Chapter 13

Question 1

stressors

Answer 1

specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten the person’s well-being.

Question 2

stress

Answer 2

the physical and psychological response to internal or external stressors

Question 3

health psychology

Answer 3

the subfield of psychology concerned with the ways psychological factors influence the causes and treatment of physical illness and the maintenance of health.

Question 4

Adding up the stress ratings of each life change experienced

Answer 4

is a significant indicator of a person’s likelihood of future illness.

Question 5

positive events

Answer 5

often require readjustment and preparedness that many people find extremely stressful.

Question 6

chronic stressors

Answer 6

sources of stress that occur continuously or repeatedly. Strained relationships, discrimination, bullying, overwork, money troubles can accumulate to produce distress and illness. People who report being affected by daily hassles also report more psychological symptoms and physical symptoms and these effects often have a greater and longer-lasting impact than major life events.

Question 7

social relationships

Answer 7

many chronic stressors are linked to these. Being outside the in-group can be stressful. Being actively targeted by members of the in group can be even more stressful, especially if this happens repeatedly over time.

Question 8

city life

Answer 8

noise, traffic, crowding, pollution, and the threat of violence provide particularly insistent sources of chronic stress.

Question 9

rural areas

Answer 9

isolation and lack of access to amenities such as health care also causes chronic stress.

Question 10

environmental psychology

Answer 10

the scientific study of environmental effects on behavior and health.

Question 11

stressors challenge you to do something

Answer 11

to take action to eliminate or overcome the stressor. Events are most stressful when there is nothing to do and no way to deal with the challenge. Expecting that you will have control over what happens to you is associated with greater effectiveness in dealing with stress.

Question 12

learned helplessness

Answer 12

the belief that one has no control over one’s situation based on past experience. Proposed to be a major contributor to the development of depression in humans who have experienced repeated stressful events.

Question 13

after 9/11 attacks

Answer 13

people living within 1.5 miles of the World Trade Center during 9/11 were found to have less gray matter in the amygdala, hippocampus, insula, anterior cingulate, and medial prefrontal cortex relative to those living more than 200 miles away. Suggests that the stress may have reduced the size of these parts of the brain that play an important role in emotion, memory, and decision making. Children who watched more TV coverage had higher symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Question 14

fight-or-flight response

Answer 14

an emotional and physiological reaction to an emergency that increases readiness for action.

Question 15

HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical) axis

Answer 15

Brain activation in response to a threat occurs in the hypothalamus, initiating a cascade of bodily responses including stimulation of the pituitary gland, which causes the stimulation of the adrenal glands.

Question 16

Adrenal glands (threat)

Answer 16

release hormones, including catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine), which increase sympathetic nervous system activation (and therefore increase heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate) and decrease parasympathetic activation. Increase respiration and blood pressure make more oxygen available to muscles to energize attack or to initiate escape. Also release cortisol, a hormone that increases the concentration of glucose in the blood to make fuel available to the muscles.

Question 17

General adaptation syndrome (GAS)

Answer 17

developed by Hans Selye; a three-stage physiological stress response that appears regardless of the stressor that is encountered.

Question 18

Alarm phase (1st stage of GAS)

Answer 18

equivalent to the fight-or-flight response; the body rapidly mobilizes its resources to respond to the threat.

Question 19

Resistance phase (2nd stage of GAS)

Answer 19

the body tries to adapt and cope with its stressor by shutting down unnecessary processes such as digestion, growth, and the sex drive.

Question 20

Exhaustion phase (3rd stage of GAS)

Answer 20

the body’s resistance collapses, creating damage that can include susceptibility to infection, tumor growth, aging, irreversible organ damage, or death.

Question 21

Exposure to chronic stress

Answer 21

experience actual wear and tear on their bodies and increased aging. Shorter telomere lengths.

Question 22

Cells in our body our constantly dividing

Answer 22

our chromosomes are repeatedly copied so that our genetic info is carried into the new cells. Facilitated by telomeres.

Question 23

telomeres

Answer 23

caps at the ends of each chromosome that protect the ends of chromosomes and prevent them from sticking to each other. Becomes slightly shorter each time a cell divides. When they become too short and can no longer divide, the development of tumors and a range of other diseases can occur.

Question 24

shortened telomeres

Answer 24

can be caused by increased cortisol. Negative effects in the form of accelerated aging and increased risk of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and depression. Prevented by exercise and meditation.

Question 25

immune system

Answer 25

a complex response system that protects the body from bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances. Responsive to psychological influences: stressors can cause hormones called glucocorticoids to flood the brain, wearing down the immune system and making it less able to fight invaders.

