Stress Generation Across Hours, Days, and One Month

Stressful events can trigger mental health problems. Mental health problems, in turn, predict the occurrence of stressful events—a phenomenon called stress generation, which can initiate detrimental cycles between stress and mental health. However, existing research has focused on long-term stress generation. Here, we aimed to advance the understanding of how stress generation unfolds across different timescales by combing experience sampling, daily diary, and 1-month longitudinal data (N = 403). We found that between-person differences in depression, rumination, reassurance seeking, and neuroticism were linked to the occurrence of daily hassles over hours and days and major life stressors over a month. Furthermore, momentary neuroticism and rumination prospectively predicted the occurrence of daily hassles over several hours. Finally, some indicators of hourly and daily stress generation prospectively predicted the occurrence of major life stressors. These findings provide the starting point for a thorough understanding of how stress generation unfolds over time.