Perceived Stress And Psychological Well-Being: The Role Of The Emotional Stability

Abstract

Association between stress and psychological well-being are well established in a solid body of research, still the mechanisms of this association stay unrevealed. We hypothesized that emotional stability can affect the association between perceived stress and psychological well-being. In many concepts, emotions are associated with stress and coping, but most of these studies pay attention to the immediate response to stressful event. We approached this question from a perspective of a more stable emotional characteristic - emotional stability. Methods: Scale of perceived stress (Ababkov et.al.), Psychological well-being scale (Ryff), 16 PF personality test (Cattell) - factor C. Sample: 323 adults aged 20-60. First, using regression analysis we confirmed that emotional stability was associated with both perceived stress and psychological well-being. Second, we assessed associations between perceived stress, psychological well-being and emotional stability using structural analysis. Results suggest that perceived stress decreases ones emotional stability that in turn affects psychological well-being. Retest using random subsamples confirmed structural analysis. Our results showed that perceived stress can be associated not only with immediate emotional reactions but with relatively stable personality characteristics such as emotional stability. Our results suggest that associations between perceived stress and psychological well-being can be moderated by emotional stability. Thus high levels of emotional stability can prevent or delay the effect of stress on psychological well-being.