Chapter 15

Question 1

stress

Answer 1

our response to events that disturb, or threaten to disturb, our physical or psychological equilibrium

Question 2

stressors

Answer 2

external or internal events that challenge or threaten us

Question 3

general adaptation syndrome (GAS)

Answer 3

Selye’s model of stress, in which an event that threatens an organism’s well-being leads to a three-stage bodily response: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion

Question 4

Psycho-physiological disorders

Answer 4

physical conditions, such as high blood pressure and migraine headaches, that are caused or aggravated by psychological factors such as stress

Question 5

Immune System

Answer 5

a complex surveillance system of specialized cells, tissues, and organs that is the body’s primary defense against disease

Question 6

Psychoneuorimmunology

Answer 6

the interdisciplinary field that studies the relationship between psychological factors and physical illness

Question 7

problem-focused coping

Answer 7

a coping strategy designed to reduce the stress by overcoming the source of the problem

Question 8

emotion-focused coping

Answer 8

a coping strategy designed to manage emotional reactions to stressors rather than to trying to change the stressors themselves

Question 9

Examples of problem-focused coping

Answer 9

confronting, planful problem solving, and seeking social support

Question 10

Examples of emotion-focused coping

Answer 10

distancing, self-controlling, escape/avoidance, positive reappraisal, and accepting responsibility

Question 11

One of the most important factors moderating the relationship between stress and illness

Answer 11

perceived control

Question 12

Type A behavior pattern

Answer 12

a complex pattern of behaviors and emotions characterized by competitiveness, impatience, ambition, hostility, and a hard-driving approach to life

Question 13

Type B behavior pattern

Answer 13

A patten behaviors and emotions characterized by a patient, relaxed, easygoing approach to life with little hurry or hostility

Question 14

hardiness

Answer 14

a set of personality traits marked by a sense of commitment, challenge, and control that promotes resistance to stress and illness

Question 15

pessimistic explanatory style

Answer 15

the habitual tendency to explain uncontrollable negative events as caused by one’s own stable personal qualities, which affect all aspects of one’s life

Question 16

Optimistic explanatory style

Answer 16

the habitual tendency to explain uncontrollable negative events as caused by temporary factors external to oneself that do not affect other aspects of one’s life

Question 17

social support

Answer 17

the helpful coping resources provided by friends and other people

Question 18

Obesity

Answer 18

the excessive accumulation of body fat; medically, a body mass index

Question 19

Anorexia nervosa

Answer 19

an eating disorder in which a person weighs less than 85% of his or her expected weight but still expresses an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat

Question 20

Bulimia

Answer 20

an eating disorder in which a person engages in recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by drastic measures to purge the body of the consumed calories

Question 21

Aerobic exercise

Answer 21

sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness

Question 22

progressive relaxation

Answer 22

a stress-reducing technique that involves the successive tensing and relaxing of rach of the major muscle groups of the body