Stress Section 3

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StressSection3 SourcesofStress

Asourceofstressiscommonlyreferredasastressor,whichwasdefinedbySelye(1956)asany

stimulusintheenvironmentthatproducesastressresponse.

Wheaton(1996)

categorises

stressors

into

two

types:

Discrete

(one

off)

and

continuous

(ongoing).

1:LifeChanges

Alifechangeisamajorlifeevent,whichisscoredbyHolmesandRahesSocialReadjustmentRating

Scaleinordertoseetherelationshipbetweenlifechangesandstressrelatedillness.

HolmesandRahe1967(theSRRS)

HolmesandRahedesignedtheSocialReadjustmentRatingScale.Itisusedtomeasurethe

relationshipbetweenlifechangesandwellbeing,andisthemostusedmethodforassessingthe

effectof

life

changes

on

stress.

Holmes

and

Rahe

believed

that

there

was

asignificant

correlation

betweenlifechangesandstressrelatedillness. HolmesandRahedesignedtheSRRSafternoticing

theirpatientsexperiencedaclusteroflifechangingeventsbeforetheiradmissiontohospital.

Thescaleitselfconsistsofalistoflifeevents,bothpositiveandnegative,whichwerescoredbased

ontheamountofreadjustmenttodailylifetheseeventswouldcauseiftheyweretotakeplace.

Theykeyfactorisnotthepositivity/negativity,buttheamountofreadjustmenttheseeventswould

cause.Toranktheevents,eacheventwasallocatedascorebyindependentjudges.Whenappliedto

generalindividuals,thetotalscoreisworkedoutbasedontheaveragescoretheygiveoftheevents

theyhave

experienced

over

the

past

six

months.

Themostlifereadjustingeventwithascoreof100wasmarriage.Theleastlifereadjustingevent

withascoreof11wasminorviolationsofthelaw.

Evaluation:

Y:Identifyingthatmajorlifeeventsaffectstresslevelswasamajorbreakthrough.

X:Thescalewasdevelopedin1967,meaningitlackshistoricalvalidity.Certainlifeeventshave

differentmeaningstodaythantheydidwhenthescalewasoriginallyproduced.Also,certainlife

eventson

the

scale

may

require

greater

adjustment

today,

and

so

this

effects

the

level

of

stress

they

cause.

X: SelfReport:Selfreporttechniquescanobtainunpredictableresults.Raphael1991foundthat

peoplesreportsoftheirlifeeventschangedwhentheywereaskedaboutlifeeventsthattookplace

immediatelycomparedtothosethanoccurredinthepast.

X:Positive/Negative:Thescaledoesnttakeintoaccountwhetherornotalifeeventispositiveor

negative.

X:Relevance:Theissuesinthescaledonotoccurineverydaylife.Also,manyoftheeventsarent

applicableto

other

groups

of

people

i.e.

young

people.


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X:IndividualDifferences:Thescaledoesnttakeintoaccountindividualdifferencesinapersons

abilitytocopewithlifeevents,orfactorsthataffectcopingabilitysuchasgender,cultureand

personality.

X: CauseandEffect:Dolifeeventscausestress?Thescaleratesillnessasoneofthemorelife

readjustingevents,

yet

is

illness

stressful

in

itself?

X:MissingItems:Lazarus1999pointsonthatseveralmajorlifeeventsaremissingfromthescale,

suchasdeathofachildandnaturaldisasters.

X:Circumstances:Ifanumberoflifeeventshappenatthesametime,thenadifferentlevelof

readjustmentwillberequired.Somelifeeventsyouhavecontrolof,whileothersareunplanned.

Rahe1970

Aim:

TofindoutifscoresontheSocialReadjustmentRatingScalecorrelatedwithsubsequent

onsetofillness,andiftheSRRSisausefultoolformeasuringtheeffectoflifechangeon

stressrelatedillness.

Procedure:

TheSocialReadjustmentRatingScalewasgiventoandfilledoutby2,500Americanmale

sailors.

ThetotalscoreontheSocialReadjustmentScalewasrecordedforeachparticipant.

Overthecourseofthesailors6monthtourofduty,detailswererecordedabouttheir

health.

ThesailorsscoresfromtheSocialReadjustmentRatingScalewerecorrelatedwiththe

sailorsillnessscores.

Findings:

Therewasapositivecorrelationof0.118%betweenthesailorslifechangeandillness

scores.

Thoughsmall,thiscorrelationindicatedthattherewasastatisticallysignificantcorrelation

betweenLCUs(lifechangeunits)andillnessscores.

Conclusions:

LCUswerepositivelycorrelatedwithillnessscores,therefore,experiencingmajorlifeevents

increasedthechanceofstressrelatedhealthbreakdown.

Thecorrelationwassmall,solifeeventsmaynotbetheonlyfactorthatcontributetostress

relatedillness.

