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Sources of Stress. www.psychlotron.org.uk. Life change Research into the impact of critical life events Key study: Rahe et al (1970) The workplace Research into a variety of stressors including overload and lack of control Key study: Marmot et al (1997).
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Sources of Stress www.psychlotron.org.uk • Life change • Research into the impact of critical life events • Key study: Rahe et al (1970) • The workplace • Research into a variety of stressors including overload and lack of control • Key study: Marmot et al (1997)
Significant change in life circumstances Need to adjust to new life circumstances Stress Illness Expect these two variables to correlate Life Change & Stress www.psychlotron.org.uk
Measuring Life Change www.psychlotron.org.uk • Holmes & Rahe(1967) • List of life changes rated (judged by a panel) for degree of readjustment required e.g. • Death of spouse – high readjustment - 100 • Holiday – low readjustment - 13 • Adding up scores for changes during a given period (6m) gives the LCU score
Life Change & Stress www.psychlotron.org.uk • Rahe et al (1970) • Study of relationship between life change and general health • LCU scores obtained using SRRS • Health scores generated from doctors’ records • Correlation between SRRS and illness scores was +0.118 • Small, but unlikely to be a chance result
Life Change and Stress www.psychlotron.org.uk • Thomas et al (1997) • Increased LCU scores predicted increased mortality risk in heart patients • Rosengren et al (1993) • Higher LCU scores associated with higher mortality in elderly PPs
Life Change and Stress www.psychlotron.org.uk • Individual differences • Impact of CLEs likely to be mediated by e.g. personality, coping style • Some events (e.g. divorce) may be perceived differently by different people • Correlational & retrospective data • Do pps have an accurate recall of events/illnesses? • Does being ill make certain CLEs more likely?