Life Stressors

To learn the level of stress (distress) in your life, check in the empty box at the left of each of the following events if it has occurred within the past 12 months:
 

Event	Value	Event	Value
Death of spouse	100	Son or daughter leaving home	29
Divorce	73	Trouble with in-laws	29
Marital separation	65	Outstanding personal achievement	28
Jail term	63	Spouse begins or ceases working	26
Death of close family member	63	Starting or finishing school	26
Personal injury or illness	53	Change in living conditions	25
Marriage	50	Revision of personal habits	24
Fired from job	47	Trouble with boss	23
Marital reconciliation	45	Change in work hours, conditions	20
Retirement	45	Change in residence	20
Change in family member’s health	44	Change in schools	20
Pregnancy	40	Change in recreational habits	19
Sexual difficulties	39	Change in church activities	19
Addition to family	39	Change in social activities	18
Business readjustment	39	Mortgage or loan under $10, 000	17
Change in financial status	38	Change in sleeping habits	15
Death of close friend	37	Change in number of family gatherings	15
Career change	36	Change in eating habits	15
Change in number of marital arguments	35	Vacation	13
Mortgage or loan over $10,000	31	Christmas season	12
Foreclosure of mortage or loan	30	Minor violation of the law	11
Change in work responsibilities	29

Note: This scale is derived from the Holmes, T. & Rahe, R. (1967) "Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale", Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 2.

Please note that since the development of the Life Events Scale, it has generally been recognized that there can be significant variation in the individual weight that each life event causes due to personal differences and the context of situations. Obviously the size of mortgages has also changed! However, this scale remains a good general estimate of personal stress.