Life Changes^ Flashcards
Life Changes
major and infrequent events
stressful as have to adjust to changed circumstances
can be pos and neg
- stressors due to the amount of psychological adjustment needed to adapt
effect are cumulative (effects add up) and increase stress
Life Changes & Illness: Holmes & Rahe
Social Readjustment Rating Scale
measure LC’s impact on SRD
by calculating the amount of ‘LC units’
43 life changes were used and P rate on readjustment needed 1 -1000
LCUs calculated by taking mean average then divide by 10
Holmes & Rahe
retrospective data
P had to tick off all their experiences over a year
LCUs totalled for score to be correlated with illness
<150 = reasonable health
50% with 150-300 = illness after year
80% with 300+ = illness within next year
Rahe et al
SRRS in prospective study
measure LC then see who becomes ill
3 Navy Ships did Schedule of Recent Experiences Scale 6 months before tour (LCU calculated)
on tour all illnesses reported, after were reviewed and illness score calculated
pos correlation between LCU and illness score
most stressful LC = most illness
LC good predictor
Retrospective Data (-)
data only reliable as our memory
memory is distorted
Correlation (-)
can’t determine causes
stress can cause illness or illness causing stress
Prospective Study
don’t look at immediate effects of IV on DV
look at future impacts on DV
- can be over the next years
Research Support
Lietzen et al
use data from Health & Social Support study in Finland
followed 16,000+ adults without asthma at start
controlled other variables (smoking, shedding pets)
high levels of LC reliably predicted the onset of asthma
VS Research Support
study had few life changes
48% of P experienced one or no LC in 5 year period
suggests that some other stressful event could be responsible for the onset of asthma
Lazarus et al
daily hassles are more imp source of stress and its implications of health
Positive & Negative Changes
SRRS assumes that all change causes stress
Turner & Wheaton
- P rate desirability of SRRS items
- neg. items caused most stress (anger/frustration associated)
Lack of validity, claims we react to stress in same way
don’t consider diff between pos and neg changes
Individual Differences
LC don’t affect all in same way
Byrne & Whyte
- tried to predict a HA based on SRRS scores
- only accurate if they took the subjective interpretation to LC into account
Lack of validity
- don’t consider how perception can vary
- could instead be the reaction to stress that predicts illness
Limitations
Perceived VS the value given
- perception of stress differs
not applicable to all ages
not inclusive of life events from before a year ago
Strengths
quantitative data
- easy to analyse/ compare
