This variable is only available in MAP.
Negative life events in the past year are assessed with an 18-item scale modified from the Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly version. Participants are asked to respond yes = 1 if an event has occurred in the past year, otherwise no = 0. The overall score ranges from 0 to 18 and is the sum of the individual items, where higher scores indicate more negative life events occurring in the past year.
Participants are asked the following questions:
During the past year...
- did you experience an illness or injury (get sick or hurt) that required staying overnight or longer in a hospital (not a nursing home)?
- did you experience an illness or injury (get sick or hurt) that kept you from your usual activities (work, housework) for a week or more?
- did you get a divorce?
- did your husband/wife die?
- did one of your children die?
- did your husband/wife, child, or other household member move out or leave your home?
- did a close family member or friend (other than husband/wife/child) die?
- did a close family member or friend experience a serious illness or injury?
- did you or a family member have any legal trouble (trouble with the law)?
- did your financial situation get considerably worse?
- did you move?
- was your driver's license taken away?
- was your husband/wife hospitalized?
- was any other family member placed in an institution or nursing home?
- were you institutionalized?
- did you begin needing help with daily activities?
- did you have to assume caregiver responsibilities for someone else?
- did one of your children experience a serious problem?
Note: Because these events occur relatively infrequently, this measure had modest internal consistency (Cronbach's coefficient alpha = 0.51) and temporal stability in preliminary analyses.