Stressors: Daily Hassles Daily hassles are minor events that arise in the course of a normal day.

Hassles are opposite to uplifts. Hassles and Uplifts Scales (HSUP) DeLongis et al. (1982) Measures respondents attitude towards daily situations. It evaluates both positive and negative events that occur in daily lives. Daily Hassles Bouteyre et al. (2007) Investigated the relationship between daily hassles and mental health of students during the initial transition between school and university. First year psychology students at a French University completed the hassles part of the HSUP and the Beck Depression Inventor as a measure of any symptoms of depression that may attribute to hassles of transition 41% of students studied suffered from depressive symptoms Positive correlation between scores on the hassles scale and the incidence of depressive symptoms.

This study shows that daily hassles can be considered a significant risk factor for depression. Daily Uplifts Gervais (2005) Asked nurses to keep a diary for a month recording all hassles and uplifts It was found that daily hassles increased job strain and decreased job performance Daily uplifts improved their performance Hassles vs. Life Change Ruffin, 1993 found that daily hassles were linked to greater psychological and physical dysfunction than major negative life events. Flett et al. (1995) found that major life changing events may differ to daily hassles in the way to which a person would seek and receive support. o o o 320 people (half male, half female) read a scenario describing a male or female experiencing either a major life event or a daily hassle. They were asked to rate the amount of support that person would receive and it was found that those that had experienced major life events would seek/receive more support. This suggests that the greater negative influence of daily hassles on psychological adjustment may be due to lack of support received from others.

Evaluation o o o o Lazarus (1990)- accumulation of minor daily stressors creates persistent irritation etc. which result in serious stress reactions like depression Chronic stress due to major life changes may make people more vulnerable to daily hassles or may deplete a persons resources so less able to cope with daily hassles Problems with retrospective recalling as hassles are normally recalled from the past month so research may not be fully accurate The Hassles and Uplifts Scale uses a questionnaire which is somewhat superficial and doesnt give a full picture