Life change n n Research into the impact

Life change n n Research into the impact of critical life events Key study: Rahe et al (1970) The workplace n n Research into a variety of stressors including overload and lack of control Key study: Marmot et al (1997) www. psychlotron. org. Sources of Stress

Significant change in life circumstances Need to adjust to new life circumstances Expect these two variables to correlate Stress Illness www. psychlotron. org. Life Change & Stress

Holmes & Rahe(1967) List of life changes rated (judged by a panel) for degree of readjustment required e. g. n n Death of spouse – high readjustment - 100 Holiday – low readjustment - 13 Adding up scores for changes during a given period (6 m) gives the LCU score www. psychlotron. org. Measuring Life Change

Rahe et al (1970) Study of relationship between life change and general health n n 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 www. psychlotron. org. Life Change & Stress

Thomas et al (1997) n Increased LCU scores predicted increased mortality risk in heart patients Rosengren et al (1993) n Higher LCU scores associated with higher mortality in elderly PPs www. psychlotron. org. Life Change and Stress

Individual differences n n 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 n n Do pps have an accurate recall of events/illnesses? Does being ill make certain CLEs more likely? www. psychlotron. org. Life Change and Stress