social - life events

• What are life events?

  major happenings that can occur in a person's life that require some degree of psychological readjustment e.g. divorce.

  
  

  not everyday events and can be major stressors.
• How do life events link with illness?

  researchers developed ways to measure life changes, social readjustment rating scale (SRRS).

  
  

  SRRS; measures stress by assigning a certain number of life change units to each item on a list.

  
  

  the higher life change unit, the more adjustment the life change needs - more stressful.

  
  

  divorce has 37 life change units. (LCU)
• What was Rahes et al research?


  Procedure -

  - studied US navy personnel assigned to three aircraft carriers

  - ppts completed the forerunner to the SRRS called the Schedule of Recent Experiences, 6 months

  - A total of LCU was recorded and reported to medical professionals on board.

  
  

  Findings -

  - researchers found positive correlation between LCU scores for the 6 months before departure and scores for illness on board.

  - those who experienced most stressful life changes, had the most illnesses in the 6 months on board.
• Evaluation - issues of causation


  this approach states that life changes directly cause illness/stress.

  
  

  However...

  
  

  there are different correltions between stress and life changes
• Evaluation - individual differences


  limitation -

  - life changes affect everyone differently, e.g. moving schools can be good for some bad for others.

  - lacks validity, Bryne and Whyte tried to predict who would experience heart attacks of SRRS scores, this could only be done is life changes were taken into account.
• Evaluation - positive and negative changes


  limitation -

  - SRRS involves different life changes, that can be pos and neg, because SRRS assumes all changes are stressful.