Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35599238›Full record

ArticleStress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress2023

Why is subjective stress severity a stronger predictor of health than stressor exposure? A preregistered two-study test of two hypotheses.

Grant S Shields, Alyssa Fassett-Carman, Zach J Gray, Joseph E Gonzales, Hannah R Snyder, George M Slavich

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
27citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Perceived Stress in Adolescence: Structure, Stability, and Its Relationship with Mental Health.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026
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  16. Lifetime stressor exposure is related to suicidality in autistic adults: A multinational study.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Grant S ShieldsDepartment of Psychological Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0827-4669
Alyssa Fassett-CarmanDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.
Zach J GrayDepartment of Psychological Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA.
Joseph E GonzalesDepartment of Psychology and Center for Women and Work, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA.
Hannah R SnyderDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.
George M SlavichDepartment of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5710-3818

Funding

NEUROSCIENCE: FROM CHANNELS TO BEHAVIORT32MH019929 · NIMH · BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY · PI GRIFFITH, LESLIE C · 1994 to 2023
$8.5M
Brain-Body-Behavior Interface in Learning and Development Across the LifespanT32GM084907 · NIGMS · BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY · PI SEKULER, ROBERT · 2009 to 2018
$1.5M
Neural, Inflammatory, and Genomic Mechanisms Underlying Risk for Depression in AdolescenceK08MH103443 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI SLAVICH, GEORGE MICHAEL · 2015 to 2018
$772k
NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM084907NIH HHS T32 GM084907NIH HHS T32 MH019929NIMH NIH HHS K08 MH103443NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH019929
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Subjective stress severity appraisals have consistently emerged as better predictors of poor health than stressor exposure, but the reason for this is unclear. Subjective stress may better predict poor health for one of at least two reasons. First, because stressor exposure measures consider all stressors as equal, stress severity measures-which "weight" stressors by self-reported severity-might better predict poor health simply by not treating all stressors as being equally impactful. Second, subjective stress appraisals may index important individual differences in stress vulnerability. We tested these two possibilities in this preregistered, two-study manuscript. Across these two different studies, subjective stress severity was a better predictor of poor health than independently weighted stress severity or stressor exposure. These results demonstrate that, beyond weighting of stressful experiences, subjective stress severity indexes health-relevant individual differences. Moreover, the results suggest that subjective stress severity may be the preferred stress summary metric even when derived from imprecise stress assessment instruments.

Indexed as

IndividualityStress, PsychologicalHumansSelf Reportassessmenthealthmeasurementmental healthphysical healthstressstress severity

Identifiers

PMID35599238
PMCPMC10243213

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.