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| What Is the Stress Level of Your Household? |
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Can you cut the tension in your household with a knife? Or do you and your family members tend to be calm, cool and collected most of the time?
It's no secret that life these days is very hectic, nor is it a secret that stress is today's #1 cause of disease.
Meanwhile, home is supposed to be our safe haven, our place to de-stress after our long, busy days out in the world ... though in reality for many families it is anything but that. Getting a grasp on your household stress level is a first crucial step toward reducing the overall stress level in our homes -- and this test can help.
Take the following quiz to get a more precise sense of just how stressed out your family is feeling right now.
After you finish the survey and get your results, you can guess what your other family member's results will be in the spaces provided. This interesting test will then automatically be sent to them. After they take it, you'll be able to find out if your guesses were right or wrong!
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1.
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I feel that the pressures of my work life and/or my spouse's work life have been increasing the level of stress in our household.
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A
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Strongly agree |
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B
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Agree |
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C
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Disagree |
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D
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Strongly disagree | |
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2.
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In our household, supper most typically consists of:
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A
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Winging it; everyone eats at separate times |
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B
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Television and a take-out or "quickie" meal |
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C
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A quick bite out at a local dining establishment |
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D
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Home-cooked meals eaten together | |
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3.
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In this day and age, with computers, cell phones, Blackberries, etc., it is sometimes necessary for my spouse and/or I to do some work at home, which affects my family life in the following way:
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A
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Does not have a negative impact |
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B
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Adds a little stress |
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C
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Adds a moderate amount of stress |
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D
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Adds a great deal of stress | |
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4.
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Sit-down family suppers happen at our house:
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A
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Never |
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B
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Sometimes |
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C
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Often |
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D
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Always | |
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5.
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If my spouse and I have a disagreement in the presence of the children:
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A
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They join in the debate |
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B
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They get visibly upset |
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C
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They leave the room |
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D
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They understand that adults sometimes disagree, because we have discussed it as a family | |
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6.
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Generally speaking, how do you handle food shopping?
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A
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Pick up items throughout the week, haphazardly and at random |
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B
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Shop with the kids, who sometimes run around in the store |
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C
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Shop with a list, and without the kids |
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D
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Use an online shopping/delivery service | |
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7.
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Overall, my behavior around my spouse and children is:
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A
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Calm and relaxed |
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B
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Sometimes calm, sometimes stressed |
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C
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Quite stressed out |
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D
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Very stressed out | |
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8.
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A typical weekday morning in our home is:
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A
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Total chaos |
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B
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Semi-chaotic |
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C
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More calm than chaotic |
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D
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Generally calm and orderly | |
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9.
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Most of the time, my spouse and children would describe me as:
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A
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Calm, cool and collected |
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B
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Generally calm, with an occasional flare-up |
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C
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Pretty stressed out |
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D
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Very stressed out | |
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10.
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When it's time to put the kids to bed, the standard scenario in our house is:
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A
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A lot of whining and complaining |
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B
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Some whining and complaining |
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C
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A little bit of whining and complaining |
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D
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No whining or complaining | |
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11.
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For the most part, I believe that the parents set the overall tone and stress level in the household.
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A
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Strongly agree |
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B
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Agree |
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C
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Disagree |
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D
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Strongly disagree | |
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12.
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Regarding the household chores, I:
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A
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Handle all of them |
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B
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Do most of the work, with occasional assistance from my spouse and kids |
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C
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Keep a chore chart for all of us to share the work |
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D
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Hire a cleaning person / Have someone else do most of them | |
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13.
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There are certain areas in which I would like to decrease my stress level, and my household is one of them.
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A
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Strongly agree |
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B
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Agree |
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C
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Disagree |
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D
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Strongly disagree | |
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14.
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On a monthly basis, we set aside the following number of weekend days for family fun:
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A
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0-1 |
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B
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2 |
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C
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3 |
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D
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4 or more | |
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15.
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On weekend days, we typically:
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A
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Try to relax |
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B
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Do some relaxing and some organizing/cleaning |
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C
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Run around cramming in as many extracurricular activities as possible |
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D
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Organize/clean the whole time | |
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16.
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What number of extracurricular activities are your children participating in?
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A
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One per child |
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B
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Two per child |
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C
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Three per child |
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D
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Four or more per child | |
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17.
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Generally speaking, how are conflicts dealt with in your household?
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A
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Excessive drama and shouting |
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B
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Some drama and shouting |
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C
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Brush them under the rug |
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D
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We all air our grievances and then collectively try to solve the problem | |
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18.
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Regarding the household finances and budgeting, we:
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A
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Live paycheck to paycheck |
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B
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Keep a vague budget when we remember to do so |
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C
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Keep a pretty up-to-date budget and have some savings |
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D
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Have started saving substantially for a "rainy day," the kids' college, retirement, etc. | |
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19.
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Financial issues create conflict in our household:
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A
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Always |
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B
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Often |
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C
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Sometimes |
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D
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Never | |
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20.
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My spouse and I make sure to hire a sitter so that we can have a "date night":
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A
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Never |
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B
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Once in a blue moon |
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C
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Once a month |
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D
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Once a week | |
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