Examining the relationship between cumulative stressful life events and mental health outcomes: A longitudinal study of Australian women's mental health trajectories following repeated exposure to stressful life events

We aim to To investigate the nature of changes in mental health following repeated exposure to stressful life events (SLEs) in a sample of Australian women providing data over six waves (21 years) of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH). This study aims to plot the mental health trajectories of multiple groups of women, with groups defined by the number of experienced stressful life events (SLEs) in even increments. We will examine whether each increment in the number of experienced SLEs results in a disproportionately larger decrease in mental health (as indicated by a steeper downward slope). Effectively, we will explore whether the effects of additional experienced SLEs on mental health are non-additive.