Life change, its perception and alcohol addiction.

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Abstract
Sixty-eight alcoholics (men, 92% White, 43% married, mean age 45.9) enrolled in alcoholism treatment programs at 2 Veterans Administration hospitals were tested for life changes and their perceptions of them. After they were medically and psychiatrically stable, they completed the Social Readjustment Rating Questionnaire (SRRQ, Holmes and Rahe), the Schedule of Recent Experience (SRE, Holmes and Masuda) and the Manson Alcadd test. The results were compared with those in a normative group (Masuda and Holmes). Alcoholics rated life events usually perceived as highly stressful (i.e., divorce, death of spouse, being jailed, etc.) as less important and requiring less life change than did the normative group (P < .0002). Their ratings of low-stress events (i.e., vacations, changes in eating and sleeping habits, minor law violations) were similar to those of the normative group. High SRE scores, indicative of high life change, were correlated with high Alcadd scores, indicative of severe addiction (r = .34, P < .025). The correlation between SRE and SRRQ scores was inverse (r = -.30, P < .05).

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