Holmes Rahe stress scale (social readjustment rating scale)
In 1967, Holmes and Rahe studied the effect of stress on illness. 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.
Each event, called a Life Change Unit (LCU), had a different 'weight' for stress. The more events the patient added up, the higher the score. The higher the score, and the larger the weight of each event, the more likely the patient was to become ill.
The first 10 of the 43 life events are listed below with their values.
Each event, called a Life Change Unit (LCU), had a different 'weight' for stress. The more events the patient added up, the higher the score. The higher the score, and the larger the weight of each event, the more likely the patient was to become ill.
The first 10 of the 43 life events are listed below with their values.
| Life changing unit | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Death of spouse | 100 |
| 2 | Divorce | 73 |
| 3 | Marital separation | 65 |
| 4 | Jail term | 63 |
| 5 | Death of a close family member | 63 |
| 6 | Personal illness | 53 |
| 7 | Marriage | 50 |
| 8 | Being fired from work | 47 |
| 9 | Marital reonciliation | 45 |
| 10 | Retirement | 45 |