Question 26

People who perceive themselves as low in social status

Answer 26

more prone to suffer from respiratory infections, for example, than those who do not bear this social burden. Same for low-status male monkeys.

Question 27

Chronic stress is a major contributor to coronary heart disease

Answer 27

prolonged stress-activated arousal of the sympathetic nervous system raises blood pressure and gradually damages the blood vessels. The damaged vessels accumulate plaque, and the more plaque, the greater the likelihood of coronary heart disease.

Question 28

Type A behavior pattern

Answer 28

a tendency toward easily aroused hostility, impatience, a sense of time urgency, and competitive achievement strivings.

Question 29

Type B

Answer 29

less driven behavior pattern.

Question 30

Primary appraisal

Answer 30

the interpretation of a stimulus as stressful or not.

Question 31

Secondary appraisal

Answer 31

determining whether the stressor is something you can handle or not – whether or not you have control over the event. The body responds differently depending on whether the stressor is perceived as a threat or a challenge. Threats increase vascular reactivity.

Question 32

Burnout

Answer 32

a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion created by long-term involvement in an emotionally demanding situation and accompanied by lowered performance and motivation. Can be caused by using your job to give meaning to your life. Particular problem in helping professions. Some emotionally stressful jobs lead to burnout no matter how they are approached.

Question 33

Repressive coping

Answer 33

avoiding situations or thoughts that are reminders of a stressor and maintaining an artificially positive viewpoint. emotional focused: distancing, wishful thinking, self-blame, tension reduction, self isolation, decreases stress symptoms, but stressor can get worse (like credit card bill).

Question 34

Rational coping

Answer 34

facing the stressor and working to overcome it. Opposite of repressive coping. problem focused: tackle the source of the stress to help reduce it.

Question 35

Acceptance (1st step of RC)

Answer 35

coping to realize that the stressor exists and cannot be wished away.

Question 36

Exposure (2nd step of RC)

Answer 36

attending to the stressor, thinking about it, and even seeking it out. Psychological treatment may help by helping victims confront and think about what happened.

Question 37

Prolonged exposure

Answer 37

Produces significant reductions in anxiety and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder compared to no therapy and compared to other therapies that promote more gradual and subtle forms of exposure.

Question 38

Understand (3rd step of RC)

Answer 38

working to find the meaning of the stressor in your life.

Question 39

reframing

Answer 39

involves finding a new or creative way to think about a stressor that reduces its threat. Can take place spontaneously when time has been spent thinking and writing about stressful events.

Question 40

Self-disclosing writing

Answer 40

found to improve immune function, whereas suppressing emotional topics weakened it. Useful in reframing trauma and reducing stress.

Question 41

meditation

Answer 41

the practice of intentional contemplation. Some forms attempt to clear the mind of thought, others involve focusing on a single thought, concentration on breathing, or on a mantra (a repetitive sound such as om). Restful and revitalizing. Also an effort to experience deeper or transformed consciousness. Show deactivation in the default mode network (mind wandering) and more control over attention. Shown to improve the connectivity between part of the brain involved in conflict monitoring and cognitive and emotional control.

Question 42

relaxation therapy

Answer 42

technique for reducing tension by consciously relaxing muscles of the body.

Question 43

relaxation response

Answer 43

condition of reduced muscle tension, cortical activity, heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure.

Question 44

relaxation

Answer 44

reduces symptoms of stress and blood levels of cortisol.

Question 45

biofeedback

Answer 45

the use of an external monitoring device to obtain info about a bodily function and possibly gain control over that function. Help control physiological function you are not aware of otherwise.

Question 46

aerobic exercise

Answer 46

exercise that increases heart rate and oxygen intake for a sustained period. Associated with psychological well being. Promotes stress relief and happiness. As effective as the most effective psychological interventions for depression. Effects may result from the increase of neurotransmitters such as serotonin or from increases of endorphins.

Question 47

social support

Answer 47

aid gained through interacting with others.

Question 48

lonely people

Answer 48

more likely than others to be stressed and depressed and they can be more susceptible to illness because of lower-than-normal levels of immune functioning.

Question 49

tend-and-befriend

Answer 49

the female response to stress (male = fight-or-flight); taking care of people and bringing them together. Respond to stressors with sympathetic nervous system arousal and the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine; but unlike men, they also release oxytocin, a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland in pregnant and nursing mothers.

Question 50

oxytocin

Answer 50

in the presence of estrogen it triggers social responses: a tendency to seek our social contacts, nurture others, and create and maintain cooperative groups.

