For this discussion activity, do all of the following: First, complete the 4 questionnaires in this PDF on your own: Stress Questionnaires.pdfDownload Stress Questionnaires.pdf Follow the scoring ins
PSYC 4307, Stress
Stressed Out?
Instructions: Indicate your degree of agreement with each statement by placing a number in the blank before it. Use the following scale:
4 = never
3 = almost never
2 = sometimes
1 = fairly often
0 = very often
How often have you been upset because of something that happened unexpectedly?
How often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things in your life?
How often have you felt nervous and “stressed”?
How often have you felt confident about your ability to handle your personal problems?
How often have you felt that things were going your way?
How often have you been able to control irritations in your life?
How often have you found that you could not cope with all the things that you had to do?
How often have you felt that you were on top of things?
How often have you been angered because of things that were outside your control?
How often have you felt that difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them?
Scoring Instructions:
In obtaining your total score, use the following scale to reverse the number you placed before items 4, 5, 6, and 8: o 4 = 0 o 3 = 1 o 2 = 2 o 1 = 3 o 0 = 4
Then, add the numbers in front of all 10 items.
How You Measure Up
Stress levels vary among individuals—compare your total score to the averages for different ages and gender below.
Age | Gender | Marital Status |
18–29………14.2 | Men……12.1 | Widowed……………………......12.6 |
30–44………13.0 | Women...13.7 | Married or living with partner…..12.4 |
45–54………12.6 |
| Single or never wed…………….14.1 |
55–64………11.9 |
| Divorced………………………..14.7 |
65 and over...12.0 |
| Separated……………………….16.6 |
Source: Adler, J. (1999, June 14). How stress attacks you. Newsweek, 58–63. [Scale appears on p. 63.]
Stress as a Response
Instructions: Indicate how often each of the following happens to you, either when you are experiencing stress or following exposure to a significant stressor. Use the following scale:
0 = never | 3 = every few weeks |
1 = once or twice a year | 4 = once or more each week |
2 = every few months
| 5 = daily |
Cardiovascular symptoms | Skin symptoms |
______Heart pounding | ______Acne |
______Heart racing or beating erratically | ______Dandruff |
______Cold, sweaty hands | ______Perspiration |
______Headaches (throbbing pain) | ______Excessive dryness of skin or hair |
______Subtotal
| ______Subtotal |
Respiratory symptoms | Immunity symptoms |
______Rapid, erratic, or shallow breathing | ______Allergy flare-up |
______Shortness of breath | ______Catching colds |
______Asthma attack ______Difficulty in speaking because of poor | ______Catching the flu |
breathing control | ______Skin rash |
______Subtotal
| ______Subtotal |
Gastrointestinal symptoms | Metabolic symptoms |
______Upset stomach, nausea, or vomiting | ______Increased appetite |
______Constipation | ______Increased craving for tobacco or sweets |
______Diarrhea | ______Thoughts racing or difficulty sleeping |
______Sharp abdominal pains | ______Feelings of crawling anxiety or nervousness |
______Subtotal | ______Subtotal |
Muscular symptoms
______Headaches (steady pain)
______Back or shoulder pains
______Muscle tremors or hands shaking
______Arthritis
______Subtotal OVERALL SYMPTOMATIC TOTAL ____________
Scoring Instructions: To score your answers, simply add up your responses first within each category to obtain subtotals for each physiological system and then across the seven subtotals to obtain an overall symptomatic total.
Total scores between 0 and 35 indicate a low level of physical stress responses and little danger to health.
Total scores between 36 and 75 are average and may indicate an increased risk of stress-related illness. Scores between 76 and 140 indicate excessive physical stress symptoms.
Source: Allen, R., & Hyde, D. (1980). Investigations in stress control. (Reprinted by permission of Burgess International Group). Minneapolis, MN: Burgess Publishing.
College Undergraduate Stress Scale
Instructions: Copy the “stress rating” number into the last column (the column labeled “Your Items) for any item that has happened to you in the last year. Then add up the number.
