b6 - major life events that affect development

Question 1

what are predictable life events?

Answer 1

events that are expected to happen to an individual at a particular time

Question 2

predictable event - starting school or nursery

Answer 2

positive learning - learning to make new friends and cope with change

risk of stress - feeling unsafe, withdrawing from others, loss of support from parents

Question 3

predictable event - beginning and changing employment

Answer 3

positive learning - choosing a work role and having an income from employment

risk of stress - feeling pressured by new demands on time and mental energy, difficulty in adapting, loss of past lifestyle

Question 4

predictable event - leaving home or care

Answer 4

positive learning - achieving independence, controlling personal environment

risk of stress - feeling unable to cope in a new situation, feeling pressured by new tasks, loss of family or care support

Question 5

predictable event - leaving prison

Answer 5

positive learning - coping with freedom and choice

risk of stress - loss of routine and structured environment, possible discrimination

Question 6

predictable event - marriage

Answer 6

positive learning - emotional attachments and intimacy

risk of stress - feel threatened by intimacy and sharing possessions, possible loss of independence

Question 7

predictable event - parenthood

Answer 7

positive learning - attachment to infant, learning new parenting skills

risk of stress - disruption of previous lifestyle, loss of free tine, loss of sleep, new demands on time and energy

Question 8

predicable event - retirement

Answer 8

positive learning - controlling own life, disengaging from work

risk of stress - loss of work roles, loss of contact with colleagues, difficulty establishing new lifestyle

Question 9

what are unpredictable life events?

Answer 9

happen unexpectedly, can impact on an individual’s psychical and psychological wellbeing

Question 10

unpredictable event - birth of a sibling

Answer 10

positive learning - learning to make new emotional attachments

risk of stress - jealousy and rivalry, emotional tensions because family role changes, older children may lose attention from parents

Question 11

unpredictable event - redundancy

Answer 11

positive learning - learning to adapt to changes in income and lifestyle

risk of stress - refusal to accept change, anger or depression, failure to cope with loss of income and lifestyle

Question 12

unpredictable event - illness or serious injury

Answer 12

positive learning - learning to cope with physical change

risk of stress - grief at loss of good health, anger or depression, failure to adapt to disability

Question 13

unpredictable event - divorce

Answer 13

positive learning - learning to cope with a new lifestyle

risk of stress - resentment or depression, grief at loss of relationship, failure to adapt to new lifestyle, possible financial hardship

Question 14

unpredictable event - bereavement

Answer 14

positive learning - learning to cope with loss and a new lifestyle

risk of stress - grief at loss of relationship, failure to adapt to unwanted lifestyle

Question 15

effect of life events on health

Answer 15

• major life events can affect growth and development
• some events may result in low income or even a complete loss of income
• other events may affect home life or community and social networks
• even predictable and welcome changes can involve learning new things and coping with a range of losses

Question 16

holmes - rahe social readjustment rating scale

Answer 16

• questionnaire to identify major stressful life events
• identifies 43 different life events each with a different score for stress level, ask participants to scorer how experienced events affected their stress levels
• the higher the score and the importance of each event, the more likely an individual was to become unwell
• however individuals are likely to experience stress in different ways, but holmes and rahe assumed that each stressor would affect people in the same way
• for example, some people may see the end or breakdown of a relationship to be stressful whereas someone else may see it to be a relief

Question 16

stress levels

Answer 16

• stress is an automatic response to dealing with challenging situations or life events
• body gets flushed with hormones that increase heart rate, blood pressure, energy, and prepares you to deal with the problem (fight or flight)
• if prolonged, stress can interfere with day to day life and cause an individual to become unwell
• the effect of stress and how well an individual can cope with stress depends on how threatened and vulnerable they feel, rather than the event itself
• stress can be short term or long term, where it ends up affecting an individual’s health