Life Events Flashcards
What are life events
Significant experiences/occasions in peoples lives that cause stress
What is the social readjustment rating scale (SRRS)
A list of 43 life events
Each one given a number of life changing units
The number will reflect the amount of adjustment needed to adapt to the life event
What was Rahé et al aims
To see if scores on the life events questionnaire predicted the onset of illness
What was Rahés procedure
He had studied 2664 US Navy personnel’s
Then asked them to identify every life event they experienced sixth months prior
A LCU was calculated for each participant
What did Rahé find
There was a positive correlation between LCU scores and illness scores
Participants who had the most stressful life events sixth months prior where the most frequently ill ones
What did Rahé conclude
Life events are a robust predictor of later stress related illness
What is a strength of Rahé’s study
Large number of participants meaning it can be a representative of the population
What is a weakness of Rahé’s study
Subjective as it is a self report method
