Emotional Reactivity and Psychological Distress

Abstract

A primary purpose of this article was to test part of Bowen’s intergenerational family systems theory. A secondary purpose was to provide further evidence for the construct validity of a newly developed instrument that assesses differentiation of self. Using Bowen’s family system theory, a model was developed that hypothesized both direct and indirect relationships between emotional reactivity toward parents, one aspect of Bowen’s differentiation-of-self construct, and psychological distress. The college-age respondents’ perceptions of their emotional reactivity toward their mothers but not toward their fathers was related to both stress and psychological distress. Stressful life events were also related to psychological distress; thus, there was an indirect relationship between emotional reactivity toward mother and psychological distress through stressful life events. These results are discussed in light of the results of previous workin this area.