Daily Life Experience and Somatic Symptoms: A Preliminary Report

摘要

This report presents a description and preliminary analyses of a prospective investigation of daily life experiences, mood and somatic symptomatology. Using a questionnaire (The Assessment of Daily Experience) and joint husband-wife recording methodology, fifty couples each completed approximately 85 days of forms. Husbands were the targets of the investigation and wives served as observers of their spouses. A total of about 24,000 experiences were recorded. An analysis of events' appraisals on four psychological dimensions is presented. Schemes for condensing symptomatology and event information were developed, and the event scheme was shown to adequately predict concurrent mood. Preliminary analyses consisting of relative risk and parametric tests of event classifications predicting later (within five days) symptoms was performed. Although not entirely clear, tentatively it appears that desirable and stabilizing experiences protect individuals from subsequent symptoms. (Author)