摘要:

AbstractConceptualizations of the role of life stressors in health and well‐being typically emphasize stressful events and tend to neglect the ongoing context in which events occur. We suggest that stress and coping theory will contribute more to research and clinical practice when stressful circumstances are conceptualized in terms of a person's life context, and assessed by examining chronic stressors and life events in specific life domains. We exemplify this broader perspective by presenting a new way to measure ongoing stressors, discrete life events, and social resources in multiple life domains, and by some relevant research on alcoholism and depression. Finally, we describe some applications of this approach to diagnosis and treatment, and to program planning and evaluatio

ISSN:0748-8386    

DOI:10.1002/smi.2460060302

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractOne approach to measuring the magnitude and other characteristics of stressful life events has been to obtain subjective ratings of the events from the individuals whose stress experiences are being studied. Unfortunately, while useful for a number of purposes, subjective ratings are not independent of the personal dispositions of the individuals. This problem is especially severe in case/control studied of mental health outcomes, where it is highly likely to confound the measurement of supposed cause and effect. Two other approaches have been developed. One is Holmes and Rahe's use of rating by judges of lists of various categories of events. The other is George Brown's use of ratings by research team members of detailed material on the nature and circumstances of each event to determine its ‘contextual threat’. While the Brown approach, like the subjective rating approach, deals with the problem of intracategory variability in the Holmes and Rahe and other list methods, it has problems of its own. In this article, we examine the nature of these problems and recommend another approach to reducing intraevent category variability. Our recommendations are based on the results of an interview study of a general population sample consisting of 429 adu

ISSN:0748-8386    

DOI:10.1002/smi.2460060303

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThis article is concerned with the development of a new approach to the measurement of stress. The realization that the experience of stressful life events might be related to ill‐health led to the development of the life‐events scale by Holmes and Rahe.1However, the failure to take note of contextual factors restricts the predictive power of the scale. Although Brown2developed a technique for assessing contextual and personal factors, no objective way of incorporating these as weightings into a life‐event scale has evolved and the personal factors are themselves complex and difficult to define. A solution is to regard self‐reported stressful problems as fundamental indicators of the existence of particular stress experiences. Epidemiological problem analysis involves such an approach and is so called because a single life event is analysed in terms of the microstructure of component personal problems, thus providing the epidemiology of a particular life

ISSN:0748-8386    

DOI:10.1002/smi.2460060304

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractEmpirical findings from studies of stressful life events and well‐being have been disappointing. The difficulty with this literature may be attributed in part to basic problems in the measurement of stressful life events. The purpose of this article is to propose a measurement strategy that is based on stressors arising within social roles. Although social roles have figured prominently in stress measurement, the conceptual and methodological underpinnings of this research have not been explicated fully. An argument is made for developing measures that focus on stressors that arise in salient social roles. After examining the conceptual basis for the proposed measurement approach, methodological issues are addressed in an effort to provide practical guidance for testing this perspective in the fiel

ISSN:0748-8386    

DOI:10.1002/smi.2460060305

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractLife stress has long been a popular explanation for physical and mental disorders. Despite the intuitive appeal of the premise that adverse circumstances predispose to disease, stress research has been hindered by problems in defining and measuring the construct. In the present article these shortcomings are outlined and examples are provided to illustrate many of the basic principles involved. It is suggested that the complexity of human lives and the multifaceted nature of life stress pose ambitious demands in the assessment of life stress. Advantages and disadvantages of currently available procedures are discussed. Finally, recent advances in theory and practice based upon these procedures are outlined. Through such approaches, the assessment of life stress may more closely approximate the complexity inherent in the ongoing lives of people, without sacrificing the rigor required for a scientific understanding of the concept and its consequences.

ISSN:0748-8386    

DOI:10.1002/smi.2460060306

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractA number of the most frequently used measures of major and daily stress are critically examined in an effort to untangle some of the knotty questions facing the field of stress research: (a) how adequate are the prevailing definitions of stress; (b) how well do the measures operationalize these definitions; (c) which definitions and methods are most appropriate for use in studies seeking to document and explain the relations of stress with dysfunction? Suggestions are offered for measurement directions leading to a more fully‐developed process model of stres

ISSN:0748-8386    

DOI:10.1002/smi.2460060307

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractCognitive‐relational theory emphasizes the fundamental role of cognitive appraisal in the stress process. However, existing measures of stress appraisal suffer from conceptual and methodological problems. The present paper reports the development of a new stress appraisal scale that attempts to overcome some of these difficulties. Six dimensions of primary and secondary appraisal were identified: threat, challenge, centrality, controllable‐by‐self, controllable‐by‐others, uncontrollable‐by‐anyone. Items were generated for each of these dimensions, as well as for an overall perceived stressfulness scale. In three studies examining anticipatory stress experienced by undergraduates, these items were subjected to item‐selection, analysis and validation procedures. The findings provide strong support for the psychometric properties of the scales. Two factor analyses showed that the six appraisal dimensions were relatively independent. In multiple regression analyses, threat and centrality consistently emerged as significant predictors of overall stressfulness. The Stress Appraisal Measure (SAM) appears to be a promising instrument for use in future

ISSN:0748-8386    

DOI:10.1002/smi.2460060308

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractTo assess stress — the demands placed on the individual by his or her environment — life‐event checklists and lists of daily hassles have been widely used. Such instruments are intended to reflect harmful, threatening, or challenging aspects of the environment, but they are likely to be strongly influenced by characteristics of the respondent, especially the personality disposition of neuroticism. Individuals high on this dimension perceive life as stressful, cope poorly, are dissatisfied with social supports, have low psychological well‐being, and make more somatic complaints. Relations among these variables may be due to the common influence of neuroticism rather than processes of stress and coping. Longitudinal designs and objective outcome measures can reduced the confounding effect of neuroticism. By including measures of neuroticism in their designs, researchers can increase their understanding of the mutual roles of stress and personality in determining mental and physical health. By measuring neuroticism in their clients, stress management practitioners can gain insight into the reports of stressful events and conditions their clien

ISSN:0748-8386    

DOI:10.1002/smi.2460060309

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThere is considerable confusion and disagreement in the psychological and psychiatric literature regarding the meaning of stress and anxiety. The present discussion offers several important distinctions between the two constructs, and outlines some causal relationships between them. Special emphasis is placed on the methodological issues involved in assessing anxiety. The usefulness of distinguishing between state and trait anxiety is discussed, along with treating both of these constructs as multidimensional. The interactional model of anxiety is examined and some recent empirical support for this approach is reviewed. The discussion concludes with a brief summary of an interaction process model of anxiety, stress and coping.

ISSN:0748-8386    

DOI:10.1002/smi.2460060310

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractAn overview of papers on measurement issues in research on stress suggests a number of common themes that characterize the current status of, and probable future directions for measurement of the stress process. More general issues relate to (1) the development of valid and reliable measures of theoretically differentiated constructs, and (2) the simultaneous measurement of the differentiated constructs in the estimation of theoretically informed multivariate causal models. These and other measurement issues have been related more specifically to particular explanatory constructs including vulnerability, life events, chronic role strains, evaluative significance, coping mechanisms, and stressful outcomes. Success in resolving these issues will determine in large measure progress of the research enterprise in increasing understanding of the press process.

ISSN:0748-8386    

DOI:10.1002/smi.2460060311

出版商:John Wiley&Sons, Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY