Authors : Ayyoub Malek , Nosratollah Poorafkary , Hossein Dadashzadeh and Abdorrasool Safaeeyan
Abstract: This study was aimed to determine the ranking order of stressful life events among general population of Tabriz-Iran. In this descriptive and cross-sectional study 600 individuals over 18 years old in Tabriz were selected with the data of provincial health center using randomized cluster and systematic sampling. The subjects were asked to differentiate the rate of stressfulness of each event by scoring between 0-20 on a relatively modified version of Holms-Rahe scale of stress ratings. Death of child" has the highest score of the stressful events (mean = 19.75 and Standard error = 0.005), while "summer vacation" devotes the least score to itself (mean = 4.06 and Standard error = 0.23). In comparison of the total mean score of stressfulness, women have significantly higher total mean than men (13.04 vs. 11.48, p = 0.0001), as well as in different age groups, the age group of 18-39 (mean = 12.64) has significantly devoted the highest mean to itself (p = 0.008). The results indicate that the socio-cultural as well as age and gender differences in the researches regarding the ranking and quantification of the stressful life events should be noticed. However, there are still common events in different cultures which exert the same effects of stressfulness, excluding the effects of socio-cultural factors or individual`s perception.
Ayyoub Malek , Nosratollah Poorafkary , Hossein Dadashzadeh and Abdorrasool Safaeeyan , 2008. Ranking of Stressful Life Events in General Population of Tabriz, Iran. Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 3: 993-998.