Life Changes Flashcards
(7 cards)
What are life changes
Big events that take place in our lives - stressful because you have to make significant psychological adjustment to adapt
. Effects of life changes are cumulative - add together to create more stress
Life changes and illness
Research attempted to establish which physical and psychological illnesses are especially likely to be preceeded by stressful life changes
Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SSRS)
. Measures stress by assigning number of life change units (LCU’s) to each item on the list
. Higher the value = more adjustment the life change needs, making it more stressful
Creating life change units
. To devise SSRS studied medical records of hospital patients, identifying the events in their lives before they were ill
. Holmes and Rathe knew they would need to attach value to each life change to reflect degree of adjustment needed - calculated mean for each item and divided by 10
Research of life changes and illness
(can also be eval)
. Rahe et al used SSRS in prospective study - aimed to measure life changes to then see who became ill
. Studied US navy - completed SSRS for 6 months before deployment
. Total LCU score given to each participant
. Independent researcher reviewed all medical records and calculated illness score for each participant
. Found significant positive correlation between LCU score for 6 months before and illnesses on board
Eval - Individual Differences (W)
. Same life changes don’t affect everyone in the same way
. Byrne and Whyte tried to predict who would experience heart attacks on basis of life change scores
. Researchers found only worked when they took subjective interpretations into account
. Reduces validity of classic life changes approach as an explanation for stress
Eval - Life changes vs daily hassles (W)
. Lazarus argue daily hassles are important sources, especially effects on our health
. Because accumulative force of many minor everyday stressors greater than rare major event
