Daily hassles and chronic stressors: conceptual and measurement issues

Researchers have studied similar stressful events under different construct labels. This study examined three explanations for the overlap: definitional confusion, measurement problems associated with using normative measures to assess stressful events and poor measure development. Two types of stressors, hassles and chronic stressors, were used to examine the overlap issue. A literature review indicated that overlapping definitions of hassles and chronic stressors have been widely used by researchers. Items from traditional work and non-work hassles and chronic stressor measures were categorized by 323 hospital employees as either hassles or chronic stressors. Results revealed that items from traditional hassles measures were not consistently categorized by participants as hassles but were categorized by some as chronic stressors. A similar inconsistent categorization was found for chronic stressors. Results suggest that traditional normative measures of hassles and chronic stressors may be inadequate. Implications of these results for acute stressor measurement are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.