Chapter 12 Flashcards
Stress, Health, and Coping
stress
physiological and psychological experience of significant life events, trauma, and chronic strain
PTSD
a medical syndrome that includes symptoms of anxiety, sleeplessness, etc. frequently experienced by victims or witnesses of violence, abuse, natural disasters, war
Hans Selye
studied stress with rats, developing general adaptation syndrome
general adaptation syndrome
refers to the three distinct phases of physiological change that occur in response to long-term stress (alarm, resistance, and exhaustion)
alarm
body releases stress hormones
resistance
after a period of chronic stress, the body adapts to ongoing threat and tries to return to normalcy, while glucose and blood pressure continues to increase
exhaustion
body runs out of energy reserves and immunity, blood sugar levels decrease, leading to decreased stress tolerance, progressive exhaustion, illness, and collapse, organs begin to fail
HPA axis
a physiological response to stress involving interactions among the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands
HPA response
begins when H secretes releasing hormones that direct the P gland to release ACTH, which directs the adrenal glands to secrete more hormones (like norepinephrine, epinephrine, and cortisol)
cardiac output
more blood being pumped
Holmes and Rahe stress scale
a measure of some everyday life events that might lead to stress
Social Readjustment Scale
measures whether stressful events might cause illnesses
daily hassles
our everyday interactions with the env that are essentially negative that also create stress
Meyer Friedman and R. H. Rosenman
among the first to study the link between stress and heart disease, finding that men are more likely to respond to stressors with negative emotions and hostility
tend-and-befriend response
a behavioural reaction to stress that involves activities designed to create social networks that provide protection from threats
Daniel Wegner
found that ppl can’t suppress simple thoughts
James Pennebaker
found that simply talking or writing about our emotions or reactions to negative events provides substantial health benefits
emotion regulation
ability to successfully control our emotions and can be trained
Walter Mischel
conducted an experiment with marshmallows, finding that effective self-regulation is important to positive characteristics and life success
stress’s effects on health outcomes
- personal (stressors’ damage on health are substantial)
- socioeconomic (differential exposure to stress can produce gender, racial, ethnic, and social class inequalities in health)
- sociopolitical (stressors proliferate over life and across generations, widening health gaps between privileged and non-privileged groups)
adrenaline
hormone that increases heart rate, blood pressure, and energy supplies
cortisol
primary stress hormone that increases blood sugars, brain’s consumption of glucose, availability of substances that repair tissues, alters immune system responses, and suppresses the digestive, reproductive, and growth systems
eustress
proposed by Selye to refer to stress that’s not necessarily debilitative and could be potentially facilitative to a person’s well-being, capacity, or performance
hardiness theoretical model
presented by Kobasa, illustrating resilient stress response patterns in individuals and groups, contributes to better health and performance
elements involved in hardiness
- commitment (tendency to see the world as interesting)
- control (belief in one’s ability to control or influence events)
- challenge (involves seeking change and new experiences as exciting opportunities to learn and grow)
inverted U hypothesis
asserts that, up to a point, stress can be growth-inducing, but that there’s a point when stress becomes too much and debilitative
stress as a response model
introduced by Selye to describe stress as a physiological response pattern
stress as a stimulus model
introduced by Holmes and Rahe to view stress as a significant life event or change that demands, response, adjustment, or adaptation
core assumptions of Rahe and Holmes
- change is inherently stressful
- life events demand the same levels of adjustment across the pop
- there’s a common threshold beyond which illness will result
transactional theory of stress and coping
developed by Richard Lazarus to present stress as a product of a transaction between a person and their env
Lazarus’s and Folkman’s model of stress appraisal
- primary appraisal (determining whether the stressor poses a threat)
- secondary appraisal (evaluating available resources and coping strategies for addressing perceived threats)
- reappraisal (ongoing process that involves continually reappraising both the nature of the stressor and the resources available for coping)
stress coping
specific process of cognitive appraisal to determine whether an individual believes they have the resources to respond effectively to the challenges of a stressor
locus of control
proposed by Rotter
internal locus of control
person believes that their achievements and outcomes are determined by their own decisions and efforts
external locus of control
a person believes that achievements and outcomes are determined by fate, luck, or other
sense of coherence
defined by Antonovsky as an orientation that expresses the extent of one’s confidence that the stimuli from env are structured and predictable, resources are available to meet the demands of stimuli, and these demands are challenges
self-efficacy
defined by Albert Bandura as the extent of one’s belief in one’s ability to complete tasks and reach goals
stress-related growth/thriving
a dispositional response to stress that enables the individual to see opportunities for growth as opposed to threat or debilitation
health psychology
field devoted to understanding the connections between psych and health
biopsychosocial model of health
posits that biology, psych, and social factors are just as important in disease development as biological causes
biomedical model of health
considers the physical factors contributing to illness
stressor
coined by Selye to refer to a stimulus that had an effect on the body
5 factors in resilience and its ability to protect/harm health
- coping
- control and SE
- social relationships
- dispositions and emotions
- stress management
coping
how individuals cope with stressors can have a significant health impact
problem-focused coping
actively addressing the event that’s causing stress to solve the issue
emotion-focused coping
regulates the emotions that come with stress
control and SE
having the belief that you have control over a situation is tied to better health and coping ability
social relationships
social isolation has a significant effect on our risk for disease and death
social integration
refers to the number of social roles that you have and a lack of isolation
dispositions and emotions
negative dispositions and traits are strongly tied to health risks
Type A behaviour
individuals who tend to be competitive, impatient, and hostile, doubles the risk of heart disease
Type B behaviour
positive traits that serve as an ‘antidote’ to stress by protecting us against its effects
stress management
interventions designed to reduce aversive responses to stress
