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Stressors in Our Everyday Lives

16 February, 2016 - 09:24

The stressors for Seyle’s rats included electric shock and exposure to cold. Although these are probably not on your top-10 list of most common stressors, the stress that you experience in your everyday life can also be taxing. Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe (1967) 1developed a measure of some everyday life events that might lead to stress, and you can assess your own likely stress level by completing the measure in Table 10.2 "The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale". You might want to pay particular attention to this score, because it can predict the likelihood that you will get sick. Rahe a nd colleagues (1970) 2 asked 2,500 members of the military to complete the rating scale and then assessed the health records of the soldiers over the following 6 months. The results were clear: The higher the scale score, the more likely the soldier was to end up in the hospital.

Table 10.2 The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale

Lifeevent

Score

Death of spouse

100

Divorce

73

Marital separation from mate

65

Detention in jail, other institution

63

Death of a close family member

63

Major personal injury or illness

53

Marriage

50

Fired from work

47

Marital reconciliation

45

Retirement

45

Major change in the health or behavior of a family member

44

Pregnancy

40

Sexual difficulties

39

Gaining a new family member (e.g., through birth, adoption, oldster moving, etc.)

39

Major business readjustment (e.g., merger, reorganization, bankruptcy)

39

Major change in financial status

38

Death of close friend

37

Change to different line of work

36

Major change in the number of arguments with spouse

35

Taking out a mortgage or loan for a m ajor purchase

31

Foreclosure on a mortgage or loan

30

Major change in responsibilities at work

29

Son or daughter leaving home (e.g., marriage, attending college)

29

Trouble with in-laws

29

Outstanding personal achievement

28

Spouse beginning or ceasing to work outside the home

26

Beginning or ceasing formal schooling

26

Major change in living conditions

25

Revision of personal habits (dress, manners, associations, etc.)

24

Trouble with boss

23

Major change in working hours or conditions

20

Change in residence

20

Change to a new school

20

Major change in usual type and/or amount of recreation

19

Major change in church activities (a lot more or less than usual)

19

Major change in social activities (clubs, dancing, movies, visiting)

18

Taking out a mortgage or loan for a lesser purchase (e.g., for a car, television , freezer, etc.)

17

Major change in sleeping habits

16

Major change in the number of family get-togethers

15

Major change in eating habits

15

Vacation

13

Christmas season

12

Minor violations of the law (e.g., traffic tickets, etc.)

11

Total

 
 

You can calculate your score on this scale by adding the total points across each of the events that you have experienced over the past year. Then use Table 10.3 "Interpretation of Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale" to determine your likelihood of getting ill.

Table 10.3 Interpretation of Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale

Numberof life-changeunits

Chanceof developinga stress-relatedillness(%)

Less than 150

30

150–299

50

More than 300

80

 

Although some of the items on the Holmes and Rahe scale are more major, you can see that even minor stressors add to the total score. Oureverydayinteractions with the environment that are essentiallynegative, known asdaily hassles, can also create stress as well as poorer health outcomes (Hutchinson & Williams, 2007). 3 Events that may seem rather trivial altogether, such as misplacing our keys, having to reboot our computer because it has frozen, being late f or an assignment, or getting cut off by another car in rush-hour traffic, can produce stress (Fiksenbaum, Greenglass, & Eaton, 2006). 4 Glaser (1985) 5 found that medical students who were tested during, rather than several weeks before, their school examination periods showed lower immune system functioning. Other research has found that even more minor stressors, such as having to do math problems during an experimental session, can compromise the immune system (Cacioppo et al., 1998). 6