Sources of Stress - Life Changes

Holmes and Rahe studied whether life changes were linked to illness

• Both positive and negative life events involve change, which leads to stress
• The studied 5000 hospital patient records and noted any major life events that had occurred before the person became ill
• It was found patients were likely to have experienced life changes prior to illness and that more serious life changes seemed to be more linked to stress and illness. 

Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)

• Made a list of 43 common life events and asked people to give each one a score of stress, They called the numbers Life Change Units (LCU'S). The higher the LCU the more…