The link between stress and health problems is becoming increasingly wellknown, but the idea is not new. This tool helps us measure the stress load we carry, and think about what we should do about it. They examined the stressmeasured the life changes lcuthat induced by experiences ranging from the death of a spouse to getting a traffic ticket. The holmes and rahe stress scale kresser institute. The holmesrahe life stress inventory the social readjustment rating scale instructions. A total score of 300 or more suggests a high level of stress, and the chances of developing a stressrelated disorder are about 80%. Holmes and rahe stress test for teenagers life event weighting number of times in last 12 months 1 unwed pregnancy 100 0 1 2 3 2 death of parent 100 0 1 2 3. The result, the holmes rahe stress scale, is today widely used to forecast how likely a person is to suffer. Holmes and rahe 1967 used a self report measure with their social readjustment rating scale srrs which looked at the events which had occurred in a persons life and rates their impact. This article looks at the holmes and rahe stress scale, and explains how you can use it to manage the stress in your life. The holmes and rahe stress scale is a list of 43 stressful life events that can contribute to illness. In 1967, psychiatrists thomas holmes and richard rahe examined the medical records of over 5,000 medical patients as a way to determine whether stressful events might cause illnesses.
The link between stress and illness has been forged by researchers like holmes and rahe whose social readjustment rating scale can be used by family physicians to assess their patients stress. Subsequent validation supported the links between stress and illness. Patients can also use it as a selfassessment tool and may find it helpful for making decisions about treatment for stress. Holmes rahe sffess scale exerdse the holmes rahe scale this was first published in 1967 in an effort to provide some guidelines for stress measurement. Discover more about this social readjustment rating scale and its interpretation below the form. The widely used and cited social readjustment rating scale developed by holmes and rahe 1967 was comprehensively revised and updated. Describe holmes and rahes 1967 social readjustment rating scale srrs and describe to what extent it is a valid taxonomy of the causes of stress. The top five stressful events, which can happen in an individuals life, are categorised as death of a spouse, divorce, martial separation, jail term, and death of a close family member. Holmes rahe stress inventory the american institute of. Holmes and rahe stress scale for nonadults youth on a piece of paper, add up the numbers on the right side of those events that have happened to you in the past 12 months. Validity of the scales for students title of the scale cronbachs alfa holmes and rahe stress scale or social readjustment rating scale 0,81 salinerofort et al. The concept of stress has been clarified by the systems approach to illness.
This holmes and rahe stress scale calculator evaluates whether the perceived stressful life events can affect your health in the following years. Working papers of the german national educational panel study neps. The student stress scale is an adaptation for college students of the life events scale developed originally by. Social readjustment rating scale santa fe psychotherapy.
Holmes and rahe 1967 developed a questionnaire called the social readjustment rating scale srrs for identifying major stressful life events. Mark down the point value of each of these life events that has happened to your during the previous year. They examined the stress created by experiences ranging from the death of a spouse to getting a traffic ticket. Holmes rahe stress inventory pdf the american institute. Holmesrahe social readjustment rating scale, journal of. Take a look through the stress factors identified by holmes and rahe see table 1. Respondents were asked to rate the stressfulness of each life event on a 1100 scale. Ive found a website containing the holmesrahe scale, which is an inventory of stressful life events that are scored according to how profoundly they might impact your stress level and contribute to health breakdown. Pdf can the holmesrahe social readjustment rating scale.
Items were designed to tap how unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloaded respondents find their lives. This stress assessment model was created in 1967 by psychiatrists thomas holmes and richard rahe as a method to evaluate the effect of stressor life events on the immune system and thus generate the likelihood for the patient to suffer from health issues that can be linked to stress during the assessment, the patient is asked to read the items of the scale and. Perceived stress scale by sheldon cohen the perceived stress scale pss is the most widely used psychological instrument for measuring the perception of stress. In 1967, two researchers named thomas holmes and richard rahe conducted a landmark study to measure the effects of stress on health.
The holmes and rahe stress scale is a rubric a health care provider can use to assess a patients risk of stressrelated illnesses. The social readjustment rating scale srrs provided by. By adding your life change values of the past year, you can predict the likelihood of. Measuring stress in the life course neps working paper no. Stress and illness are embedded in a biopsychosocial matrix. They did this by asking subjects to rank order these life events as to the amount of life change they involved in comparison with the life change experienced in marriage, which they arbitrarily ranked as 500. If the event has occurred more than once, multiply the impact score by that number.