Evaluation:

X:CorrelationalStudy:Thisstudywasacorrelationalstudy.Therefore,thisstudyonlyshowsalink

betweenlifechangeandillness.


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X:Sample:Thesamplewasethnocentric(basedonAmericansonly)andandrocentric(basedonmen

only).Thenatureofthesamplemeansitishardtogeneralisetheresultsofthisstudytotheentire

population.

X:IndividualDifferences:Thestudydoesnottakeintoaccountindividualdifferencesbetween

participantsability

to

cope

with

stress.

Stoneetal1987

Thisstudygavemarriedcoupleschecklistsofeventstocompletedailyoverathreemonthperiod.It

foundthatthenumberofundesirableeventsincreasedthreetofourdaysbeforetheonsetof

mentalillness,followedbyadecreaseinthenumberofdesirableeventsatthesametime,

suggestingthatundesirableeventsareresponsibleforstressrelatedillness.

MichaelandBenZur(2007)

Thisstudy

examined

130

participants

(approximately

half

of

each

gender)

with

an

average

age

of

49.4years.Halfoftheparticipantshadbeenrecentlydivorcedandhalfrecentlywidowed.Thestudy

foundthatthosewhowerewidowedhadhigherlifesatisfactionbeforetheirloss,whereasthose

whoweredivorcedhadahigherscoreaftertheirseparation.Thistrendwasexplainedbythefact

thatmostofthosewhohaddivorcedweredating/livingwithsomeonenew,whereasthosewho

werewidoweddidnot.

2:DailyHassles

Adailyhassleisadaytodayeventwhichcausesstress.

Kanneretal1981

KannerdesignedtheHasslesandUpliftsScale.Thisscaleconsistsof117dailylifeeventswhich

couldcausestress.Theresearchersalsobelievedthatpositivelifeeventscouldreducetheimpactof

dailyhassles,sotheyalsodesignedaquestionnaireof135dailyitemsthatarelikelytocheerpeople

up.Tocalculateascore,theparticipantisgiventhescale,andhastoratethedailyhasslesthathave

appliedtotheminthepastmonthbasedontheirseverity.Theideaofthiswastomeasurehow

positiveeventscouldaffectapersonslife,andtobalancethesemeasurementswiththeeffectsof

negativehassles.Thescalecanbeadaptedtofitparticulargroupsofpeople.

Accordingto

the

scale,

the

three

most

hassling

life

events

were:

Concernsaboutweight:52.4%

Healthofafamilymember:48.1%

Risingpricesofcommongoods:43.7%

Themostupliftingeventswere:

Thethreemostupliftingeventswere:

Relatingwellwithaspouse/lover:76.3%


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Relatingwellwithfriends:74.4%

Completingatask:73.3%

Thepercentagesshownabovearebasedontheaveragepercentageofparticipantswhoselected

thatparticular

daily

event.

KannerfoundthatscoresontheHasslesandUpliftsscalewerecorrelatedwithhigherlevelsof

depression,anxietyandhealthproblems.

Delongis(1982)

Comparedtheimpactofdailyhasslesandlifeeventsonstressrelatedillness.Delongisfoundthat

hassleshadgreaterimpact.Upliftsdidnothaveanyimpactonstressrelatedillness.

Ruffin(1993)

Foundthatdailyhasslesproducedgreaterpsychologicalandphysicaldysfunctionthanmajor

negativelifeevents.

Bouteyreetal(2007)

CarriedoutaquestionnaireconsistingofKannersscaleandBecksDepressionInventoryon233

Frenchfirstyearuniversitystudents.Theresultsshowedthat41%ofstudentssuffereddepressive

symptomsinthisfirstyearperiod,andthatdailyhassleswereasignificantriskfactorwhich

contributedtodepression.

WhyAre

Daily

Hassles

So

Stressful?

Lazarus(1999)statesthatminordailyhasslesaccumulatetoproducepersistentfrustrationsand

irritationswhichleadstoseriousreactionssuchasanxietyanddepression.Researchersagreethat

theaccumulationofdailyhassleshasafargreatimpactonstressrelatedillnessthanmajorlife

eventswhichrarelyoccur.

Dailyhasslesarisefrompreexistingchronicstressors.Thepresenceofthesechronicstressors

amplifiestheeffectofdailyhassles.Thechronicstressorshavedepletedtheindividualsresources

forcopingwithhasslesorpreventthemfromtakingapositingviewofdailyhassles.

Evaluatingthe

Research

Into

Daily

Hassles

X:Casuality:Mostofthedataondailyhasslesiscorrelational,meaningwecannotconcludethat

dailyhassleseffectstressrelatedillness.Whatwecansayisthatthesecorrelationsareevidence

thatdailyhasslesaffectourhealthandwellbeing.

