Holmes & Rahe Non-Adult Stress Scale
Adults and children alike experience stress in everyday life. Commitments to school, family life, peer pressures, and difficulties in personal relationships are all important sources of stress. As the definition implies, stress upsets the normal equilibrium or balance in one's life. To measure stress according to the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, a modified scale has also been developed for non-adults. Similar to the adult scale, stress points for life events in the past year are added and compared to the rough estimate of how stress affects health.
| LIFE EVENT | LIFE CHANGE UNITS | SCORE |
| Death of parent | 100 | |
| Unplanned pregnancy/abortion | 100 | |
| Getting married | 95 | |
| Divorce of parents | 90 | |
| Acquiring a visible deformity | 80 | |
| Fathering a child | 70 | |
| Jail sentence of parent for over a year | 70 | |
| Marital separation of parents | 69 | |
| Death of a brother or sister | 68 | |
| Change in acceptance by peers | 67 | |
| Unplanned pregnancy of sister | 64 | |
| Discovery of being an adopted child | 63 | |
| Marriage of parent to stepparent | 63 | |
| Having a visible congenital deformity | 62 | |
| Serious illness requiring hospitalization | 58 | |
| Failure of a grade in school | 56 | |
| Not making an extracurricular activity | 55 | |
| Hospitalization of parent | 55 | |
| Jail sentence of parent for over 30 days | 53 | |
| Breaking up with boyfriend or girlfriend | 53 | |
| Beginning to date | 51 | |
| Suspension from school | 50 | |
| Becoming involved with drugs/alcohol | 50 | |
| Birth of a brother or sister | 50 | |
| Increase in arguments between parents | 47 | |
| Loss of job by parent | 46 | |
| Outstanding personal achievement | 46 | |
| Change in parent's financial status | 45 | |
| Accepted at college of choice | 43 | |
| Being a senior in high school | 42 | |
| Hospitalization of a sibling | 41 | |
| Increased absence of parent from home | 38 | |
| Brother or sister leaving home | 37 | |
| Addition of third adult to family | 34 | |
| Becoming a full member of a church | 31 | |
| Decrease in arguments between parents | 26 | |
| Mother or father beginning work | 26 |
Score of 300+: At risk of illness.
Score of 150-299+: Risk of illness is moderate (reduced by 30% from the above risk).
Score of 150 or below: Only have a slight risk of illness.