Using the conceptual framework Of the 'stress process', the proposed study combines and expands upon Current research on mental health Outcomes of social stress, as well as studies that focus specifically on the impact of violence. Primary objectives are to: 1) develop and pilot a more comprehensive and detailed instrument of childhood trauma and adversities that better accounts for variations in the characteristics of events and conditions that affect their impact, and more accurately discriminates between """"""""traumatic"""""""" and """"""""non-traumatic"""""""" events; 2) describe the epidemiology of stress exposure among young adults; 3) examine the individual and cumulative effects of childhood and adolescent exposure to stress on the mental health of young adults, independent of, and in combination with, recent life events and strains. Childhood stressors examined will include a comprehensive list of violence-related and other traumas, corporal punishment by parents, and chronic strains or adversities experienced prior to age 18. Variations in recent and ongoing stress burden will also be assessed. Mental health outcomes will include generalized psychological distress, major depressive disorder, and alcohol abuse/dependency; 4) determine the extent to which certain childhood traumas and strains occur or cluster together and how specific traumas may interact to affect mental health outcomes in young adulthood; 5) assess the impact of child/adolescent stress experiences on subsequent life events and chronic strains; and 6) determine the effects of child/adolescent stress on factors associated with vulnerability to stress as young adults, including examining the effects of early adversity on mastery and social support. The sample for this pilot study will be a random sample of 750 college students age 18-25 from three different New England colleges, including an inner city community college having mostly low income African American and Hispanic students, an urban working class college with an ethnically diverse population; and a state university comprised of primarily middle-class students from relatively rural areas. Interviews will last approximately 1 hour and consist of structured and unstructured questions, including components of the Composite International Diagnostic interview (CIDI). Analyses will involve various descriptive comparisons, traditional OLS and logistic regression techniques, and survival analyses.
