Stressful Life Events and Their Unique Associations with Psychosocial Outcomes: a Gendered Analysis Among High School Adolescents

Introduction: There is substantial evidence linking stressful life events (SLEs) in childhood to poor mental health later in life, but few studies explore how various types of SLEs differentially impact mental health. The purpose of this study is to assess associations between SLEs and psychosocial outcomes in a diverse adolescent population in the USA and to examine whether and how these relationships are gendered. Methods: The sample comprises 181 high school students ages 13–21 years in Harrisonburg, Virginia. This study analyzed associations between 12 SLEs and eight psychosocial outcomes using ordinary least-squares and logistic regressions. Relationships were estimated for the full sample and for males and females, separately. Results: For boys, having ever been forced to leave one’s family was associated with declines in resilience (B = − 4.646; 95% CI (− 8.79, − 0.50)) and increases in externalizing symptoms (B = 0.392; 95% CI (0.15, 0.63)). Furthermore, boys who experienced a drastic change in their family reported lower levels of school belonging (B = − 9.272; 95% CI (− 17.45, − 1.09)). For girls, having ever been forced to leave one’s family was associated with decreases in depressive (B = − 0.961; 95% CI (− 1.88, − 0.05)) and anxiety symptomology (B = − 0.868; 95% CI (− 1.68, − 0.06)). Overall, students who experienced a life-threatening emergency exhibited greater depressive (B = 0.445; 95% CI (0.15, 0.74)) and anxiety symptoms (B = 0.287; 95% CI (0.05, 0.52)), and depressive symptomology was also associated with having ever been physically hurt by someone (B = 0.224; 95% CI (0.01, 0.44)). Conclusions: Findings provide insights into how exposures might engender different mental health processes and outcomes, and how these processes may manifest differently across gender.