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Stressful life events
Andy Smith
Aims of talk
Provide information about the history, conceptualisation, description, modelling and practical relevance of psychological research on life events and adjustment to them.
I will focus on negative life events mainly because we know more about this topic than we do about positive events and associated processes and states.
Starting point
History - 40 years ago Life events research
Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) Holmes & Rahe (1967):
Social readjustment: “the intensity and length of time necessary to accommodate to a life event, regardless of the desirability of this event…”
400 people ranked 43 commonly reported events in order of
disruption. Scaled values out of 100.
Resulted in Life Change Units (LCU)
Social Readjustment Rating Scale Death of spouse 100 Divorce 75 Marriage 50 Being fired from work 47 Son or daughter leaving home 29 Christmas 12 Rahe (1974): >LCU, > risk of ill-health among 89
physicians. Of 96 major health changes reported, 89 took place in people who reported over 150 LCUs. 70% of those who reported 300 LCUs became ill. <150 LCUs, no evidence of ill-health
Life events – a more recent studyKozora et al. (2005):
measures of depression, mood, perceived health, stressful life events, coping, and social support.
Depressive symptoms were associated with major life-threatening events, disengage coping, and emotional coping.
.
Problems of SRRS Many listed events may not be applicable at certain
times of life Some may not occur sufficiently frequently to impact on
life Some vague (change of social activities)
Perhaps more central: Most studies that show SRRS to be associated with
illness are retrospective Daily hassles may be more important than infrequent
major stresses
Life Events or Daily hassles Death of spouse Divorce Jail term Marriage Pregnancy
Too many things to do Not enough time Too many
responsibilities Troubling thoughts Problems with children Job dissatisfaction
But hassles seem to be more important…Kraaij, Arensman & Spinhoven (2002):
Meta-analysis of 25 studies, the relationship of both specific types of negative life events and the total number of experienced events to depression in old age was studied.
Almost all negative life events appeared to have a modest but significant relationship with depression.
Correlation - negative life events levels and depression : 0.15 Correlation - daily hassles and depression 0.41
A more current view - stress as a processStress is a process and one must consider:
Exposure to stressful experiences/job characteristics.
Perceptions of stress.
Psychological resources that allow one to cope with the above.
Health outcomes induced by the above.
Appraisal or Perceived Stress
Stress occurs when demands exceed the ability to cope
Important to measure perceived stress Also link with psychosocial resources that
help you cope
Stressor------------Perceived ---------Stress Stress Response
Stress and Coping
Primary appraisal- Is this a threat?
Secondary appraisal(Coping)- What can I do about it?
Stress occurs when there is an imbalance between primary and secondary appraisal of a situation
Coping Evoked by distress…
Broadly divided into: Emotion focused: Attempt to reduce
emotional distress – avoidance, cognitive re-appraisal etc
Problem focused: Attempt to change the nature of the problem causing distress - problem solving strategies
A simple model…
Stimulus event Primary appraisal
Benign/irrelevant
Ignore – no action or emotion
Relevant/potentially harmful + secondary appraisal
Coping response
Emotional response
Stress as loss of resourcesHobfoll’s (1989) conservation of resources model proposed that mentaland physical health are determined by the amount of resources available to the individual.
Resources may be: social (for example, family support) structural (such as housing) psychological (for instance, coping skills, perceived control).
A large number of resources are health protective.
Reduced resources place an individual at risk for mental health problems.
Social Support – a majorPsychosocial resource.
Berkman & Syme; Am J Epid; 1979
Men Women0
5
10
15
20I. LeastII.III.IV. Most
Connections
Gender
% D
ied
fro
m A
ll C
ause
s
PERCEIVED SOCIAL SUPPORT& THE STRESS-BUFFERING HYPOTHESIS
TYPICAL QUESTIONS
• Is there someone you can talk to about intimate problems?
• Is there someone who will loan you money when you are in need?
Cohen & Wills; Psych Bull; 1985
Low HighLow
High Low socialsupport
High socialsupport
Stress
Sy
mp
tom
s
Low HighLow
High Low socialsupport
High socialsupport
Stress
Sy
mp
tom
s
Low HighLow
High Low socialsupport
High socialsupport
Stress
Sy
mp
tom
s
Social Integration
PsychologicalStates
Infor-mation
Health Promoting Behaviorse.g., medical adherence, diet, exercise
Neuro-endocrineResponse
Health-Relevant Biological Influencese.g., endocrine, immune, or cardiovascular effects
Physical Disease Psychiatric Disease
ServicesSocial
Influence
Cohen, Gottlieb, & Underwood; 2000
Things are more complicated! Many other factors must be considered –
especially individual differences. New models are being developed and tested
(see Mark and Smith, 2008).
THE DRIVE MODEL AND STRESS AT WORK
Moderating Effect of Job Resources on Job Demands
Work Demands & Work Resources
Job Stress
Health Outcomes &Job Satisfaction
Individual Characteristics & Personal Resources & Demands
Work Resources
Main Effect
Moderating EffectX
Y
ZMediating effect of Y, between X and Z
1211
1098
765
4
3
2
1
Prevention and management
On the basis of such models one can design different types of interventions (e.g. organisational or individual).
We should move away from a “one size fits all approach”.
However, a process based approach can provide a framework that accounts for individual variation but has a firm theoretical basis.
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