Stress - Sources of Stress Flashcards
Who created the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)?
Holmes & Rahe (1967).
What is the SRRS?
Looks at stress caused by major life events, based on research which found some events associated with onset of illness.
Name the top three sources of stress according to the SRRS.
Death of Spouse, Divorce, Marital Separation.
What are problems with the SRRS?
- Vague or ambiguous items.
- Ignores individual differences.
- Data gathered retrospectively.
- Scale out of date.
What three studies evaluate SRRS?
Martin (1989), Rahe et al (1970) and Gardener and Oswald (2005).
What happened in Marin (1989)?
People who experience events that score 300+ at greater risk of heart attack, TB, asthma, depression.
What happened in Rahe et al (1970)?
- 2500 male US naval personnel. Over 6 months.
- Given SRRS. Health record also kept. Correlational analysis carried out to test association between stress scores and illness.
- Correlation of +0.118 found. Suggest stress and illness associated.
Evaluate Rahe et al (1970).
- Small correlation – not the only factor.
- Significant correlation – not due to chance.
- Can’t establish CAUSE and EFFECT.
- US Navel personal – more prone to stress.
- Illness is subjective, more susceptible to catching disease.
What happened in Gardner and Oswald (2005)?
British Lottery winners and non-lottery winners for 2 years. Found winners suffered more stress in first year than control group.
What are daily hassles?
Incidents we’d not count as major events, everyday hassles of life can be sources of stress.
Who developed the Hassles Scale?
Kanner et al (1981).
What is the Hassles Scale?
117 events listed from minor annoyances to major difficulties. 100 middle aged asked to indicate which hassles they’d experienced over 9 month period.
What were the top 5 daily hassles?
- Concerns about weight.
- Health of family member.
- Rising prices.
- Home maintenance.
- Too many things to do.
What is a daily uplift?
Positive everyday experiences.
What are the top 5 daily uplifts?
- Relating well to spouse.
- Completing a task.
- Feeling healthy.
- Getting enough sleep.
- Eating out.
What three studies are associated with Daily Hassles?
Waldrop et al (2007), Courtois et al (2007) and Newman et al (2007).
What happened in Waldrop et al (2007)?
Found female cocaine users who were sensitive to daily hassles were likely to relapse in negative situation.
What happened in Courtois et al (2007)?
Influence of life events and daily hassles on adolescent drinking/smoking. There was a relationship to both, the link to daily hassles was stronger. Stressed adolescents started using alcohol and tobacco earlier and became more dependent on them.
What happened in Newman et al (2007)?
Positive relationship between number of hassles experienced by woman and number of unhealthy snacks they ate, suggesting DH have indirect effect on health.
What is a problem with research into daily hassles?
- Correlational – doesn’t establish cause and effect.
- Individual differences could affect the data – an uplift to some maybe a hassle to another.
- Generated from middle aged adults – not generalizable to the general public.
Explain workload in relation to stress.
Key element is the impact long hours has on family life. People can feel overloaded if they have too much to do, or not enough time to do it.
What happened in Sparks et al (1997)?
Meta-analysis, found relationship between length of working day and health.
How can work underload be a problem?
May experience stress if they’re not given enough to do, or their skills are not being fully used. Could be due to unemployment.
What happened in Hammarstrom and Janlert (1997)?
Followed 1060 school leavers over 5 years, found unemployment linked to greater signs of stress, including anxiety and depression.
Explain lack of control in relation to stress.
Some have almost total control over work, while others have practically no control at all. Research suggests lack of control may lead to stress.
What happened in Marmot et al (1997)?
Longitudinal study of 10,308 civil servants 35-55 (67% male) over 3 years. Job control measured though self-report survey and assessments of work environment. Job control assessed twice, 3 years apart. Records kept of stress related illness. P’s with low job control 4x more likely to die of heart attack than those with high control. Also more likely to suffer from stress-related disorders.
What are problems with Marmot et al (1997)?
- Other variables could affect health – genes, smoking, lack of exercise, poor diet.
- Self-report questionnaire – not understanding questions giving answer they think is right.
- Unfair gender bias – 67% male, 35-55 – not entire workforce represented.
What happened in Johansson et al (1978)?
14 ‘finishers’ had LOW CONTROL and HIGH WORKLOAD. Compared to group of cleaners who had HIGH CONTROL and LOWER WORKLOAD. Levels of stress hormone were measured in urine. Record kept of stress-related illness. Found that finishers had higher levels of stress hormones and higher levels of stress related illness than cleaners.
What are problems with Johansson et al (1978)?
- Small sample sizes
- Extraneous variables e.g. Genes
- Sweden – culturally biased
- Temporal validity (1978).
