A cross-sectional study of the perceived stressfulness of several life events

Adults from different age groups (18-24, 30-40, and 65-86) were tested to determine if they differ in their perception of certain stressful life events. Twenty adults from each age group were asked to rate a series of events according to their perceived relative stressfulness; included were events thought to be particularly salient for elderly adults. Amster and Krauss' list of events and Holmes and Rahe's procedure for quantifying stress were used. Group differences were not found for the elderly salient events; however it was found that elderly adults perceive death-related events as less stressful than do younger adults.