Protocol - Chronic Stress

Now, Ill describe some situations that sometimes come up in peoples lives. Id like you to tell me if these things are not true, somewhat true, or very true for you at this time.

1. Youre trying to take on too many things at once.

2. There is too much pressure on you to be like other people.

3. Too much is expected of you by others.

4. You dont have enough money to buy the things you or your kids need.

5. You have a long-term debt or loan.

6. Your rent or mortgage is too much.

7. You dont have enough money to take vacations.

8. You dont have enough money to make a down payment on a home.

9. You have more work to do than most people.

10. Your supervisor is always monitoring what you do at work.

11. You want to change jobs or career but dont feel you can.

12. Your job often leaves you feeling both mentally and physically tired.

13. You want to achieve more at work but things get in the way.

14. You dont get paid enough for what you do.

15. Your work is boring and repetitive.

16. You are looking for a job and cant find the one you want.

17. You have a lot of conflict with your partner.

18. Your relationship restricts your freedom.

19. Your partner doesnt understand you.

20. Your partner expects too much of you.

21. You dont get what you deserve out of your relationship.

22. Your partner doesnt show enough affection.

23. Your partner is not committed enough to your relationship.

24. Your sexual needs are not fulfilled by this relationship.

25. Your partner is always threatening to leave or end the relationship.

26. You wonder whether you will ever get married.

27. You find it is too difficult to find someone compatible with you.

28. You have a lot of conflict with your ex-spouse.

29. You dont see your children from a former marriage as much as you would like.

30. You are alone too much.

31. You wish you could have children but you cannot.

32. One of your children seems very unhappy.

33. You feel your children dont listen to you.

34. A childs behavior is a source of serious concern to you.

35. One or more children do not do well enough at school or work.

36. Your children dont help around the house.

37. One of your children spends too much time away from the house.

38. You feel like being a housewife is not appreciated.

39. You have to go to social events alone and you dont want to.

40. Your friends are a bad influence.

41. You dont have enough friends.

42. You dont have time for your favorite leisure time activities.

43. You want to live farther away from your family.

44. You would like to move but you cannot.

45. The place you live is too noisy or too polluted.

46. Your family lives too far away.

47. Someone in your family or a close friend has a long-term illness or handicap.

48. You have a parent, a child, or a spouse or partner who is in very bad health and may die.

49. Someone in your family has an alcohol or drug problem.

50. A long-term health problem prevents you from doing the things you like to do.

51. You take care of an aging parent almost every day.

Scoring:

The 51-item scale may be broken down into 13 subscales as shown in the table below. For each item, a response of not true = 0, somewhat true = 1, and very true = 2. Calculate the score from each individual subscale. Of the two methods to obtain an overall score, the first is to add up all very trues or very trues and somewhat trues. However, if a person does not have a particular role (e.g., parent), then the question is scored with a zero (see subscale table for universal vs. role-specific designations). The other method is to code the items as missing if a respondent is not in the role and therefore was not asked these questions, and then take the average of all subscales. The scores cannot simply be added up because the total is confounded by the number of roles the person is in and that is a proxy for social competence, therefore cutting across the point of the scale.