Sources of stress — practice questions

(a) Stress sources:

• Life events (Holmes & Rahe): Failing an exam may coincide with other LCUs — e.g. starting university (63 LCU), parental divorce (73) — cumulative score predicts health risk.
• Daily hassles (Kanner et al.): Ongoing minor stressors — coursework deadlines, part-time job shifts, arguments with housemates — accumulate and correlate more strongly with anxiety and health complaints than single events.

(b) Different responses explained:

• Lazarus & Folkman's appraisal model: Student A performs primary appraisal — evaluates failure as threat to university place (high perceived severity). Student B appraises as challenge — opportunity to improve.
• Secondary appraisal: A believes coping resources are insufficient; B believes revision strategy can be changed.
• Individual factors: A may have external locus of control (Rotter) — "nothing I do will help"; B has internal LOC and higher self-efficacy (Bandura).

(c) Evaluation of life events approach:

• Strengths: Holmes & Rahe (1967) provided quantifiable measure (LCUs); demonstrated link between life change and illness (e.g. tuberculosis, accidents); pioneering stress research.
• Limitations:
  • Ignores appraisal — same event (marriage = 50 LCU) can be positive or negative depending on individual.
  • Retrospective bias — SRRS relies on memory of past events.
  • Daily hassles stronger predictor — Kanner et al. (1981) showed hassles correlate r = .51 with psychological symptoms vs r = .28 for life events.
  • Cultural bias — SRRS developed in 1960s USA; events like "mortgage >$10,000" dated.
  • Correlation not causation — life events may co-occur with illness rather than cause it.

Judgement: Life events approach is historically important but insufficient alone — must combine with daily hassles and appraisal models.

Step 1: Identify Life Events and their LCU scores. From the scenario and the table provided, we can list Anu's life events and their corresponding LCU values:

• Death of a close family member (father): 63 LCU
• Marriage: 50 LCU
• Mortgage over $100,000 (bought a house): 31 LCU
• Change in line of work: 36 LCU
• Change in residence (implied by buying a house): 20 LCU

Step 2: Calculate the total LCU score. The total score is the sum of the LCU values for all events experienced in the past year.

• Formula: Total LCU = Sum of individual event LCUs
• Calculation: 63 + 50 + 31 + 36 + 20 = 200 LCU
• Final Answer: Anu's total LCU score for the past year is 200 LCU.

Step 3: Interpret the score and explain the health risk. Holmes and Rahe proposed categories to interpret the total LCU score:

• < 150 LCU: Low risk of illness.
• 150-299 LCU: Moderate risk of illness (approx. 50% chance of illness in the next year).

• 300 LCU: High risk of illness (approx. 80% chance of illness in the next year).

Anu's score of 200 LCU falls into the moderate risk category. According to the model, this suggests she has approximately a 50% chance of developing a stress-related health problem in the near future. It is crucial to note this is a statistical correlation, not a definite outcome. Individual factors like coping style and social support (e.g., from her new marriage) will significantly influence her actual health.