14: Stress 2 Flashcards
Describe how stress causes increased aging:
Greater stress -> Increased Cortisol
Increased Cortisol -> Inhibits telomerase
- this causes the nonsense DNA to degrade faster (and rebuild slower), meaning that you start cutting FUNCTIONAL DNA instead of NONSENSE DNA
Inhibits telomerase -> Shorter telomeres
- which means u cut real DNA faster; = increased aging
Combining response and stimulus-based definitions of stress, describe Lazarus’ appraisal model of stress.
Firstly, does this matter to me?
No - no stress response
Yes- secondary appraisal
Secondary appraisal: Can I cope with it?
No - Stress (what we’ve been talking about)
Yes - Enjoyable Challenge
What are some of the variables that correlate with stress?
Ability to cope: - correlation
Number of stressors: + correlation
Eustress vs Distress: + correlation
Self-efficacy: - correlation
Emotional Burnout: + correlation
Cognitive burnout: + correlation
How might we define stress?
When an individual perceives AND responds to events that they appraise as overwhelming or threatening to their well-being.
What are the three broad catagories of stressful events?
Traumatic life events: Don’t necessariyl associate with health directly, more through psychological expeirences
Life Changes: Happens from time to time, but not necessariyl a day to day occurance
Hassles: Annoying coworkers, etc. These have the biggest impact on your health!
What are emotion-Focused Coping strageties? Name em, and what do they try to do? When do you use em?
They attempt to reduce negative emotions instead of solving the problem
Positive comparisons: Comparing to someone else worse off than you
Seeking Positives: Trying to find the positive in your situation
Reappraisal: Change your relationship with stressor. Ex/ Oh noes, a pop quiz. Well, at least I came to class today!
Often, people use these methods when the problem is beyond solving.
What are probelm-Focused coping strageties? What do they attempt to do? When do we use them?
Probel, focused coping styles attempt to adress the root cause of the stress, not the symptoms.
OFten, we use them when we have control, as compared to emotion-focused coping styles, where we use them when we have no control
What are the effects of stress and control?
Objective measures of control are less important than subjective measures of control.
A study on nurses, work load, job satisfaction, found that it was the psychological appraisal of control that determined your experience.
What is learned helplessness?
After repeatedly experiencing a stressful situation with no solution, you believe you lack control over your life, even when positive opportunities come your way.
Explain the difference between people with and without learned helplessness:
Internal: I am so dumb
External: I’m not dumb, the test was shit
Stable: I will alwasy be dumb
Unstable: I did bad on test, but it won’t always be this bad
Global: I sucked on midterm 1, I’m gonna such suck on midterm 2, and everythign sucks!
Specific: I did bad on midterm 1, but that doesn’t apply to everyhing else
How does stress and social support interact?
Social support:
- helps us deal with stress
- having a good friend changes how we experinece pain
- helps us adjest to university
They end up living longer, even through SMALL TALK
People with friends also get sick less often, get better sleep, less stress, etc.
not because of how much friends they had, but because of how many friends they “THOUGHT” they had. percieved!
