The life events scale for students: Validation for use with British samples

Abstract The life events scale for students is a checklist measure of life events intended for use with undergraduate populations. The report describes the validation of the scale for use with British undergraduates. Ratings for the events on the scale were obtained from a sample of 191 undergraduates. A second analysis using a sample of 40 undergraduates showed that scores on the scale were predictive of elevated levels of psychopathology. Furthermore, this relationship was largely independent of negative affectivity or repression-sensitization. The Life Events Scale for Students provides a suitable measure for use in stress research using undergraduate populations.

[1]  D. Watson,et al.  Health complaints, stress, and distress: exploring the central role of negative affectivity. , 1989, Psychological review.

[2]  J. L. T. Birley,et al.  Life-events and psychiatric disorders Part 1: some methodological issues , 1973, Psychological Medicine.

[3]  B. Dohrenwend,et al.  Exemplification of a method for scaling life events: the Peri Life Events Scale. , 1978, Journal of health and social behavior.

[4]  The Life Change Inventory: A Device for Quantifying Psychological Magnitude of Changes Experienced by College Students , 1974 .

[5]  George W. Brown.  Life events and measurement. , 1989 .

[6]  D. Watson,et al.  Negative affectivity: the disposition to experience aversive emotional states. , 1984, Psychological bulletin.

[7]  D. Paulhus.  Two-component models of socially desirable responding. , 1984 .

[8]  T. Harris,et al.  Life events and illness , 1990 .

[9]  D. Gorman.  A review of studies comparing checklist and interview methods of data collection in life event research. , 1993, Behavioral medicine.

[10]  W. Linden.  Development and Initial Validation of a Life Event Scale for Students , 1984 .

[11]  M. Zimmerman.  Methodological issues in the assessment of life events: A review of issues and research , 1983 .

[12]  D. Zitzow.  The College Adjustment Rating Scale. , 1984 .

[13]  K. Dobson,et al.  Effects of response styles on the report of psychological and somatic distress. , 1986, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[14]  C. Spielberger,et al.  Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory , 1970 .

[15]  R. Davidson,et al.  Low-anxious, high-anxious, and repressive coping styles: psychometric patterns and behavioral and physiological responses to stress. , 1979, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[16]  James H. Johnson,et al.  Assessing the impact of life changes: development of the Life Experiences Survey. , 1978, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[17]  Paykel Es.  Methodology of life events research. , 1987 .