An analytical model is derived to describe the stress mechanism in a thin film against the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) based on the thermal transfer equation. Different structures of high-reflection films at 355 nm are prepared to validate this model. LIDTs are found to have a linear relationship with stress. Furthermore, predictions from the simple model agree with the experiments. An analytical model is derived to describe the stress mechanism in a thin film against the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) based on the thermal transfer equation. Different structures of high-reflection films at 355 nm are prepared to validate this model. LIDTs are found to have a linear relationship with stress. furthermore, predictions from the simple model agree with the experiments.