References:
References:
“The PSS is a 14-item scale designed to measure the degree to which individuals appraise situations in their lives as stressful. An abbreviated scale, including 4 of the original scale items, has also been developed. PSS items were designed to tap the degree to which respondents find their lives unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloading: three issues central to the appraisal of stress” (Cohen, 1986). The PSS is a self-administering questionnaire that explores the individual’s feelings encountered over a month period and measures the degree to which the individual considers certain situations as stressful to one’s life. The items 1-10 are general questions, and they have five responses each ranging from “never” to “very often”. In scoring the PSS, reverse the score for the responses to items numbers: 4, 5, 7, and 8 (the positively scored items), and all the scores across the 10 items are summed up. The scores range from 0-40; the higher the score is, the greater the stress. According to Cohen (1986), “because it (PSS) does not tie appraisal to particular situations, it is sensitive to the nonoccurrence of events as well as to the ongoing life circumstances, to stress resulting from events occurring in the lives of friends and relatives, and to expectations concerning future events” (p.718). By using the PSS is the assessment phase of the nursing process, the nurse can possibly identify the patient’s risk for stress, explore how the patient copes in a stressful situation, and design a way to work with the patient in a way that can improve the quality of care the patient…
Cobb, S. (1976). Social support as a monderator of life stress. Psychometric Medicine. 38, 300-…
The model that was used for this analysis is known as the AB design, which measures the dependent variable during the baseline (A) and the intervention phase (B) (Krysik and Finn, 2013). The study was conducted over an 11week period, with the first 6 weeks being the baseline (A) for the study, which was based on the level of stress that occurred each week. Due to the limitation of miscommunication the intervention phase (B) could only be conducted for a 5-week period; falling short by one week of measurement of the intervention phase. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), is an instrument used to measure stress levels, the validity of this study allowed for evaluation and recording of weekly levels of stress. The intervention that was used daily to promote lower stress levels was relaxation time with deep breathing. This type of study had no reliability outcomes due to the changing in stress levels daily.…
Life changes are any noticeable alterations in one’s living circumstances that require readjustment. Thomas Holmes, Richard Rahe, and their colleagues first demonstrated the importance of life changes in the 1960s. Theorizing that stress might make people more vulnerable to illness, they interviewed thousands of tuberculosis patients to find out what kinds of events had preceded the onset of their…
Thoits, P., (1995) Stress, Coping and Social Support Processes: Where Are We? What Next?, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, vol. 35, pg. 53-79…
Selye estimated that the inability to adjust successfully to life situations and stress is at “the very root of the disease producing conflict (i.e., improper reactions to life situations)” (Wiley, 2000, on-line). Suffice to say, stage three is not a desirable level to reach when dealing with stressors. The general adaptation syndrome reflects Selye’s belief that an “ever increasing proportion of people die from the socalled wear and tear diseases, diseases of civilization, or degenerative diseases, which are primarily stress” (Wiley, 2000, on-line). While stress has positive implications (in manageable doses), such as increasing one’s level of alertness and cognition, its negative implications are the main focus of attention in the literature. Motowidlo, Packard, and Manning (1986) define stress as an “unpleasant emotional experience associated with elements of fear, dread, anxiety, irritation, annoyance, anger, sadness, grief, and depression” (p. 618). Ullrich and Fitzgerald (1990) write, “stress is a result from an imbalance between the demands of the workplace and the individual’s ability to cope” (p. 1013). Stress is usually associated with the environment or situation in which it is being experienced. For example, occupational stress is “the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of a job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the workers” (National Institute…
In the article from USA Today the main focus is on the negative affect of stress on young teens. With school causing a staggering amount of stress in these young adult lives they are already being set up for failure. Failure in the sense of not having a healthy way of dealing with or handling the new stress load. These unhealthy habits start at a young age and carry on into adulthood where more stress is added and bad habits reach their peak. With the accredited physiatrists participating in these stress studies given as examples in the article, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence showing the effect of stress. Another effect on the teens due to stress is depression. This is one of the unhealthiest ways of dealing with stress because it is yet another mental illness that may be hard to see with the naked eye but causes so much more damage than we know.…
Kirschbaum, C., Pirke, K.-M., & Hellhammer, D. H. (1993). The ‘‘Trier Social Stress Test”: A tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory…
A second problem when conducting research into causes of stress is the validity of measurements. Validity refers to whether the results measure what they are supposed to measure and this is often affected by the research method. The self report method is often questioned in terms of validity as participants have the ability to give socially desirable answers and steer away from the truth. In the study by Kanner, questionnaires were posted out to participants and a Hassles and uplifts scale was asked to be completed every month for 9 months and the Berkman life events scale after 10 months. This study, due to the use of self report lacks in validity, as researches are unsure as to whether data obtained reflects the true opinions of participants, which is an issue when trying to apply to everyday life. However the self report method is useful, despite it lacking in validity. It gives participants the freedom to write about their own subjective feelings and due to stress being individually perceived differently, it is useful in tailoring treatment to individuals to meet their needs.…
Holmes & Rahe 2. Social Readjustment Rating Scale ii. Daily Hassles 1. Lazarus & DeLongis 2. Kanner Hassle Scale 3.…
Hays, M., All, A., Mannahan, C., Cuaderes, E., & Wallace, D. (2006). Reported stressors and…
My findings of the Social Readjustment Rating Scale are somewhat alarming to me. I plan to establish a few healthier habits such as getting adequate sleep, exercising regularly, eating properly to deal with this results.…
Stress is becoming increasingly normalised in today’s society as a result of amplified levels of daily pressures and stressors. Accepted intensified levels of stress have led to many physical and psychological effects on the body, as many people feel they have very little resources and skills to manage the stress they are experiencing (Burton & Carlson, 2010). Richard Lazarus defined stress as “a state of anxiety produced when events and responsibilities exceed one’s coping abilities” (Seaward, 2011). Perceived challenges are identified as stressors, which are any object, event or condition that an individual perceives as threatening, irrespective of the actual threat posed. Therefore, stress is individual (Bradley, Iersel, & Spackman-Williams,…
This article relates to what we are learning because it has to do with occupational stress and social stress. Stress can have many negative effects on the human body, this including decreased self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and other undesirable outcomes Social stressors can be defined as “ incidents that…
Events like losing a job has a great impact on a person’s life and their family members, it can also affect a person’s health and well being. A financially stable person losing their source of income can be devastating and can cause emotional distress and depression. (NHS research 2009) states that the most common cause of stress in today’s society is relationship breakdown, loss of a job, money issues and moving…