
Introduction

Now that you have completed the stress test we are going to show you the
results and discuss what they mean.  But before doing so a few words of
caution might be in order.  Scores on tests like these are expressed in
the precise language of arithmetic.  In that language 1 + 1 = 2 and 4 is
twice as much as 2.  Always and exactly.  But when that language is
applied to the real world there is always a little slippage.  When
measured precisely a steel rod 4 inches long turns out to be only
approximately twice as long as one 2 inches long.  The more precise the
measurement the less certain is the application of numbers to the real
world.

So it is with this stress test.  The scores reflect your judgement of your
stress level on the day you took it.  On another day when you are feeling
a little differently some of the item entries might be a little different
and the scores would be changed accordingly.  Since that is the case
approach what you read here with what a famous psychologist once called
cool benevolence.  Read it think about and take it seriously enough to act
on it.  But don't become obsessed about the numbers.  An overall test
score of 95 is not a lot better than 100 and not a lot worse than 90.
These numbers are pointers not meters.

Test Results

Now let's look at the test results.  The test consists of thirty items
each of which is scored on a 1 to 5 scale.  Therefore if you scored each
one of the items at 1 the lowest possible score for an individual item you
would get a total score of thirty.  If you scored each item at 5 the
highest possible score for an individual item you would get a total score
of one hundred and fifty.  So your overall score on this test must lie
somewhere in the range of thirty to one hundred and fifty.

In addition the test items can be grouped so that they show your scores on
three sub-tests: one for physical stress one for emotional stress and one
for social stress.  That means we can analyze your stress levels by four
scores one for the overall test and one for each of the three sub-tests.

To understand the significance of these scores we need to understand two
things.  First the structure of the stress test itself.  Each test item
reflects a specific kind of stress.  You were asked to estimate the
frequency with which that stress symptom occurs in your life.  High scores
mean that you are experiencing that particular symptom very frequently
while low scores mean that you aren't experiencing that stress very often.
Second the role of individual differences in the expression of their
stress.  No two people express their stress in exactly the same way.
Everyone has their own pattern of stress expression.  Therefore to
understand your stress you need to know something about the pattern with
which you express the stress.  The stress test is designed to tell you
something about both the frequency of expression of stress symptoms and
the pattern of their occurrence.

Now let's consider the results.   The score ranges reflect low medium and
high levels of stress. By seeing where your scores fit in those ranges you
can estimate your stress level.

Let's look at the physical stress scores which are in the first sub-test.
The items in that group are concerned with the bodily symptoms of stress
like tightness in the chest tension headaches or sweaty palms.  A low
score on this test indicates that you are expressing your stress in some
other way.  A high score on this sub-test indicates that you are the kind
of person who expresses your stress somewhere in your body.  Stress can be
expressed in any organ system from the skin to the activity of the heart.
[Sometimes it is hard to tell if you are having a stress-related reaction
or not when you are experiencing physical symptoms.  When in doubt be sure
to check with your physician].  Your physical symptoms are probably
stress-related if their severity varies with the intrusiveness of the
stressors in your life e.g. if the only time you get headaches is when the
boss asks you to work overtime.

Now we can consider the emotional sub-test.  This sub-test describes the
emotional and cognitive aspects of stress like being angry for no good
reason or forgetting an important appointment.  A low score on this test
implies that stress has little effect on how you feel or think.  A high
score indicates that you express stress through your emotions and how you
think.  The most likely form of emotional expression in the early stages
of stress is irritability.  You know the short fuse.  Somebody says Good
morning and you say What's so good about it?  Later stages of emotionally
expressed stress can include irrational outbursts of anger and feelings of
depression.  [Stress is not the only reason for sustained feelings of
negative emotionality.  If you are not sure if your feelings are stress-
related you might want to confer with a psychologist or some other mental
health professional].  These symptoms are probably stress-related if their
severity varies with the intrusiveness of stressors in your life e.g. if
you get depressed only when your spouse (or other significant other) is
giving you a hard time.

The last sub-test is concerned with the social aspects of stress.  If you
find yourself feeling alienated from your family or angry when someone
praises you there is a possibility that you are feeling some socially
related stress.  A low score on this sub-test implies that you express
your stress in personal rather than social ways.  A high score indicates
that you tend to express your stress through your interactions with other
people.  For example this can include being upset when meeting strangers
feeling confused and angry at being praised or finding it difficult to
give negative feedback to someone.  Such symptoms are probably stress-
related if they occur in the absence of a long history of such problems
coupled with an increase in  the severity of your stressors e.g. they
begin to occur while you are coping with a chronic illness in your family.

The final score to consider is the overall stress test score.  This is
simply an integration of the scores on the three tests.  If this score is
low it probably means that your stress level is not a cause for immediate
alarm.  You might want to use this time to learn some relaxation skills to
get ready for the time when the stress levels will increase.  If the score
is in the moderate or high range it probably means that your pattern of
stress expression involves all three areas covered in the stress sub-
tests.  You can best understand it by considering the pattern of the three
sub-tests in relation to each other.  [Scott:  Please put instructions in
at this point for getting to the graphic display of the test results].

If the pattern discloses that one area is significantly higher than the
others e.g that you tend to express much of your high stress level
emotionally then that's what you need to deal with.  If they are all high
then the stress has affected much of your life.  Treat the pattern as a
set of pointers to tell you what to pay attention to.  Your good judgement
will tell you what to do next.
