Rationale is presented for the derivation of a new measure of stressful life events for use with students [Negative Life Events Scale for Students (NLESS)]. Ten stressful life events questionnaires were reviewed, and the more than 600 items mentioned in these scales were culled based on the following criteria: (a) only long-term and unpleasant events were retained, (b) duplicates were eliminated, and (c) items measuring the same event domain were combined to form one item. The NLESS provides the following measures of negative life event stress: (a) normative scoring, (b) subjective scoring, (c) recent versus distal events, and (d) total number of events experienced.