The social readjustment rating scale
TL;DR: This report defines a method which achieves etiologic significance as a necessary but not sufficient cause of illness and accounts in part for the time of onset of disease and provides a quantitative basis for new epidemiological studies of diseases.
About: This article is published in Journal of Psychosomatic Research.The article was published on 1967-08-01. It has received 10629 citations till now.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: Existing evidence supports the hypothesis that the need to belong is a powerful, fundamental, and extremely pervasive motivation, and people form social attachments readily under most conditions and resist the dissolution of existing bonds.
Abstract: A hypothesized need to form and maintain strong, stable interpersonal relationships is evaluated in light of the empirical literature. The need is for frequent, nonaversive interactions within an ongoing relational bond. Consistent with the belongingness hypothesis, people form social attachments readily under most conditions and resist the dissolution of existing bonds. Belongingness appears to have multiple and strong effects on emotional patterns and on cognitive processes. Lack of attachments is linked to a variety of ill effects on health, adjustment, and well-being. Other evidence, such as that concerning satiation, substitution, and behavioral consequences, is likewise consistent with the hypothesized motivation. Several seeming counterexamples turned out not to disconfirm the hypothesis. Existing evidence supports the hypothesis that the need to belong is a powerful, fundamental, and extremely pervasive motivation.
17,492 citations
Cites background from "The social readjustment rating scal..."
...The death of a spouse, child, or close friend ranks among the most stressful events that people experience (T. H. Holmes & Rahe, 1967; Weiss, 1979)....
[...]
TL;DR: There is evidence consistent with both main effect and main effect models for social support, but each represents a different process through which social support may affect well-being.
Abstract: Examines whether the positive association between social support and well-being is attributable more to an overall beneficial effect of support (main- or direct-effect model) or to a process of support protecting persons from potentially adverse effects of stressful events (buffering model). The review of studies is organized according to (1) whether a measure assesses support structure (the existence of relationships) or function (the extent to which one's interpersonal relationships provide particular resources) and (2) the degree of specificity (vs globality) of the scale. Special attention is given to methodological characteristics that are requisite for a fair comparison of the models. It is concluded that there is evidence consistent with both models. Evidence for the buffering model is found when the social support measure assesses the perceived availability of interpersonal resources that are responsive to the needs elicited by stressful events. Evidence for a main effect model is found when the support measure assesses a person's degree of integration in a large social network. Both conceptualizations of social support are correct in some respects, but each represents a different process through which social support may affect well-being. Implications for theories of social support processes and for the design of preventive interventions are discussed.
14,570 citations
Cites background from "The social readjustment rating scal..."
...These measures are based on the assumption that illness is related to the cumulative impact of events requiring substantial behavioral adjustment (Holmes & Rahe, 1967)....
[...]
10,664 citations
TL;DR: A new stress model called the model of conservation of resources is presented, based on the supposition that people strive to retain, project, and build resources and that what is threatening to them is the potential or actual loss of these valued resources.
Abstract: Major perspectives concerning stress are presented with the goal of clarifying the nature of what has proved to be a heuristic but vague construct. Current conceptualizations of stress are challenged as being too phenomenological and ambiguous, and consequently, not given to direct empirical testing. Indeed, it is argued that researchers have tended to avoid the problem of defining stress, choosing to study stress without reference to a clear framework. A new stress model called the model of conservation of resources is presented as an alternative. This resource-oriented model is based on the supposition that people strive to retain, project, and build resources and that what is threatening to them is the potential or actual loss of these valued resources. Implications of the model of conservation of resources for new research directions are discussed.
9,782 citations
Cites background from "The social readjustment rating scal..."
...The study of the process of bereavement is one commonly cited offshoot of their approach (Parkes, 1970, 1972), and the early work on stress as change that requires adaptation may also be seen as a product of this approach (Holmes & Rahe, 1967)....
[...]
...These events are given the strongest severity weighting when weights are assigned to items (Holmes & Rahe, 1967)....
[...]
...In this regard, Rokeach (1973) provided ample evidence for common (i.e., normative) values within like cultures or groups, and scaling of life events provides evidence that an agreed-on set of weights can be applied to events ranging from the most benign to the most extreme (Holmes & Rahe, 1967)....
[...]
...In reviewing any of a number of stressful event surveys (Dohrenwend et al., 1978; Holmes & Rahe, 1967; Sarason, Johnson, & Siegel, 1978), it becomes clear that most items are obviously loss events....
[...]
TL;DR: A scale of current subjective distress, related to a specific event, was based on a list of items composed of commonly reported experiences of intrusion and avoidance, and responses indicated that the scale had a useful degree of significance and homogeneity.
Abstract: Clinical, field, and experimental studies of response to potentially stressful life events give concordant findings: there is a general human tendency to undergo episodes of intrusive thinking and periods of avoidance. A scale of current subjective distress, related to a specific event, was based on a list of items composed of commonly reported experiences of intrusion and avoidance. Responses of 66 persons admitted to an outpatient clinic for the treatment of stress response syndromes indicated that the scale had a useful degree of significance and homogeneity. Empirical clusters supported the concept of subscores for intrusions and avoidance responses.
7,692 citations
References
More filters
2,955 citations
1,006 citations
558 citations
TL;DR: With one exception, illness onset is dated by inittal recognttion of symptoms judged by experts to be associated with the particular diseases.
346 citations
346 citations