Life Change, Life Events, and Illness: Selected Papers

by Janet H. Alexander, Ella M. David, Elizabet Mcgreer, Eleanor H. Williams

Overview

A pioneer in the field of behavioral medicine, the late Thomas H. Holmes developed a set of scales that measured the impact of life changes and events on a person's health, particularly stress-related disorders. This volume collects for the first time the key research studies that emanated from the Holmes laboratory at the University of Washington from 1957 through 1981. Designed to serve as a reference book and a resource for students and scholars interested in life change research, Life Change, Life Events, and Illness provides ready access to the historical record of the Holmes psychosocial laboratory. For archival purposes, editorial revisions have been undertaken only to correct errata, update references, and establish stylistic conformity.

The first chapter, written specifically for this volume, places the work of the Holmes laboratory in historical context, probes the beginning of Holme's research hypothesis in studies of the physiology of emotions, and outlines the direction of his research program. The first group of readings review the development, testing, and validation of three innovative research instruments: The Social Readjustment Rating Scale, the Seriousness of Illness Rating Scale, and the Schedule of Recent Experience. Subsequent chapters reconstruct the initial applications of methodologies developed by Holmes and his colleagues, culminating in the formulation of a paradigm for the relationship of life change and illness susceptibility. The final papers illustrate the realms into which life change research expanded in the last decade of Holme's tenure at the laboratory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275924805
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/07/1989
Pages:	361
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

THOMAS H. HOLMES was Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, from his reitiremnt in 1984 until his death in December 1988. The Thomas H. Holmes Endowment Fund was established in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences to honor Dr. Holmes's pioneering work and to encourage promising research by young investigators.

ELLA M. DAVID is an editor and writer in Seattle, Washington. She was formerly research publications editor at the University of Washington, where she worked with Dr. Holmes from 1978 to 1984. They collabored on an earlier volume, Life Change Events Research, 1966-1978: An Annotated Bibliography of the Periodical Literature.

Table of Contents

Preface
The Historical Context
"It was in This Setting. . ."
Methodology: Scaling Studies
The Social Readjustment Rating Scale
Magnitude Estimations of Social Readjustments
Scaling of Life Change: Comparison of Direct and Indirect Methods
The Social Readjustment Rating Scale: A Cross-Cultural Study of Japanese and Americans
The Social Readjustment Rating Scale: A Comparative Study of Black, White and Mexican Americans
Impact of a Natural Catastrophe on Life Events
Seriousness of Illness Rating Scale
Clinical Applications: Life Change Studies
Manual for the Schedule of Recent Experience (SRE)
Quantitative Study of Recall of Life Events
Evidence of Psychosocial Factors in the Development of Pulmonary Tuberculosis
Social Stress and Illness Onset
Life Crisis and Disease Onset: Qualitative and Quantitative Definition of Life Crisis and Its Association with Health Change
Life Crisis and Disease Onset: A Prospective Study of Life Crises and Health Changes
Short-term Intrusions into the Life-style Routine
Magnitude of Life Events and Seriousness of Illness
Transient Diabetes Mellitus Associated with Culture Change
Life Change, Coping Ability and Chronic Intrinsic Asthma
Psychosocial Factors in Athletic Injuries: Development and Application of the Social and Athletic Readjustment Rating Scale (SARRS)
Life Events and Prisoners
Life Events: Perceptions and Frequencies
Death and Dying
Bibliography
Index