Abstract
It has been well established that increased stress adversely affects one's health. The bulk of the previous research has focused on the vulnerabilities of their subjects to increased stress or decreased health status. Antonovsky proposes that researchers look at the positive factors of a subject that may decrease stress or increase health status via a new construct; the Sense of Coherence (SOC). The SOC incorporates personal behaviors, mental orientations, and available resources that are linked to good health. This study uses this construct to test the prediction of health status at two different time periods using a new survey instrument from that used by Antonovsky. Results were minor, but significant suggesting that the SOC may play a role in determining one's health status, but that role is not yet clear-primarily due to a construct that is difficult to operationalize. Future research should focus on testing this construct which uses a survey specifically designed for the measurement of the SOC.
Edmiston, John A (1996). Stress, health, and the sense of coherence. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1996 -THESIS -E33.