B1

Question 1

what are life events?

Answer 1

They are important events that happen in an individual’s life, we experience them as stressful because we need to make a psychological adjustment to cope with the change. The bigger the event the more we need to adjust so it is more stressful. The effects of life events add up, if two major life events happen at once you’ll need to make a bigger psychological adjustment to be able to cope with the changes.

Question 2

how to measure life events?

Answer 2

Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe made the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) to measure life events. It is a list of 43 life events, each life event is given a number of Life Change Units (LCU). the number shows the amount of adjustment an individual needs to adapt to that life event. The person then choses all the life events they have experienced and the level of stress is calculated by adding the LCU of each life event.

Question 3

how are life events associated with ill health?

Answer 3

Researchers have used the SRRS to see if ill health is associated with life events. Most studies find out the total LCU for the past 6 or 12 months. Rache (1972) said that a person scoring under 150 has a 30% chance of experiencing a stress related illness in the following year. The probability increases 50% for scoring between 150 - 299 LCU. it increases again by 80% for someone who scores over 300 LCU.

Question 4

what is a strength of Life Events?

Answer 4

Lietzen followed 17,000 participants. None of them had asthma at the beginning of the research. At the end 192 developed asthma. There was a moderate positive correlation with life events.

Question 5

what is a weakness of Life Events?

Answer 5

Assumes all life events are negative and stressful. This means this scale might not be valid.

Question 6

what are Daily Hassles?

Answer 6

minor irritations and frustrations that occur on a day a day basis. We think about them because we think of them negatively causing us to think that we are unable to cope with them.

Question 7

what did Kanner et al find?

Answer 7

Developed the hassles scale. It lists 117 daily hassles from categories, like work and family etc. every day you chose the hassles that occurred on that day and rate them from severity on a scale of 1 to 3. You add up the severity scores to get a total score for that day.
Kanner also produced the Uplift scale. Uplifts are small daily ‘boosts’ that make us feel better. They counteract the stress of hassles.

Question 8

how are Daily Hassles associated with ill health?

Answer 8

Daily hassles can damage our health because we experience them so often, usually more than one throughout the day. They can make us ill because of their connection to life events, life events usually disrupt our normal daily hassles. Life events are an indirect source of stress which affects us because it creates more hassles. The hassles are stressful because we experience the directly.

Question 9

what is a strength of Daily Hassles?

Answer 9

Kanner et al 1981 tested 100 participants ages 45-64. These individuals had to complete the scale every month for 9 months, in addition to measuring psychological symptoms of anxiety and depression. They found there was a significant positive correlation between hassle frequency and psychological symptoms at the start and end.

Question 10

what is a weakness of Daily Hassles?

Answer 10

What is an issue using retrospective questioning? Asking them about the last month —> lowers reliability of the study

Question 11

what are the two types of role-conflict in the Workplace?

Answer 11

Intra-Role conflict: the role has competing demands i.e two projects at once
inter-Role conflict: has two roles with competing demands i.e student and employee

Question 12

how can the environment effect stress in the Workplace?

Answer 12

Temperature: if the environment is too hot it is then associated with stress and aggressive behaviour, if the environment is too cold it also causes stress because it is a negative stimulus that can cause distress.
Noise: if the environment is too noisy then that can cause stress because noise is unpleasant and it causes people to stop working, some noise can not be controlled making it more stressful.

Question 13

how can the level of control effect stress in the Workplace?

Answer 13

The amount of control someone has over their work can cause them more or less stress. If an individual has less control over their work them they will become more stressed . if the individual has more control over their work they will be less stressed.

Question 14

what is a strength of the Workplace?

Answer 14

Johansson et al (1978) compared low risk workers (maintenance workers) and high risk workers (working with heavy machinery away from others) in the same saw mill. They measured stress hormones (adrenaline and noradrenaline) alone with self reported levels of stress. They found the levels of stress were higher in the high risk group overall. The high risk group had higher levels before leaving the house which increased during the day. They also had a higher rate of illness and absenteeism.

Weakness of the study:
Self report lowers validity

Question 15

what is a weakness of the Workplace?

Answer 15

There are culture differences, lack of control is considered stressful in Individualist cultures. However, control was seen as less desirable in collectivist cultures.

Question 16

what are the 3C’s of a Hardy personality?

Answer 16

Commitment: throw themselves into life and have a strong sense of purpose
Challenge: they are resilient and welcome change rather than thinking its a threat
Control: strong believe they are in charge of events, they make things happen rather than things happening to them

Question 17

what is a type A and type B personality?

