Stress - Sources of Stress

Question 1

Who created the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)?

Answer 1

Holmes & Rahe (1967).

Question 2

What is the SRRS?

Answer 2

Looks at stress caused by major life events, based on research which found some events associated with onset of illness.

Question 3

Name the top three sources of stress according to the SRRS.

Answer 3

Death of Spouse, Divorce, Marital Separation.

Question 4

What are problems with the SRRS?

Answer 4

• Vague or ambiguous items.
• Ignores individual differences.
• Data gathered retrospectively.
• Scale out of date.

Question 5

What three studies evaluate SRRS?

Answer 5

Martin (1989), Rahe et al (1970) and Gardener and Oswald (2005).

Question 6

What happened in Marin (1989)?

Answer 6

People who experience events that score 300+ at greater risk of heart attack, TB, asthma, depression.

Question 7

What happened in Rahe et al (1970)?

Answer 7

• 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.

Question 8

Evaluate Rahe et al (1970).

Answer 8

• 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.

Question 9

What happened in Gardner and Oswald (2005)?

Answer 9

British Lottery winners and non-lottery winners for 2 years. Found winners suffered more stress in first year than control group.

Question 10

What are daily hassles?

Answer 10

Incidents we’d not count as major events, everyday hassles of life can be sources of stress.

Question 11

Who developed the Hassles Scale?

Answer 11

Kanner et al (1981).

Question 12

What is the Hassles Scale?

Answer 12

117 events listed from minor annoyances to major difficulties. 100 middle aged asked to indicate which hassles they’d experienced over 9 month period.

Question 13

What were the top 5 daily hassles?

Answer 13

• Concerns about weight.
• Health of family member.
• Rising prices.
• Home maintenance.
• Too many things to do.

Question 14

What is a daily uplift?

Answer 14

Positive everyday experiences.

Question 15

What are the top 5 daily uplifts?

Answer 15

• Relating well to spouse.
• Completing a task.
• Feeling healthy.
• Getting enough sleep.
• Eating out.

Question 16

What three studies are associated with Daily Hassles?

Answer 16

Waldrop et al (2007), Courtois et al (2007) and Newman et al (2007).

Question 17

What happened in Waldrop et al (2007)?

Answer 17

Found female cocaine users who were sensitive to daily hassles were likely to relapse in negative situation.

Question 18

What happened in Courtois et al (2007)?

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

What happened in Newman et al (2007)?

Answer 19

Positive relationship between number of hassles experienced by woman and number of unhealthy snacks they ate, suggesting DH have indirect effect on health.

Question 20

What is a problem with research into daily hassles?

Answer 20

• 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.

Question 21

Explain workload in relation to stress.

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

What happened in Sparks et al (1997)?

Answer 22

Meta-analysis, found relationship between length of working day and health.

Question 23

How can work underload be a problem?

Answer 23

May experience stress if they’re not given enough to do, or their skills are not being fully used. Could be due to unemployment.

Question 24

What happened in Hammarstrom and Janlert (1997)?

Answer 24

Followed 1060 school leavers over 5 years, found unemployment linked to greater signs of stress, including anxiety and depression.

Question 25

Explain lack of control in relation to stress.

Answer 25

Some have almost total control over work, while others have practically no control at all. Research suggests lack of control may lead to stress.

Question 26

What happened in Marmot et al (1997)?

Answer 26

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.

Question 27

What are problems with Marmot et al (1997)?

Answer 27

• 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.

Question 28

What happened in Johansson et al (1978)?

Answer 28

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.

Question 29

What are problems with Johansson et al (1978)?

Answer 29

• Small sample sizes
• Extraneous variables e.g. Genes
• Sweden – culturally biased
• Temporal validity (1978).