In my 20s and 30s I remember losing my temper much more often. I would get very aggravated playing golf. Basketball referees could incite my flames in seconds.

Now in my 50s, I rarely get upset. More often I'll laugh at a bad golf shot. I seem (to myself) much more even keeled. It turns out that I'm probably not unusual - Relax! Aging Puts Stress in Perspective

In their study, Almeida and his colleagues examined data from a large government survey of over 1,000 American adults known as the National Study of Midlife in the United States. As part of the study, researchers telephoned participants every evening for 8 consecutive evenings, quizzing them on the amount and type of stressors they had faced that day.

"And we found that, in sheer number of stressors that people reported, there was no difference between younger adults and midlife adults," Almeida said. But while these daily hassles tended to really upset those aged 25 to 39, "boomer" types aged 40 to 59 were more likely to shrug them off.

"For example, being stuck in traffic. The younger people in our sample would report that as more disruptive, more upsetting, than older people," Almeida said. The key was "people's own perceptions, how they view their stressors," he said.

But the nature of what stresses us out as we age appears to change as well. In our 20s and 30s, "it was likely to be over some interpersonal tension or disagreement they have with somebody," such as a lover, coworker or friend, Almeida said.

"Whereas midlife adults, their stressors were more related to being overloaded or having too many demands made on them." This makes sense, he said, because midlife is typically our most productive period, with many of us forced to juggle the demands of career, spouse, children and aging parents.

I find this story very interesting, especially since I spend so much time with students, interns and residents. Many have short fuses, and we try to help them learn how to deal with their stressors productively. Maybe I just have an age advantage.