Event | Stress Rating | Your Items |
Being raped | 100 |
|
Finding out that you are HIV-positive | 100 |
|
Being accused of rape | 98 |
|
Death of a close friend | 97 |
|
Death of a close family member | 96 |
|
Contracting a sexually transmitted disease (other Than AIDS) | 94 |
|
Concerns about being pregnant | 91 |
|
Finals week | 90 |
|
Concerns about your partner being pregnant | 90 |
|
Oversleeping for an exam | 89 |
|
Flunking a class | 89 |
|
Having a boyfriend/girlfriend cheat on you | 85 |
|
Ending a steady dating relationship | 85 |
|
Serious illness in a close friend or family member | 85 |
|
Financial difficulties | 84 |
|
Writing a major term paper | 83 |
|
Being caught cheating on a test | 83 |
|
Drunk driving | 82 |
|
Sense of overload in school or work | 82 |
|
Two exams in one day | 80 |
|
Cheating on a boyfriend/girlfriend | 77 |
|
Getting married | 76 |
|
Negative consequences of drinking/drug use | 75 |
|
Depression or crisis in your best friend | 73 |
|
Difficulties with parents | 73 |
|
Talking in front of a class | 72 |
|
Lack of sleep | 69 |
|
Change in housing situation (hassles, moves) | 69 |
|
Competing or performing in public | 69 |
|
Getting in a physical fight | 66 |
|
Difficulties with a roommate | 66 |
|
Job changes (applying, new job, work hassles) | 65 |
|
Declaring a major or concerns about future plans | 65 |
|
A class you hate | 62 |
|
Drinking or use of drugs | 61 |
|
Confrontations with professors | 60 |
|
Starting a new semester | 58 |
|
Going on a first date | 57 |
|
Registration | 55 |
|
Maintaining a steady dating relationship | 55 |
|
Commuting to campus, work, or both | 54 |
|
Peer pressures | 53 |
|
Being away from home for the first time | 53 |
|
Getting sick | 52 |
|
Concerns about your appearance | 52 |
|
Getting straight A’s | 51 |
|
A difficult class that you love | 48 |
|
Making new friends; getting along with friends | 47 |
|
Fraternity or sorority rush | 47 |
|
Falling asleep in class | 40 |
|
Attending an athletic event (e.g. football game) | 20 |
|
TOTAL: |
|
|
Note: of 12,000 U.S. college students who completed this scale, scores ranged from 182 to 2,571, with a mean score of 1,247.
Sources: Renner, M. J., & Mackin, R. S. (1998). A life stress instrument for classroom use. Teaching of Psychology, 25, 47. Vol. 25
(1), 46-48. Copyright © 1998 by Society for the Teaching of Psychology. Holmer. T. H., & Rahe, R. H. (1967). The social readjustment rating scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11(2), 213-221.
Coping Styles
Instructions: Take a few minutes to identify the most important problem you have faced during the last year. Then, using the scale below, indicate how often you used each of the following strategies to deal with it.
0 = not at all 1 = a little 2 = occasionally 3 = fairly often
Took things a day at a time.
Got away from things for a while.
Tried to find out more about the situation.
Tried to reduce tension by drinking more.
Talked with a professional person (e.g., doctor, lawyer, clergy).
Made a promise to myself that things would be different next time.
Prepared for the worst.
Let my feelings out somehow.
Took it out on other people when I felt angry or depressed.
Prayed for guidance and/or strength.
Accepted it; nothing could be done.
Talked with spouse or another relative about the problem.
Talked with a friend about the problem.
Tried to reduce tension by taking more tranquilizing drugs.
Told myself things that helped me feel better.
Kept my feelings to myself.
Bargained or compromised to get something positive from the situation.
Tried to reduce tension by exercising more.
Tried to reduce tension by smoking more.
Tried to see the positive side of the situation.
Considered several alternatives for handling the problem.
Made a plan of action and followed it.
Went over the situation in my mind to try to understand it.
Tried to reduce tension by eating more.
Got busy with other things to keep my mind off the problem.
Drew on my past experiences.
Avoided being with people in general.
I knew what had to be done and tried harder to make things work.
Tried to step back from the situation and be more objective.
Refused to believe that it happened.
Sought help from persons or groups with similar experiences.
Tried not to act too hastily or follow my first hunch
Note (please read before scoring): As noted in the text, Richard Lazarus and his colleagues distinguish between problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping. Problem-focused coping is a coping strategy for dealing directly with a stressor, either by reducing the stressor ’s demands or increasing resources for meeting those demands. Problem-focused coping can involve an outer-directed action, such as trying to alter a situation or the behavior of another person, or it can be inner-directed, such as engaging in physical exercise, practicing meditation, or seeking social support from others in order to cope.
Research studies have shown that people are most likely to use problem-focused coping when they believe a problem is controllable and to use emotion-focused strategies when problems appear beyond the person’s control. In practice, however, people often rely on both strategies.
This questionnaire identifies 32 coping strategies, some of which are clearly emotion-focused (“Tried to reduce tension by smoking more”), and others are problem-focused (“I knew what had to be done and tried harder to make things work”). Hololan and Moos (1987), the authors of this scale, extend the problem-focused and emotion-focused distinction to include active-cognitive strategies (active efforts to construct thoughts to help cope with a problem), active-behavioral (active efforts to change a situation), and avoidance (efforts to keep a problem from conscious awareness).
Scoring Instructions:
Your score on the active-cognitive subscale is the sum of the scores for items 1, 6, 7, 10, 11, 15, 20, 21, 23, 26, and 29.
Active-behavioral is assessed by items 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 22, 25, 28, 31, and 32.
Avoidance is assessed by items 4, 9, 14, 16, 19, 24, 27, and 30.
Sources: Holahan, C., & Moos, R. (1987). Personal and contextual determinants of coping strategies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(5), 946–955. Copyright © 1987 by the American Psychological Association. Reprinted with permission. Straub, R. O. (2019). Health psychology (6th ed.). New York, NY: Macmillan Learning
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