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Reactions to stress predict future health
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Contrary to popular belief, stress does not cause health problems - it is people's reactions to stressors that determine whether a person will have health problems, according to researchers at Pennsylvania State University.
“We found that how people respond to things in their lives today predicts their future chronic health problems 10 years later, and it depends on how well they feel now and how stressful they are,” said David Almeida, a professor of human development and family studies. “For example, if you have a lot of work to do today and it makes you really angry and stressed, you’re more likely to have health problems 10 years later than someone who’s in the same situation but responds calmly to it.”
Dr. Almeida and his colleagues conducted a study that looked at the relationship between stressful events in everyday life, people's responses to those events, and their health and well-being 10 years later.
Specifically, the authors interviewed 2,000 people every evening for eight days in a row and asked the participants to describe in detail everything that had happened to them in the previous 24 hours. They asked the subjects about their well-being, the events that had happened during the day, and the moments that had excited them and made them experience anxious moments. The experts also collected saliva samples from all the participants – four samples from each on four different days. By analyzing the saliva, the scientists were able to determine the level of cortisol, the stress hormone.
After a long-term study that began in 1995 and continued in 2005, scientists were able to draw conclusions about how events that happened ten years ago can affect health and well-being now.
Scientists have found that people who experience stress on a daily basis and are used to dwelling on unpleasant situations suffer from chronic diseases, especially those associated with pain, such as arthritis or cardiovascular problems, much more often than those who do not take unpleasant situations personally.
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