Their results were published as the social readjustment rating scale srrs, now commonly known as the holmes and rahe stress scale. The readjustment needed to cope with such an event causes stress so it follows that the more life events you experience, the more readjustments you have. They surveyed more than 5,000 medical patients and asked them to say whether they had experience any of a series of 43 life events in the previous two years. A total score of 150 or less suggests a low level of stress, and a. Holmesrahe life stress inventory in the past 24 months, which of these have happened to you.
Holmesrahe stress scale for youth overcoming stress how can you improve your ability to manage stress. Tally up your score of the events that have happened to you in the last year. Holmesrahe social readjustment rating scale, journal of psychosomatic research. Measure stress according to the holmes and rahe stress scale, the number of life change units that apply to events in the past year of an individuals life are added and the final score will give a rough estimate of how stress affects health. In 1967, psychiatrists thomas holmes and richard rahe decided to study whether or not stress contributes to illness. The most stressful life events according to the holmes and rahe stress scale. To score your stress level, simply select yes for each of the events listed below that have happened to you in the last year. Life change index scale the stress test event impact score my score death of spouse 100. The objective of this research was to examine whether the holmesrahe social readjustment rating scale, a life event scale, can be used to identify suicide attempters. The online free stress test by 15 minutes 4 me, for example, measures your stress at the hand of psychological and physical symptoms. This health tool tries to explain the effects of stress on the immune system from a general point of. Furthermore, there also are other tests, which can give you new insight in your stress level. Please note that the american institute of stress does not own the holmesrahe stress inventory and cannot give permission for reprinting or publication. The new instrument, containing 51 major life events, was administered to a national sample of 5000.
To measure stress according to the holmes and rahe stress scale, a modified scale has also been developed for nonadults. Download a printable copy of the nonadult stress scale poster. However, there are some general guidelines to scoring. Rahe, journal of psychosomatic research, volume 11, issue. For every event in the list below that you have experienced in the past year, copy that events impact score to the my score column.
Similar to the adult scale, stress points for life events in the past year are added and compared to the rough estimate of how stress affects health. Managing stress page 2 the holmes and rahe stress scale understanding the impact of longterm stress people use the word stress to describe a wide variety of situations from your cell phone ringing while youre talking on another phone to the feelings associated with intense work overload, or the death of a lovedone. Each one of the 43 stressful life events was awarded a life change unit depending on how traumatic it was felt to be by a large sample of participants. The student stress scale the student stress scale focuses on events that may occur in the life of a student to offer you a different perspective for evaluating stress. Almost four decades ago, holmes and rahe 1967 published a checklist of 43 events, such as death of a spouse, divorce, fired at work, and sex difficulties, called the schedule of recent experiences sre.
The social readjustment rating scale srrs, more commonly known as the holmes and rahe stress scale, was created to do just that. To measure stress according to the holmes and rahe stress scale, the number of life change units that apply to events in the past year of an individuals life are added and the final score will give a rough estimate of how stress affects health. It is a measure of the degree to which situations in ones life are appraised as stressful. The aim is just to identify which of these events you have experienced lately. The holmes and rahe stress scale stress management from. Holmes and rahe selected 43 life events as being the most common and stressful. The next step for holmes and rahe was to decide the importance of these events or to weigh each item. Believe it or not, youve got what it takes to lead a much more stressfree life the stress test for teenagers is a powerful reminder of changes happening in. Rahe tested the reliability of the stress scale again in 1970. The social readjustment rating scale, journal of psychosomatic research. This table is taken from the social readjustment rating scale, thomas h. Death of a spouse a perceived loss of a girlfriend or boyfriend and can occur even if the. Mark down the point value of each of these life events that has happened to you during the previous year.
Its purpose was to inventory fundamentally important environmental incidents meyer, 1951, p. These results were published as the social readjustment rating scale srrs, more commonly known as the holmes and rahe stress scale. Commitments to school, family life, peer pressures, and difficulties in personal relationships are all important sources of stress. Inventorying stressful life events as risk factors for. The higher the score, and the larger the weight of each event, the more likely the patient would become ill. The holmesrahe stress inventory pdf score your life stress inventory using the downloadable pdf below or take our online holmesrahe life stress asessment. The holmesrahe scale the extraordinary element of stress. It is difficult to interpret the score because of the differences in individual coping abilities. Read each of the events listed below, and check the box next to any event which has occurred in your life in the last two years. If a particular event has happened to you more than once within the last 12 months, multiply the value by the number of occurrences. The holmes and rahe stress scale thus has found a new way of measuring your stress level. People frequently say this tool helps them see their lives in a different way, and acknowledge why they are struggling. After attending lecture this morning, i really got thinking about how constant stress can lead to negative health consequences.