Life Changes Flashcards
What is the definition of life changes?
Significant and relatively infrequent events in people’s lives that cause stress.
They are stressful because we have to expend psychological energy coping with changed circumstances.
Who developed the Social Readjustment Rating Scale?
Holmes and Rahe
What are the units used to measure stress on the Social Readjustment Rating Scale?
Life change units
What does it mean if life change units are higher?
There is more adjustment that the life change needs, making it more stressful.
What did Rahe suggest about people who scored under 150 LCUs in a year?
They were more likely to experience reasonable health in the following year.
What did Rahe suggest about people who scored between 150 and 300 LCUs in a year?
About 50% experienced illness the next year.
What did Rahe suggest about people who scored over 300 LCUs in a year?
Almost 80% reported illnesses within the next year
What was Rahe’s procedure in studying US navy personnel?
•Studied US navy personnel assigned to three ships.
•Participants completed Schedule of Recent Experiences (different version of SRRS) which covered 6 months before their departure
•Every illness once on board had to be reported to medical team.
•Independent researcher reviewed all medical records and calculated illness score for each participant.
•Participants and medical staff were not aware of purpose of study or what data was being used for.
What correlation did Rahe find in his US navy study?
Significant positive correlation (of .118) between LCU scores before departure and illness scores on board the ship.
