Undesirable stressful life events, impact, and correlates during midlife: observations from the Seattle midlife women's health study.

Most commonly reported undesirable life events were not those women described as having the greatest impact. Impact of life event stress reflected women's social roles and connections as seen in the categories with the highest impact scores: Family/Close Friends, Personal/Social, and Work. Menopausal transition stages were related only to undesirable health events.