Life Experiences Scale Research Articles

Racism and hypertension among African Americans.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of racism and blood pressure (BP). Participants were 162 urban African American adults. Measurements included the Racism and Life Experiences Scale, Krieger Racial Discrimination Questionnaire, State-Trait Personality Inventory (anxiety and depression), State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, and automated measures of BP. Correlational and multiple regression analyses were done to examine relationships among key variables, t tests and ANOVA tested group differences by age, gender, and racism category. There was a high prevalence of perceived racism, which was not associated with higher BP. The racism/BP relationship was moderated by age with significant age related differences noted. Older participants (40 years or older) experienced more distress from racism, more anger suppression, and higher BP but lower levels of stress emotions. The highest levels of BP were noted in older adults reporting the lowest level of perceived racism, raising the issue of "internalized oppression."

Subjective Stress and Coping Resources Interact to Predict Blood Pressure Reactivity in Black College Students

This study examined the effects of subjective stress and coping resources on blood pressure reactivity. Sixty-nine Black college students (mean age = 23.58 years) completed the Life Experiences and Stress Scale to explore the subjective stressfulness associated with life events, the Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced Scale to measure usual ways of coping, and a standardized serial addition laboratory challenge during which blood pressure was assessed. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the interactive effects of subjective stress and coping resources predicted diastolic blood pressure reactivity (both p < .025) but not systolic blood pressure reactivity (both p > .10). These significant interaction effects indicated that higher levels of problem-focused coping were related to more marked diastolic blood pressure changes under conditions of high subjective stress and that emotion-focused coping was associated with less exaggerated diastolic blood pressure changes under conditions of low subjective stress. These findings highlight the potential contribution of psychosocial factors to blood pressure reactivity in Blacks.

Recall of threat and submissiveness in childhood: development of a new scale and its relationship with depression, social comparison and shame

AbstractResearch on the link between recall of early parenting and psychopathology has focused on recall of parental behaviours such as neglect, rejection, low warmth and overprotection. This study investigates recall of the personal feelings of perceived threat and subordination in childhood. A short, new self‐report scale was developed, called the Early Life Experiences Scale (ELES) and given to 225 undergraduate students. Analysis revealed three factors: a factor for threat, a factor related to submissiveness and a factor related to feeling (un)valued. All participants completed measures of recall of parental behaviour and depression; 119 also completed a shame scale, and 106 completed a social comparison scale. Both the recall of parental behaviour measure and the ELES correlated significantly with depression, social comparison and shame. However, a standard multiple regression analysis found that only the submissive factor of the ELES predicted depression. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Psychosocial and Life Stress Characteristics of Navy Families: Family Environment Scale and Life Experiences Scale Findings

This study examined the combined responses of husbands and wives within 785 Navy families on five subscales from the Moos and Moos (1981) Family Environment Scale (FES) and from the Life Experiences Scale (LES), a measure of life stress developed by Sarason, Johnson, and Siege1 (1978). Respondents were from the U.S. Navy Atlantic Submarine Fleet, Surface Fleet, Air Wing, and Shore Duty Commands. Major findings indicated that FES subscale means for Navy families compared favorably with national normative data reported by Moos and Moos (1981), and FES scores were not affected by the sailors' point in the deployment cycle or type of command assignment. In contrast, LES scores were significantly related to command assignment and point in the deployment cycle, with significantly lower levels of life stress reported for those sailors and wives assigned to shore duty. Finally, level of life stress was significantly related to family environment characteristics, with higher life stress families reporting lower levels on FES subscales of Cohesiveness, Expressiveness, and Organization, and higher levels on Family Conflict.

Measuring depressive life experiences

During recent years psychologists have begun to investigate the variety of stressful life events that trigger distress. The present research extended this stress-distress model to the study of depressive life experiences through the development and validation of the Depressive Life Experiences Scale (DLES). The DLES is an objective self-report instrument designed to assess six depressogenic life experiences: (1) social exits, (2) interpersonal disharmony, (3) personal inertia, (4) personal frustrations, (5) personal inadequacies, and (6) others' misfortunes. Reliability analyses provided evidence for the internal consistency of the items on the six DLES subscales, and other results revealed a gender distinct pattern of findings for several DLES subscales. In addition, five of the DLES subscales correlated positively with a measure of ‘negative’ life change, and predictive validity was demonstrated through a pattern of negative correlations between the DLES and several indices of life satisfaction. The importance of the Depressive Life Experiences Scale for the empirical and conceptual analysis of depression is discussed.

Emotional Symptoms and Physical Health in Bereaved Parents

The purpose of this study was to compare the emotional symptoms and physical health of parents whose children had died suddenly in an accident, parents whose children had died following a chronic disease, and nonbereaved parents. Data for this retrospective survey were collected by mailed questionnaires: the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL), Bereavement Health Assessment Scale, Review of Life Experiences Scale, and a personal-situation questionnaire. Subjects were 30 bereaved parents who had experienced the death of a child following a chronic disease; 31 bereaved parents whose children died in an accident; and 81 nonbereaved parents. Findings indicated significant differences between the bereaved groups and the control group on the total scale score of the HSCL and on the subscales measuring Depression, Anxiety, Somatization, Obsession-Compulsion, and Interpersonal Sensitivity. However, there were no differences on these variables between the two bereaved groups. Bereaved parents with higher concurrent life stresses and parents from a lower socioeconomic background were at higher risk for emotional symptomatology. There were no significant differences among the three groups on the number of physician/nurse visits, number of hospital admissions, number of new or recurrent illnesses, or drug usage. Bereaved parents, however, more frequently reported appetite and sleep problems.

Achievement Need versus Moral Judgment

Abstract: This study alters the traditional moral judgement model by (1) introducing three competing motivations into dilemmas constructed expressly for an adolescent population; (2) developing two experimental conditions in which an objective‐impersonal judgement of another's behaviour was paralleled by a subjective‐personal choice to act in a situation of exactly the same moral crisis. A random sample of 695 students from four grades of five philosophically and socioeconomically distinct schools responded to two instruments constructed by the researcher, the Life Principles Scale and the Life Experiences Scale. Although the condition effect was significant for only one variable (immoral resolutions), the preponderance of Preconventional moral resolutions combined with the achievement (amoral) and immoral resolutions accounted for almost 60 per cent of the total resolutions. On this basis it was concluded that the presence of competing motivations in dilemmas may increase the degree to which egocentric choices prevail when self‐interest and principled morality are in conflict The relation of the methodological novelty of the study to a number of recommendations for moral development and classroom work in moral education were also presented.

An experimental scale of social competence for adult males.

Summary A 21-item, multiple choice questionnaire regarding social history was developed to measure the social competence level of adult males. The Life Experience Scale (LES) was evolved as an expansion of the process-reactive distinction so that this concept could be applied to nonschizophrenics. Scores were unrelated to age or to socio-economic status for three different samples. The test-retest reliability coefficient for a one month delay was .87 (df = 15, p < .001). The LES was related to the Ullmann and Giovannoni self-report measure r = .84 (df = 15, p <.001) and also related to VA ratings for psychiatric disability r = -.57 (df = 19, p < .01). A comparable range of LES scores was found for schizophrenic, alcoholic, and normal groups of 24 Ss each.