SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters Health) - What distinguishes a good day from a bad one varies across age groups, according to research presented Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.

``People's daily hassles differ according to their development stage,'' lead author Lesa Ellis, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of Oregon in Eugene, told Reuters Health.

Traditionally, researchers have focused on major life events such as divorce and death as causing stress and depression, rather than looking at the daily stress of living, explained study co-author Dr. Patricia E. Gay, a professor of psychology at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah.

``People emphasize the major life events,'' she noted, ``but daily stressors are an important factor as well.''

The researchers surveyed 270 Salt Lake City residents raging in age from 3 to 75 years, asking them to check off a list of daily hassles and pleasures that they associated with having ``good'' days and ``bad'' days. They also asked them to rank the frequency with which these hassles and pleasures occurred and the impact they had on them. The study was funded by the Gore Foundation.

The investigators found that factors ranked as important in triggering pleasure and stress changed over a person's lifetime.

For example, for children aged 3 to 5, the most important daily pleasure was playing with friends. For children aged 6 to 10, it was doing well at school--but for older children aged 11 to 15, it was having a day off from school.

For those aged 16 to 22, the greatest source of daily pleasure was having enough money, while for adults it was spending time with family. For people older than 61, it was getting good news, visits or phone calls from loved ones.

As for the biggest source of daily hassles, for young children it was getting teased, while for children 6 to 10 it was getting bad grades. For older children it was the pressure to use drugs, while for 16- to 22-year-olds, it was trouble at work or school. For adults, the greatest source of stress was fighting among family members, while for the elderly it was inadequate funds.

For the teens and young adults, although trouble with parents was frequently cited as a daily stress, other factors had a larger impact, such as the pressure to use drugs and interaction with peers, indicating that the peer group had more negative impact than family at this time period.

However, friends also played a larger role in pleasure for adolescents as well. ``Friends and peers had so much more impact on daily pleasure than in the adults,'' Ellis said. ``For adults, it was family, career and money.''

For the elderly, Ellis noted, it was surprising how many things that didn't affect adults and children affected them strongly, such as bad weather, healthcare appointments and even going shopping.

``When assessing people for depression,'' Ellis said, ``it's important to note that what is a daily hassle for one group is not for another.''

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