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The vulnerability-stress model of psychotic disorders describes, in essence, an interaction between personal vulnerability and environmental stressors. The present study investigated this interaction and studied emotional reactivity to daily life stress as a vulnerability marker for psychotic illness.

Patients with psychotic illness (n = 42), their first-degree relatives (n = 47), and control subjects (n = 49) were studied with the Experience Sampling Method (a structured diary technique assessing thoughts, current context, and mood in daily life) to assess (1) appraised subjective stress of daily events and smaller disturbances in daily life and (2) emotional reactivity conceptualized as changes in both negative affect and positive affect.

Multilevel regression analyses showed that an increase in subjective stress was associated with an increase in negative affect and a decrease in positive affect in all …