X:CulturalIssues: Socialsupportisthephysicalandemotionalcomfortgiventousbythosearound

us,andisanimportantfactorinprotectingusfromstress.Socialsupportisoftenregardedasan

importantprotectivefactorfromtheeffectsofdailyhassles.Researchhasbeencarriedouttolook

athowsocialsupportisusedindifferentcultures:


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Recordswerekeptoftheemployeesstressrelatedillnessandabsence.

Findings:

Thefinisherssecretedmorestressrelatedhormonesonworkdaysthanonrestdays,and

higherlevels

than

the

control

group

of

cleaners.

Thefinishersalsoshowedhigherratesofstressrelatedillnessandabsencethanthe

cleaners.

Conclusions:

Acombinationofworkrelatedstressorssuchasrepetitiveness,machinepacedworkand

highlevelsofresponsibilityleadtolongtermpsychologicalarousal.Thisisturnleadsto

stressrelatedillness.

Ifemployerswanttoreduceillnessandabsenceamongsttheirworkforce,theyneedtotake

measurestoreduceworkplacestressors.

Evaluation:

X:Thisstudydidnotexamine/controlindividualdifferences.

X:Thisstudydidnotidentifytheworkplacestressorswhichwerethemoststressful.

Marmotetal1997

Thiswasalongitudinalstudy,whichfollowed7,300civilservants.Thestudywascarriedoutover5

years,andexaminedtherelationshipbetweenparticipantsjobcontrolandrateofcoronaryheart

disease.The

study

found

that

there

was

an

increased

risk

of

heart

disease

of

1.5

2.3

%

amongst

thosewhohadlowerlevelsofcontrolovertheirjobs.

X:Thedataobtainedfromthisstudywascorrelational,andthesamplewasrestricted,asthestudy

wascarriedoutononlyoneoccupation.

EvaluationofResearchintoStressintheWorkPlace

X:ExtraneousVariables:Despitethelinkbetweenlackofjobcontrolandstressrelatedillnessthat

thesestudieshavefound,itispossiblethatimportantvariables,suchaspersonality,werenot

accounted

for.

X: JobControl:Havinghighlevelsofjobcontrolcanbestressfulforsomepeople.Schaubroecketal

2001foundthatmanypeoplewhothoughttheyhadhighlevelsofjobcontroldidnthave

confidenceintheirabilityorblamedthemselvesfornegativeoutcomes,andsowereathigherriskof

stress.Thisresearchsuggeststhatincreasingjobcontrolcanbeharmfulforpeoplewhodonothave

theabilitytohandlethisorwhentheamountofcontrolleadspeopletoblamethemselvesforwhen

thingsgowrong.

X: IndividualDifferences:WhilstresearchinotherculturesthathavetakenonWesternworking

practiceshasshownthatalackofjobcontrolleadstostressrelatedillness,notallworkerswithlow

controland

high

demand

jobs

become

ill.


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4:IndividualPersonalityDifferencesandStress

Researchhasfoundthattherearetwomainfactorsofapersonspersonalitythatcausestress:

TypeA/TypeBbehaviour

ThekeystudyintothisareaisFriedmanandRosenman1974

Hardiness

Hardinessreferstohowwellyouareabletocopewithstressfulevents.

KobasaandMaddi(1977)

Identifiedthreeelementsofahardypersonality:

Control:Trytoinfluencetheoutcomesofevents.

Commitment:Engagewithsomething,dontavoidit.

Challenge:Viewstressassomethingthatisapartoflifeandachallengeyoucanlearnfrom.

Kobasastatesthatpeoplewithhighhardinessarelesslikelytosufferfromstressrelateddisorders

thanthosewithlowhardiness.Hardypeopledontseetheirlifeeventsasstressful,butaschallenges

andopportunitiestheycanovercome.Thisleadstolessactivationofthestressresponseand

absenceofnegativeconsequences.

Kobasaetal1985

Inthisstudy,Kobasaratedhisparticipantsbasedonthepresenceoftheseprotectivefactors:

Hardiness,socialsupportandregularexercise.Hethenfollowedtheparticipantsandassessedthe

severityofanysubsequentpsychological(anxiety/depression)orphysicalillnesses.

Results:Participantswithnoprotectivefactorshadhigherscoresofseverityofillnessthananyother

group.Thepresenceofprotectivefactorswasassociatedwithdecreasedillnessscores.Thisimplied

thatthesefactorsactedinimprovingresistancetostress,withhardinessbeingthemosteffective.

EvaluationofResearchintoHardiness.

X:Participants:

Much

of

Kobasas

work

has

been

carried

out

with

white

men,

so

the

findings

may

not

begeneralizabletoothergroups.

X: ComponentsofPersonality:ThecomponentsofthepersonalitywhichKobasaputforwardare

notclearlydefined.Therefore,Kobasamayonlybefocusingontheeffectsoftheseelementsrather

thanthefullpersonality.

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Stress Section 3