Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)

Keywords:

Stress and Life Events

Background:

The following instrument is based on the premise that good and bad events in one's life can increase stress levels and make one more susceptible to illness and mental health problems (Holmes & Rahe, 1967).

Developer(s):

Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe

Copyright:

Publisher: Pergamon Press

Reliability:

For test-retest reliability, see Horowitz et al., 1977

Assessment:

1. Death of a spouse	100
2. Divorce	73
3. Marital Separation	65
4. Jail term	63
5. Death of a close family member	63
6. Personal injury or illness	53
7. Marriage	50
8. Fired at work	47
9. Marital reconciliation	45
10. Retirement	45
11. Change in health of family member	44
12. Pregnancy	40
13. Sex difficulties	39
14. Gain of a new family member	39
15. Business readjustments	39
16. Change in financial state	38
17. Death of a close friend	37
18. Change to different line of work	36
19. Change in no. of arguments with spouse	35
20. Mortgage over $ 50,000	31
21. Foreclosure of mortgage	30
22. Change in responsibilities at work	29
23. Son or daughter leaving home	29
24. Trouble with in-laws	29
25. Outstanding Personal achievements	28
26. Wife begins or stops work	26
27. Begin or end school	26
28. Change in living conditions	25
29. Revision of personal habits	24
30. Trouble with boss	23
31. Change in work hours or conditions	20
32. Change in residence	20
33. Change in school	20
34. Change in recreation	19
35. Change in religious activities	19
36. Change in social activities	18
37. Loan less than 50,000	17
38. Change in sleeping habits	16
39. Change in no. of family get- together	15
40. Change in eating habits	15
41. Vacation	13
42. Holidays	12
43. Minor violation of laws	11

SCORING

Each event should be considered if it has taken place in the last 12 months. Add values to the right of each item to obtain the total score.

Your susceptibility to illness and mental health problems:

Low

< 149

Mild

= 150-200

Moderate

= 200-299

Major

>300

References:

Holmes, T.H. & Rahe, R.H. (1967). The social readjustment rating scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11, 213-218.
Horowitz, M., Schaefer, C., Hiroto, D., Wilner, N., and Levin, B. (1977). Life Event Questionnaires for Measuring Presumptive Stress. Psychosomatic Medicine 39(6): 413-431.

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