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likely stress level by completing the measure in Table 10.2 "The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale".
You might want to pay particular attention to this score, because it can predict the likelihood that
you will get sick. Rahe and colleagues (1970) [12]asked 2,500 members of the military to
complete the rating scale and then assessed the health records of the soldiers over the following 6
months. The results were clear: The higher the scale score, the more likely the soldier was to end
up in the hospital.
Table 10.2 The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale
Life event Score
Death of spouse 100
Divorce 73
Marital separation from mate 65
Detention in jail, other institution 63
Death of a close family member 63
Major personal injury or illness 53
Marriage 50
Fired from work 47
Marital reconciliation 45
Retirement 45
Major change in the health or behavior of a family member 44
Pregnancy 40
Sexual difficulties 39
Gaining a new family member (e.g., through birth, adoption, oldster moving, etc.) 39
Major business readjustment (e.g., merger, reorganization, bankruptcy) 39
Major change in financial status 38
Death of close friend 37
Change to different line of work 36
Major change in the number of arguments with spouse 35