Answer 17

A: competitiveness, time urgency and hostil → gets stressed easily
B: more laid back, carefree and relaxed

Question 18

what is a strength of personality?

Answer 18

Rosenmen (1976) → 3,000 men either Type A or type B in their 60s, All free from coronary heart disease
After 8.5 yrs:
257 got CHD
70% were type A
Type A = higher stress hormones, increase cholesterol and blood pressure
Out of the people with CHD who did not die from a heart attack. After several years Type B survivors were more likely to die than type A. Type A were more motivated to make positive lifestyle changes after a first heart attack, reducing the risk of a second.

Question 19

what is a weakness of personality?

Answer 19

Measurement issues:
Hardiness and type A are measured using self report in any questionnaire

Question 20

what did Selye (1936) find?

Answer 20

Selye (1936) said the stress response was positive because it allows a person to protect themselves.
He said that when animals (including humans) are exposed to unpleasant stimuli they display a universal response to all stressors.

Question 21

what does General stand for in GAS?

Answer 21

The response is the same to all stressors

Question 22

what does Adaptation stand for in GAS?

Answer 22

The best way for the body to cope with stress.

Question 23

what does Syndrome stand for in GAS?

Answer 23

Group of symptoms

Question 24

what happens in the Alarm stage (fist stage of GAS)?

Answer 24

When the threat or stressor is recognised, Hypothalamus releases Adrenaline and Noradrenaline 🡪 Physical responses

Question 25

what happens in the Resistance stage (second stage of GAS)?

Answer 25

body attempts to adapt to the stressful environment and body attempts to conserve energy

Question 26

what happens in the Exhaustion stage (third stage of GAS)?

Answer 26

Body’s resources have become depleted. Immune system becomes compromised.

Question 27

what happens in the first stage of SAM?

Answer 27

The route through which the brain directs the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) to activate in response to short-term stress.

Question 28

what happens in the second stage of SAM?

Answer 28

The hypothalamus activates the sympathetic branch of the ANS, which then signals the adrenal medulla to secrete adrenaline and noradrenaline.

Question 29

what happens in the third stage of SAM?

Answer 29

The sympathetic nervous system itself has direct connections to the heart and activation speeds up heart rate and raises blood pressure. These effects are increased and sustained by the release of adrenaline and noradrenaline.

Question 30

what happens in the last stage of SAM?

Answer 30

End result is that oxygen is rapidly pumped to the muscles allowing for increased physical activity. As a result of all this the person is ready for ‘fight or flight’.

Question 31

what happens in the first stage of HPA?

Answer 31

The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal system (HPA axis) is a system that directly influences the endocrine system to active the stress response

Question 32

what happens in the second stage of HPA?

Answer 32

When the brain interprets a stressor, the hypothalamus produces a hormone called CRF (corticotropin releasing hormone), which stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone), which stimulates the adrenal cortex, part of the adrenal glands

Question 33

what happens in the last stage of HPA?

Answer 33

The adrenal cortex then secretes corticosteroids, which help to increase energy levels

Question 34

what is a strength of Physiological Responses?

Answer 34

Research indicates a third response existed when a person or animal is under threat, and that is to ‘freeze’. It’s an attempt to avoid confrontation altogether. During the freeze response the person or animal is hyper-vigilant while they quickly assess the situation for the next move. This is cognitive paralysis / the mind going blank until the threat has passed.

Question 35

what is a weakness of Physiological Response?

Answer 35

Increased levels of cortisol in the body can lead to suppressing immune function.
Modern stressors are often chronic which can lead to damage to the body.

Question 36

what is a weakness of Physiological Response?

Answer 36

Females adopt a ‘tend and befriend’ approach to a threat/danger. Taylor (2006) suggested that women are more likely to protect their offspring (tend) & form alliances with other women (befriend) rather than fight or run.

Question 37

what is a weakness of Physiological Response?

Answer 37

Lazarus (1991) pointed out that we cognitively appraise a stressor by working out if it is a threat and whether we have resources to cope. Seleye’s research with rats does not present a full picture of human stress

Question 38

What does the immune system do?

Answer 38

The body’s defence against invading antigens. Its activity can be suppressed by stress, reducing its activity and effectiveness

Question 39

What is innate immunity?

Answer 39

General response to any antigen, Fast, Involves White blood cells (WBC) and NK (natural killer) cells that destroy tumour cells and cells infected with virus

Question 40

What is acquired immunity?

