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.
|
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.
|
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
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