Abstract
Modified versions of Hohnes' Schedule of Recent Experience (SRE) and Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) are used to compare the stress rating of 43 life events of 105 neurotic patients to 103 normal controls and to compare the quantity of life event changes experienced by the two groups. Life events are divided into three categories on the basis of their frequency of occurrence and the intensity of stress they induce. Significantly higher stress ratings for the neurotic patients are found in 17 of 43 life event items studied. In the year prior to the onset of the neurotic illness, the patient group experienced more life event changes and had significantly higher levels of stress than the control group. The results are compared to Holmes' findings in Japan.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Areeti, S., et al. (eds.) 1974 American Handbook of Psychiatry, 2nd ed. New York: Basic Books.
Chamberlin, B. C. 1980 MAYO Seminars in Psychiatry: The Psychological Aftermath of Disaster. J. Clin Psychiatry 41(7): 238–243.
Collins, A., et al. 1979 Stress Response in male and female engineering students. Excerpta Medical Psychiatry 39(9): 561.
Forster, J. B. 1959 Neurosis: Its inside and outside. F. X. Xu, transl. Beijing: Beijing People's Publication Office. (in Chinese)
Henderson, S. 1977 Coping Behavior After Shipwreck. Br J Psychiatry 131: 15–20.
Holmes, T. H. 1977 unpublished data Holmes, T. H., et al.
1967 The Social Readjustment Rating Scale: A cross-cultural study of Japanese and Americans. J. Psychosom Research 11: 227–237.
Holmes, T. H., and Masuda, M. 1973 Life Change and Illness Susceptibility. In Separation and Depression. Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science. (Publication No. 94); pp. 161–186.
1978 Life Events: Perceptions and Frequencies. Psychosomatic Medicine 40(3): 236–261.
Holmes, T. H., and Rahe, R. H. 1967 The Social Readjustment Rating Scale. J Psychosomatic Research 11: 213–218.
Kaplan, H. I., et al. (eds.) 1975 Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, 3rd ed. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
Leopold, R. L. et al. 1963 Psycho-anatomy of a Disaster: A long-term study of post-traumatic neurosis in survivors of a Marine explosion. Am J Psychiatry 119: 913–921.
Liu, S. H. 1963 Summary of Selye Stress Theory. Shanghai, PRC: Shanghai Technical Publication Co. (in Chinese)
Parker, G. 1977 Cyclone Tracy and Darwin evacuees: On the resoration of the species. Br J Psychiatry 120: 548–555.
Schlees, A. P., et al. 1977 The role of Stress as a Precipitating Factor or Psychiatric Illness. Br J Psychiatry 130: 19–22.
Ursin, H., Baade, E., and Levine, S. 1978 Psychobiology of Stress. San Francisco: Academic Press.
Wang, D. A. 1954 Philosophy, Thought and Clinical Application of Pavlov Theory. Beijing: Beijing People's Publication Office. (in Chinese)
Warheit, G. J. 1979 Life Event, Coping and Depressive Symptomatology. Am J Psychiatry 136: 502–507.
World Health Organization 1978 Mental Disorders: Glossary and Guide to their Classification in Accordance with the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases. Geneva: World Health Organization; pp. 35–37.
Young, D. S. 1975 The Relationship between the Cause and Clinical Features in Exogenous Psychosis. Foreign Referential Journal of Psychiatry 1: 2–4. (in Chinese)
1980 The Relationship between Etiology and Symptomatology in Psychiatry. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 4(1): 17.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yanping, Z., Derson, Y. The relationship of life events and stress to neurosis in China: Comparison of 105 neurotic patients to 103 normal controls. Cult Med Psych 10, 245–258 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00114699
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00114699