Rohan, a 19-year-old college student in Chandigarh, meets a counsellor because he feels tired and low. She gives him a self-rating questionnaire of life changes developed for the Indian population and asks him to tick the events he has experienced in the last year. He ticks the death of his grandfather, failure in an examination, a road accident eight months ago and his family's happy move to a new house. He tells her that he still has flashbacks and intrusive thoughts about the accident. He also complains about his long commute through traffic snarls and the water shortage in his hostel. The counsellor plans to study whether these events are linked to his recent illness.
How will the counsellor arrive at Rohan's stress score on this scale?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → By adding the numerical values of all events he ticked
Option (1) By adding the numerical values of all events he ticked — Correct. Each event on the scale has a value fixed by its severity. The score is the weighted sum: the values of all events Rohan ticked for the past year are added together.
Option (2) By counting the events he ticked, without any weights — Incorrect. A plain count would treat a grandfather's death and a house move as equal. The scale gives each event its own weight, so a bare count is not the score.
Option (3) By taking the highest value among the events he ticked — Incorrect. The score uses every ticked event. Taking the highest value would leave out the other events.
Option (4) By averaging the numerical values of the events he ticked — Incorrect. The score is a sum. The 'mean stress score' in the scale is the value fixed for each single event.
NCERT (2026-27): “Life Events … |