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Factors Associated with Adjustment Disorder – the Different Contribution of Daily Stressors and Traumatic Events and the Mediating Role of Psychological Well-Being.

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Abstract

The definition of adjustment disorder (AjD) was recently revised by the 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases. Thus far, only two studies explored stressors associated with symptoms of AjD according to the new definition, revealing that there might be a difference in associations with daily stressors compared to traumatic events. The present study aims at examining the associations of AjD with both types of stressors as well as the mediating role of psychological well-being that was previously suggested as a buffer against mental illness. Four hundred and 19 participants completed questionnaires assessing the prevalence of daily stressors and traumatic events experienced in the last 2 years, psychological well-being and the diagnostic criteria of AjD. Results revealed a direct effect of the prevalence of daily stressors on the diagnosis of AjD as well as the mediating effect of psychological well-being of this association. However, no effect was found for traumatic events on AjD or psychological well-being. Given these findings, psychological well-being should be regarded as a means to reduce the prevalence of AjD among individuals coping with multiple and continuous daily stressors.

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Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Ariel University, 40700, Ariel, Israel

    Y. Hamama-Raz, M Ben-Ezra & O. Lavenda

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  1. Y. Hamama-Raz
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  2. M Ben-Ezra
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  3. O. Lavenda
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by all the authors. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hamama Raz Yaira and Lavenda, Osnat and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to M Ben-Ezra.

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Hamama-Raz, Y., Ben-Ezra, M. & Lavenda, O. Factors Associated with Adjustment Disorder – the Different Contribution of Daily Stressors and Traumatic Events and the Mediating Role of Psychological Well-Being.. Psychiatr Q 92, 217–227 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-020-09779-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-020-09779-6

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