The minor events approach to stress: support for the use of daily hassles

Abstract

Everyday minor stressors (hassles) have been proposed as an alternative to major life-events as a measure of stress. This article examines three aspects of hassles as a stress measure: group contextual differences in hassles reported, the stability and consistency of hassles over time, and the effectiveness of hassles in predicting adaptational outcomes. Results showed that there are clear contextual differences in hassles. Groups report quite different patterns of hassles reflecting their particular social contexts. These patterns also appear to be stable across time, probably as a result of consistency in both group roles and situational factors. Finally, hassles are found to be substantially better than life-events in predicting psychological well-being and mental health dimensions. Taken together, these findings support the use of hassles as a valid and reliable measure of stress which has significant relationships to important adaptational outcomes.