Stress: Life Events (Social Explanation) Flashcards
What points can be made when describing the explanation?
Measuring life events
Research
Who developed the SSRS?
Holmes and Rache
What does SSRS stand for?
Social Readjustment Rating Scale
How was the SSRS developed?
Participants gave scores to events they would find most stressful with 43 scenarios givien a value based on this.
The higher the score, the more stress they experiance
What is said about someone with a score on the SSRS over 150?
They are 30% more likely to suffer from a stress-related illness
What is said about someone with a score on the SSRS over 300?
They are 50% more likely to suffer from a stress-related illness
What is the research for the explanation?
Rache: Gave SSRS to 2684 naval officers before they deployed and kept a record of illnesses for 6-8 months. He found a positive correlation between illnesses and life events of 0.118
What correlation did Rache find between illness and life events in his study?
0.118
What is a life change unit?
The value given to life events in the SSRS
What points can be made when evaluating the explanation?
Supporting evidence
Correlation and causation
Issues in recall
Cultural differences
What is the supporting evidence?
Cohen: 394 participants given a variety of questionaires including the SSRS, then exposed to cold virus and kept in iscolation
Positive correlation, even when other factors and extreme people were controlled for
Increases validity
How can correlation and causation be used to evaluate the explanation?
Nuckolls found complications in pregnancy and life events had no correlation unless they were considered with social support.
How many participants were there in Cohen’s study?
394
How many women in Cohen’s study with high life events but low social support experianced complication in pregnancy?
90%
How many women in Cohen’s study with high life events but high social support experianced complication in pregnancy?
33%
