The daily stress predicts somatic symptoms when pre-existing neuroticism is accounted for

Abstract

 This study tests the hypothesis that the reported relationships between daily stress (hassles) and somatic symptoms are primarily a function of contamination by neuroticism. In this respect, a prospective study was conducted to investigate whether minor stressful life events predict subsequent somatic symptoms when pre-existing neuroticism is accounted for. Results of this research indicated that Daily Stress Questionnaire (CED-44) scores significantly predicted subsequent symptoms, after neuroticism were controlled statistically in hierarchical multiple regression analyses.