psychological symptomatology in children. It was hypothesized that separation events would have a specific effect on depressive symptomatology, whereas conflict events would have a specific effect on symptoms of conduct disorder. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 359 children, ages 8 through 16, consisting of children who had experienced parental death, parental divorce, or asthma, and a comparison group who had not experienced a major stressful event. Multivariate regression analyses indicated partial support for a specificity model of the effects of stress events. Strongest support for the specificity model of the effects of stressors came from the children who experienced parental death.