Measures Of Stress

Psychology A-level

What are the 3 measures of stress?

Social readjustment rating scale (SRRS)

hassles and uplifts scale

Skin conductance response

What does the SRRS measure?

Quantified a persons stress associated with life changes, and the likelihood this will result in stress-related illness

Who devised the SRRS?

Holmes and Rahe

Describe Holmes and Rahe’s procedure to devise the SRRS

• examined medical records of 500 patients

• made of 43 life changes made which occurred in the months prior to patients illness

• 100 judges told an arbitrary value of 50 LCU for marriage

• asked to rate 42 other events relative

What idea does SRRS use as a basis for measure of stress?

That higher adjustment for life change causes more stress which leads to physical illness (immunosuppression)

What LCU score meant an 80% likelihood of illness?

300 or more

How likely were you to become ill if you had an LCU score of 200-299, or 150-199?

50% or 33%

Who devised the daily hassles and uplifts scale?

Kanner et al (1981)

How many items is the daily hassles scale made up of?

117

How many items is the uplifts scale made up of?

135

Describe the procedure of Kanner et al when devising the hassles and uplifts scale in 1981

• 100 participants asked to complete scale each month for 9 months

• would tick which they had experienced that month

What were the findings of Kanner et al’s procedure

Positive correlation between high hassles scores and stress/health problems

Negative correlation between high uplifts scores and stress/health problems BUT this was only in women

Describe how the skin conductance respinse (SCR) would be carried out

• electrodes attached to middle and index finger

• tiny current released

• increase in sweat coincides with increase in conductance, producing readings of a ‘polygraph’ against a baseline measure

What is the baseline/non-stressful measure in SCR also known as?

Tonic conductance value

What is the measure in response to a stimulus in SCR also known as?

Phasic conductance value

SRRS evaluation - strengths

Supporting evidence - Rahe et al - >2000 sailors

Practical applications - used to prevent stress related illness - doctors

SRRS evaluation - limitations

Conflicting evidence - Kanner et al comparison to H+U scale

Doesn’t distinguish between positive and negative changes - vacation 13 LCU

Methodological concerns - correlation not = causation

Hassles and uplifts scale - strengths

Supporting evidence - Kanner et al comparison to SRRS

Practical applications - used to prevent stress-related illness - doctors

SRRS evaluation - limitations

Methodological concerns - retrospective (memory), correlation not = causation, ambiguous (open to interpretation)

Less scientific than SCR as self-report

SCR evaluation - strength

Supporting evidence - Harrison et al (2006) - infants stress vs non-stress

Practical applications - used in lie detector tests - law enforcement for guilt

SCR evaluation - limitations

Individual differences - people differ systematically due to physiology

Cannot distinguish between different emotional states

Not fully accurate - Villarejo et al (2012) - 23% failure rate