Daily stressor, daily resilience, and daily somatization: The role of trait aggression

Abstract The current study adopted a daily diary design to examine the impact of exposure to daily stressors, daily resilience, and trait aggression on somatic symptoms, and the moderation of aggression on the associations of exposure to daily stressors and resilience on somatic symptoms. College students completed baseline and seven-day daily assessments. The results indicated that a greater exposure to daily stressors and high levels of trait aggression predicted more daily somatic symptoms. Trait aggression moderated the influence of daily resilience on somatic symptoms, in which higher levels of resilience was associated with fewer somatic symptoms only for those with high levels of aggression but not for those with medium or low levels of aggression. The findings suggest the importance of considering daily stressor and trait aggression in screening for clinic visits for somatic symptoms. The findings also underscore the importance of aggression being a marker in prevention programs and enhancing resilience, particularly for aggressive individuals in preventing somatic symptoms.