The document discusses research on life changes and stress. It defines stress, stressors, and the body's response to stress. It then discusses a study by Kiecolt-Glaser that found caregivers took longer to heal from a wound than controls, suggesting chronic stress weakens the immune system. Next, it defines life changes as significant disruptions to normal routine, and describes research by Holmes and Rahe that associated more life events with illness. Their study developed a scale to rate life events based on required readjustment. People scoring over 300 on this scale had an 80% chance of illness, supporting a link between life changes and stress.

1. Life Changes

2. Booklet 1 recap!
Definition of stress
When there is an imbalance between the
perceived demands of the situation and the
individuals’ perceived ability to cope
Definition of a stressor
Any event that causes a stress reaction in the
body (such as life changes or environmental
situations) e.g. Marriage, college, bereavement

3. Booklet 1 recap!
Body’s response to stress
Acute - SympAthoMedullary pathway
(AHSAAFP)
Chronic – Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal axis
(CHCPAACLIS)
Research into stress and
the immune system
Kiecolt-Glaser (1995)
13 carers
Cytokines, puncture biopsy & stress perception Qre
Carer group took 9 days longer to heal than control

4. Life Changes
Definition: significant changes in a
person’s life which disrupt their
normal routine.
(positive and negative e.g.
Marriage, moving house,
bereavement)
Holmes and Rahe (1967) were the first to record the
effects of life events.
From their work in hospitals, H&R noticed that certain
life events seemed to be associated with stress and poor
health
Aim – to investigate Life Changes as a source of stress

5. Holmes & Rahe - procedure
• Identified 43 life changes from examining
Identify
the hospital records of 5000 patients that
the life
appeared in the months before their
events
illness
• They assigned a random value of 50 to marriage
Establish • Asked 394 ps to rate the other events compared
to marriage in terms of how much readjustment
the scale would be required
(more=higher score, less=lower score)
• The scores from all participants were
LCUs totalled and averaged to produce a life
change unit score for each life event

6. = Findings:
1. Most events were considered requiring
less readjustment than marriage
Conclusion: 2. Events such as divorce, bereavement
This shows some link were considered more stressful
between life events and 3. People with LCU scores of 300+ had
illness approx an 80% chance of becoming ill
It’s thought that the link is
stress
Research Methods Recap
Holmes and Rahe found a
positive correlation between the
number of life events/changes
and their likelihood of developing
an illness – what would this look
like?!

7. X X
X X
events
X
Life
X
X X X
X X
X
Illness

8. Life Changes question
What has research shown us about the
impact of life changes on health? (4 marks)

9. Holmes & Rahe A02
• There is research to support the link between life events
P and stress related illness
• For example Gupta (2004) found that high SRRS scores
positively correlated with the severity & frequency of
E skin problems in participants who were healthy
• This is a strength because Gupta offers support for
Holmes and Rahe’s study, supporting the positive
E relationship between life events and illness

10. Holmes & Rahe A02

11. Holmes & Rahe A02
• Holmes and Rahe’s research uses correlational analysis
which could be affected by a third variable
P
• For example when experiencing life events many
people cope by smoking or drinking and it could be this
E that results in poor health
• This is weakness because we cannot conclusively say
that life events cause illness as the relationship could
E be indirect

12. Holmes & Rahe A02
• Holmes and Rahe’s research raises ethical issues
P
• For example the research involved participants
recalling stressful events of the last 12 months which
E might distress or upset participants
• This is a weakness as researchers have a duty of care
to their participants and so should not cause them any
E undue stress