Symptom contamination of life event scales.

One hundred and seventy postpartum women completed the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The point-biserial correlation between each item on the SRRS and the BDI was calculated. The four items identified by Lehman (1978) as being symptoms rather than life events per se were more highly correlated with the BDI than the remaining items. However, the correlation between the life event scale and the BDI was not significantly lowered after these items were removed. It is concluded that while life event scales should not include such symptom-like items, the contention made by some critics of the life event literature that all research using the Holmes and Rahe instrument is undermined soley because of the inclusion of these items, may be inappropriate.