Chapter 12 - Important concepts Flashcards
Groups that are at high risk for experience stressful events are what?
young and ummaried immigrants African Americans Aboriginals low SES
It is a myth that people from _____ areas experiencce less stress than ____-dwellers
rural
city
Most victims of child abuse turn out to be ________ adults.
healthy
Stressor that is so severe that it can produce long-term psychological or health consequences.
Traumatic event
What are different factors that contribute to people’s varying ability to grapple with stressful events.
Personal resources (Ex: support) Significance attached to stressful events (do I care) Inherent ability to grapple with stress (health)
Approach to stress that focuses on identifying different types of stressful events.
Stressors as stimuli
People’s varied reaction to the same event suggest that we can view stress as a _________ between people and their environments.
transaction
Researchers studying stress as a transaction focus on how people _______ and _____ with stressful events.
interpret & cope
When we encounter a potentially stressful event, we initiate _________ _________: the initial decision regarding whether an event is harmful.
primary appraisal
If we decide an event is stressful, we undergo ________ _________: the percetion regarding our ability to cope with an event that follows primary appraisal.
secondary appraisal
When we believe we cannot cope, we are more likey to experience a _____-blown _______ reaction than when we believe we can
full-blown stress reaction
When we are optimistic and think we can achieve our goals - we are especially likely to engage in _____-________ ________: a coping strategy in which we tackle life’s challenges head on
problem-focused coping
When situations arise that we have no control over, we are more likely to adopt _______-________ ________: a coping strategy that features a positive outlook on feelings or situations accompanied by behaviours that reduce painful emotions
emotion-focused coping
You did bad on a test but resolve to study harder next time. What coping strategy are you using?
Problem-focused coping
You get dumped, but realize that you were miserable anyway. What coping strategy are you using?
Emotion-focused coping
Which approach has pinpoited categories of events that most of us find dangerous and unpredictable?
Stressors as stimuli approach
Approach that assesses people’s psychological and physiological responses to stressors.
Stress as a response approach
This approach typically exposes subjects to stress-producing stimuli or, studies people hwo have recently undergone real-life stressors.
Stress as a response approach
This approach will measure corticosteroid levels after a stressful event.
Stress as a response approach
Why is measuring stress difficult?
What may be stressful for one person may be a minor annoyance for another
What are two scales that attempt to gauge the nature and impact of stressors?
SRRS - Social Readjustment Rating Scale
Hassles Scale
This scale is based on 43 life events ranked in terms of their stressfulness as rated by participants.
These are based on experiences in the previous year.
SRRS
Many items on the SRRS involve ____ _________.
life transitions
The number of stressful events people report over the previous year or so is associated with a variety of _______ _________.
physical disorders
The SRRS approach is flawed. How?
- Doesn’t measure people’s INTERPRETATION to different stressors
- coping behaviours
- support system
- Difficulty in accurate recall
- Doesn’t take into account chronic, ongoing stressors
- Certain items can be consequences, rather than causes of stress (ex: divorce)
This scale was developed to measure how stressful events, ranging from small annoyances to major daily pressures, affect our adjustment.
Hassles Scale