Answer 40

Immunity you develop over your lifetime. It can come from: a vaccine or exposure to an infection or disease, Lymphocytes that recognise and destroy specific antigens, Memory T and killer T cells which recognise and destroy

Question 41

What can increase ill health?

Answer 41

Direct biological effects e.g. physical strain, hormonal changes. Cortisol suppresses immune system, Maladaptive coping behaviour e.g. smoking, drinking alcohol, Emotionally mediated effects on diet and activity level

Question 42

what are the Short term impacts?

Answer 42

Stress can affect this brain-gut communication, and may trigger pain, bloating, and other gut discomfort to be felt more easily. Stress can also make pain be felt more easily in the bowels. It can affect how quickly food moves through the body. Furthermore, stress can induce muscle spasms in the bowel, which can be painful.
Tension headaches can be due to stress .This is due to the fight/ flight constricting blood vessels leading to tension headaches.

Question 43

How does acute stress cause heart problems?

Answer 43

The SNS (sympathetic nervous system) constricts the blood vessels, which leads to an increase of blood pressure and heart rate.
The increased blood pressure wears away the lining of the blood vessels.
The increased blood pressure can dislodge plaques on the walls of arteries.
This limits the flow of oxygen-rich blood to your organs and other parts of your body.

Question 44

what are the Stressors on the heart?

Answer 44

Cholesterol – used to produce hormones and bile.
Cardiovascular disorder: any disorder of the heart and circulatory system
If you have high levels this can build up on the walls of your arteries restricting the blood flow to the heart and the brain and increasing the likelihood of a blood clot – used to produce hormones and bile .
Hypertension – the force at which your heart pumps blood around the body. This increases the likelihood of strokes / heart attacks.
Stress hormones can cause atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries) by increasing the formation of fatty clumps (plaque) on the artery walls
This could indirectly be caused by stress coping behaviours such as eating foods high in cholesterol, alcohol etc.
Over time, stress may affect the cardiovascular system.
High blood pressure (hypertension)
Coronary heart disease (narrowing of arteries)

Question 45

what can Strokes cause?

Answer 45

Cardiovascular disorders are not simply heart attacks.
A stroke maybe due to a lack of oxygen to a part of the brain (blocked blood vessel) or blood leaking into the brain.

Question 46

what did Ute-Wilbert-Lampen (2008) find?

Answer 46

Acute Stressor e.g. sudden emotional arousal
U W-L looked at incidences of heart attacks during matches (played in Germany) during the 2006 World Cup.
Findings: Cardiac emergencies increased by 2.66 times (compared with a control period).

Question 47

what is HIV?

Answer 47

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that damages the cells in your immune system and weakens your ability to fight everyday infections and disease.

Question 48

what is Chronic stress?

Answer 48

Long-term stressors result in the production of cortisol.

Cortisol produced by HPA stress inhibits production of lymphocytes.
Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell.
They fight any infection / foreign cells that enter the body.

Question 49

what is Immunosuppression in chronic stress?

Answer 49

The immune systems ability to fight off the antigens is reduced and we are much more likely to pick up infections as a result.
The stress is not the cause of the illness but does make us much more susceptible to infectious agents by temporarily suppressing the immune system
This is IMMUNOSUPPRESSION

Question 50

what is a strength of Stress and ill health?

Answer 50

Kiecolt-Glaser (1984) – whether the stress of important examinations had an effect on the immune system.
75 medical students
Blood test - 1. Month before exam period 2. Final exam week
Mild chronic stressor leads to immunosuppression
Significantly lower NK cell activity in the 2nd blood sample

Question 51

what is a weakness of Stress and ill health?

Answer 51

Dharbhar (2008) subjected rats to mild short-lived stressors and found that this stimulated a significant immune response. So, the immune system can actually give some projection against acute stressors. But long term stressors are damaging to the immune and cardiovascular systems. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRESS AND ILLNESS IS MUCH MORE COMPLEX THAN WE THINK

Question 52

what is a weakness of Stress and ill health?

Answer 52

Pereia et al (2003) studied women who were HIV-positive. HIV is a virus that reduces immune system activity. Women who experience many stressful life events were more likely to develop pre cancerous lesions of the cervix than women who experienced fewer.

Question 53

what is a weakness of Stress and ill health?

Answer 53

Other things might have an impact on our health, indirect results of stress i.e. less sleep, a change in diet, smoking, alcohol. Can’t be sure that cortisol is the only cause of illness.