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Comparative Study
. 1993 Jul;50(7):585-9.
doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1993.01820190087009.

Sending your teenagers away. Controlled stress decreases neurotic vulnerability

G Andrews  1 , A C Page, M Neilson
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Sending your teenagers away. Controlled stress decreases neurotic vulnerability

G Andrews et al. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1993 Jul.

Abstract

Objective: To study the effect of a controlled stressor on the rate of personality maturity.

Design: Eighteen-month prospective controlled study.

Setting: General community.

Experimental: Exposed to the stress of 12 months' intercultural experience.

Control: Remained in usual environment.

Main outcome measure: A measure of personality vulnerability/maturity derived from a canonical correlational combination of trait anxiety, locus of control, and defense style.

Results: Exchange students exposed to the stressor made significantly greater gains in personality maturity (0.28 vs 0.03 SD: P < or = .01) than did the control students matched on this measure at baseline.

Conclusion: Exchange students exposed to the stress of living abroad showed a substantial decrease in vulnerability, which should decrease the risk of future neurotic disorders in this group.

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