Question 51

religious experiences

Answer 51

associations between religiosity (affiliation with or engagement in the practices of a religion), spirituality (having a belief in and engagement with some higher power), and positive health outcomes, including lower rates of heart disease, creases in chronic pain, and improved psychological health.

Question 52

engagement in religious/spiritual practices

Answer 52

may lead to a stronger and more extensive social network, may follow healthier recommendations (dietary restrictions), and endorse a more hopeful and optimistic perspective of daily life events.

Question 53

humor

Answer 53

can reduce sensitivity to pain and distress. Can reduce the time needed to calm down after a stressful event. opioid and dopamine release to decrease pain and increase pleasure. improves cardiovascular and immune system functions.

Question 54

sickness response

Answer 54

a coordinated, adaptive set of reactions to illness organized by the brain. Stress can prompt this response.

Question 55

immune response to an infection

Answer 55

beings with the activation of white blood cells that destroy microbes and release cytokines, proteins that circulate through the body.do not enter the brain, but activate the vagus nerve that runs from the intestines, stomach, and chest to the brain carrying a message alerting it of an infection.

Question 56

depression

Answer 56

connection between sickness response, immune reaction, and stress is present. Show signs characteristic of infection, including high levels of cytokines circulating in the blood.

Question 57

people who report many physical problems

Answer 57

tend to be negative in other ways as well, describing themselves as anxious, depressed, and under stress.

Question 58

fMRi brain scans during painful events

Answer 58

revealed that the anterior cingulate cortex, somatosensory cortex, and prefrontal cortex (areas known to respond to painful body stimulation) were particularly active in those participants who reported higher levels of pain experience.

Question 59

hypersensitivity to symptoms

Answer 59

underlies a variety of psychological problems and can also undermine physical health.

Question 60

psychosomatic illness

Answer 60

an interaction between mind and body that can produce illness. Explore ways in which mind (psyche) can influence body (soma) and vice versa.

Question 61

somatic symptom disorders

Answer 61

the set of psychological disorders in which a person with at least one bodily symptom displays significant health-related anxiety, expresses disproportionate concerns about symptoms, and devotes excessive time and energy to symptoms or health concerns.

Question 62

sick role

Answer 62

a socially recognized set of rights and obligations linked with illness.

Question 63

malingering

Answer 63

people who feign medical or psychological symptoms to achieve something they want. Only possible with a restricted number of illnesses. Faking illness is suspected when the secondary gains of illness, such as ability to rest, etc., outweigh the costs.

Question 64

keys to effective medical care interaction is

Answer 64

physician empathy. The clinician must simultaneously understand the patient’s physical state and psychological state.

Question 65

compliance with doctors' orders deteriorates when

Answer 65

treatments must be frequent, inconvenient or painful, and when the number of treatments increases.

Question 66

two kinds of psychological factors influence personal health

Answer 66

health relevant personality traits and health behavior. Personality can influence health through relatively enduring traits that make some people particularly susceptible to health problems or stress while sparing or protecting others.

Question 67

optimism

Answer 67

out of all the measures of psychological well-being studied, optimism is the one that most strongly predicted a positive outcome for cardiovascular health. Aids in the maintenance of psychological health in the face of physical health problems. When sick, optimists are more likely to maintain positive emotions, stick to medical regimens, and keep up relationships with others. Also aids in the maintenance of physical health.

Question 68

stress-resistant group (hardy)

Answer 68

showed commitment, an ability to become involved in life’s tasks rather than just dabbling; control, the expectation that their actions and words have a casual influence over their lives and environments; and challenge, undertaking change and accepting opportunities for growth.

Question 69

self regulation

Answer 69

the exercise of voluntary control over the self to bring the self into line with preferred standards. More effective when focusing on what to do rather than on what not to do.

Question 70

illusion of unique invulnerability

Answer 70

a systematic bias toward believing that they are less likely to fall victim to the problem than are others.

Question 71

smokers

Answer 71

1 in 2 smokers dies prematurely from smoking-related diseases such as lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and cancer of the mouth and throat.

Question 72

demand

Answer 72

pos or neg event that motivates behavior

Question 73

physiological response to stress: negative mood state

Answer 73

lasts up to 4 weeks; hopelessness, anhedonia, hypervigilance; risks for anxiety disorders and depression.

Question 74

posttraumatic stress disorder

Answer 74

experience if you go through a trauma. > 4 weeks. emotional blunting, anxiety and arousal.

Question 75

mindfulness practices

Answer 75

increases awareness of mental, emotional, and physical responses to stress. present-centered mindset decreases anxiety, increases creativity and problem solving. ex. method ACE (awareness of thoughts, feelings, collect your attention into your breath, expand attention throughout your body).