as a basis for investigation. The research performed for these studies was retrospective in character, and asked subjects to report illness histories, and personal life event changes for a 10-year time period. In this research, the numbers and types of illnesses experienced were related to the number of life event changes, which were called life change units (LCUs). As a general rule, these studies found that: fewer than 150 LCUs per year correlated with good health in the succeeding year; from 151-to-300 LCUs per year correlated with illness by 50 percent of clients in the succeeding year; and more than 300 LCUs per year correlated with illness by 70 percent of the clients in the succeeding year (Rabkin and Struening, 1976, pp. 31-54).
The SRRS weighted life changes according to gravity. The death of a spouse was accorded greater weight than was retirement from a job, as an example. Positive as well as negative life changes were included in the SRRS. The SRRS research recognized
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