Stress - Self-report measures Flashcards
What does SRRS stand for?
Social Readjustment Rating Scale
Who developed the SRRS?
Holmes and Rahe
How was the SRRS developed?
- Medical records of hospital patients were studied, looking for instances of major life events that they had experienced before becoming ill.
- 43 of these events were put into a list, and this list was given to hundreds of participants. The participants rated how much readjustment they thought would be needed for each event. The mean scores were calculated for each event.
- This created a life change unit (LCU) score for each event. For example, death of a spouse was given the highest score of 100, followed by divorce (73).
- The list included positive and negative events, as the amount of readjustment was what was seen as important in determining the stress it caused.
How is an LCU score calculated?
An LCU score is calculated by asking participants to indicate how many events they experienced over a few months, then adding up the scores from those events.
What does the hassles and uplifts scale measure?
The effects of daily hassles on stress and illness.
How does the hassles and uplifts scale work?
The hassles and uplifts scale (HSUP) was devised by Delongis et al. (1982) to measure people’s attitudes towards daily situations. The HSUP provides a way of evaluating both the positive and negative events that occur in a person’s daily life, rather than the more serious life events.
Outline what the skin conductance response measures and how it works
- It utilises one element of the fight or flight response, that of increased perspiration.
- The participant has electrodes attached to their fingers, and a tiny electric current is applied to the electrodes.
- As the person sweats more, more electricity is conducted, suggesting the person is becoming increasingly stressed.
- ‘Tonic conductance’ is the baseline skin conductance level, against which ‘phasic conductance’ is measured- this occurs in response to a stimulus.
- The response is known as the skin conductance response. It typically lasts for just a few seconds- there is an initial spike in conductance, followed by a gradual decay. This can be used alongside other physiological measures such as heart rate and blood pressure to make up a lie detector test (polygraph).
Evaluate self-report measures in researching stress - interpretation
Self-report measures mean that the categories are open to interpretation by participants. For example, ‘illness’ could mean anything to a mild cold to a broken leg or cancer. This brings into question the validity of self-report measures to measure stress.
Evaluate using the skin conductance response to measure stress - individual differences
Skin conductance responses vary significantly from person to person. This remains a problem even if a baseline measure is taken, as some individuals’ SCRs vary without exposure to any stimulus. This means it is hard to use SCR as a valid and reliable measure of stress for everyone.
Evaluate using the SRRS and hassles and uplifts scale to measure stress-related illness - overlap
Using the SRRS and the Hassles and Uplifts Scale to measure stress-related illness is problematic as the things being measured may overlap.
For example, experiencing a stress-related illness is in itself a life event.
Therefore, there are serious methodological problems in using such scales to try to measure the effect of stress.
Limitation of hassles and uplifts scale
Does scale cover all possible hassles and uplifts?
