Few health studies of psychological stress have examined individual socio-environmental stressors in the field at a daily path scale. An individual's conception of a stressful experience is inextricably linked to the process of cognitive appraisals, which are the meanings assigned to social situations and environments. Directly assessing individual stress exposures in the field as they are experienced requires mobile measures that are people-based, rather than using place- or activity-based proxies. The integration of time geography and psychology's theory of daily hassles/uplifts allow for the measurement of stressors from a geographic perspective. This study advances research on socio-environmental health exposures by (1) focusing on measuring a cognitive health exposure; (2) using mobile methods to acquire quantitative and qualitative field data; and (3) geo-referencing physiological responses to examine daily path patterns and commonalities in stress exposure. In this study, spatiotemporal paths linked with physiological measurement are combined with individual narratives on stress, place, and social situations to examine socio-environmental factors that influence stress exposures. Mobile measurement tools include wristwatch Global Positioning System (GPS) units with synched heart rate monitors and digital audio recorders. Stress as operationalized in this study is a negative cognitive appraisal and related physiological reaction to internal dialogues and the surrounding socio-environment assessed through heart rate reactivity (HRR) and individual accounts. Measuring geographically referenced physiological responses and personal accounts is a novel field approach that captures the acute stressful episodes that are a part of daily life. Results show that there is a difference between measuring stress through a static metric like the Student-Life Stress Inventory (SSI) and assessing stress with mobile self-report and monitored measures. The negative correlation between HRR and SSI total score appears to highlight the divide between fundamentally different measurement methods for stress exposures; active versus passive. Regardless of the relation with previous psychometrics the mobile measures used in this research produced a 75 percent concordance between the participants self-reported stress episodes and monitored heart rate (HR) logs. HRR episodes that build in intensity and then ebb toward the end are more common than those that have an abrupt beginning and ending point. The incorporation of ethnographic audio diaries and the participant survey provided insight about the influence of academic pressures on socio-environmental contexts relating to stress experiences.

Malgré les nombreux bienfaits des jeux vidéo, environ 10% des joueurs présenteraient un profil d’utilisation problématique associé à de graves répercussions sur le fonctionnement – profil néfaste qui toucherait particulièrement les jeunes adultes. Selon les modèles théoriques généraux de stress-coping (Folkman et Lazarus, 1984) et spécifiques à la dépendance aux nouveaux médias (Douglas et al., 2008), l’exposition à des stresseurs serait un des facteurs étiologiques les plus importants de l’utilisation problématique des jeux vidéo (UPJV), dont l’impact serait amplifié par certains états internes, notamment les traits dépressifs. Plusieurs études empiriques sur l’UPJV appuient ces prémisses, mais utilisent des mesures d’exposition aux stresseurs problématiques et excluent généralement les jeunes adultes ne fréquentant pas les institutions d’enseignement. Cette étude visait ainsi à examiner le lien entre l’UPJV et l’exposition à des stresseurs ponctuels et chroniques (évènements de vie et difficultés) telle que captée par des mesures fiables et valides, ainsi que le rôle modérateur des traits dépressifs auprès d’un échantillon constitué majoritairement de jeunes peu scolarisés (N = 386, 52,3% garçons) et suivi de l’adolescence au début de l’âge adulte (devis longitudinal ; environ de 16 à 20 ans). En contrôlant divers facteurs confondants potentiels, un lien direct avec l’UPJV a été observé pour les traits dépressifs, mais pas pour l’exposition aux stresseurs. Parmi un ensemble d’interactions testées à partir des différentes mesures d’exposition aux stresseurs, une seule s’est avérée significative ; la méthode de décomposition de la variance a révélé des patrons inverses à ceux attendus. Les possibles interprétations de ces résultats sont discutées, ainsi que leurs retombées pour la pratique et la recherche. / Despite the many benefits of video games, approximately 10% of gamers have a problematic use profile associated with severe repercussions on functioning - a negative profile that could particularly affect young adults. According to general theoretical models of stress-coping (Folkman et Lazarus, 1988) and specific to addiction to new media (Douglas et al., 2008), exposure to stressors is one of the most important etiological factors of problematic video games use (French acronym: UPJV), and its impact is likely to be amplified by certain internal states, in particular depressive traits. Several empirical studies of the UPJV support this premise but use weak measures of problematic stressors exposure and generally exclude young adults not attending educational institutions. This study thus aimed to examine the link between the UPJV and exposure to occasional and chronic stressors (life events and difficulties) as captured by reliable and valid measurements, as well as the moderating role of depressive traits in a sample made up mainly of young people with low levels of education (N = 386, 52.3% boys) and followed from adolescence to early adulthood (longitudinal design; around 16 to 20 years old). Controlling for various potential confounder factors, a direct association with UPJV was observed for depressive traits, but not for exposure to stressors. Among a set of interactions tested using different measures of exposure to stressors, only one was found to be significant; the variance decomposition method revealed reverse patterns to those expected. The possible interpretations of these results are discussed, as well as their implications for practice and research.