Chapter 15 - Stress, health, and coping Flashcards
Stress can be viewed in three different ways:
- stimulus
- response
- as an organism-environment interaction (transaction)
Microstressors
Daily hassles
Catastrophic events
- Occur unexpectedly
* Affect large #’s of people
Major Negative Events
• Intensely stressful life events
Stressor types
- microstressors
- catastrophic events
- major negative events
Life Events Scale
- Quantify stress over a given period of time
- Indicate whether a particular event occurred
- Appraisal of being positive or negative
- Indicate amount of control, predictability
The Stress Response
- Primary appraisal = demands of situation
• What do I have to do? - Secondary appraisal = resources available to cope
• How can I cope? - Judgments of consequences of situation
•What are the ‘costs’ to me? - Personal meaning - what does the outcome imply
• What does this say about my beliefs in myself? World?
General Adaptation Syndrome = GAS
- Physiological reaction to prolonged stress
* Three Phases
Three phases of General Adaptation Syndrome = GAS
- Alarm
- Resistance
- Exhaustion
Alarm - 1st phase -similar to ‘fight or flight’
- Activates sympathetic nervous system
- Release stress hormones = Cortisol
• Triggers increase in blood sugars
• Suppresses immune system - Cannot last indefinitely
• Parasympathetic system tries to restore homeostasis
• If stressor persists - so does response!
Resistance – 2nd phase
- Continued recruitment of resources
- Can last long time, but resources being depleted
- Eventually are no longer sufficient
Exhaustion – 3rd phase
- Resources depleted
- Increased vulnerability to disease
- Can manifest itself with cardiovascular problems; immune system difficulties
Effects of stress on psychological well-being most dramatic in those who have experienced
catastrophic life events
More negative life events = more
psychological distress
• But, correlational so cannot determine causality
Neuroticism - personality trait
increased tendency to:
• experience negative emotions
• get themselves into stressful situations through their maladaptive behaviours
PTSD Symptoms
- Severe anxiety, physiological arousal (the stress response), and distress
- Painful, uncontrollable reliving of the event(s) in flashbacks, dreams, and fantasies
• Emotional numbing and avoidance of stimuli
associated with the trauma
•intense “survivor guilt” sometimes
The Residential School Syndrome
- Individuals symptoms include recurrent intrusive memories, nightmares, flashbacks
- Increased risk of alcohol and drug abuse at young age
- Emotional detachment, relationship difficulties
- Loss of and avoidance of culture, and anger issues
Stress linked with increase in
chronic conditions
- Arthritis, bronchitis, emphysema
- Stress can be precursor to health problems
Other consequences of stress
• Decrease immune function
• Demonstrated to occur within 24 hours
• Worsen pre-existing conditions
• Stress hormones contribute to blocked arteries
• Deterioration of hippocampus and memory
impairment
Vulnerability Factors
• Increase susceptibility to stress
What Reduces Resistance?
- Lack of support network
- Poor coping skills
- Pessimism
Protective Factors against stress
• Social support, coping skills,optimism
Social Support
- Blunts impact of stress
- Sense of identity, meaning
- May prevent maladaptive ways of coping
- Enhances immune system (cancer patients)
Why do some people suffer psychological and/or physiological distress and others do not?
• Hardiness
Hardiness
• Commitment - What they do is important
• Control - Control (perceived) over situation
(Strongest)
• Challenge - Situation is a challenge not a threat
Coping Self-Efficacy
• Belief we can successfully cope
Increased efficacy from: • Previous successes • Observing others • Social persuasion / encouragement • Low levels of arousal
• Increase immune system functioning
Optimists have
- Appraisal of being less helpless
- Better adjustment to negative life events
- Sense of less helplessness
- Better health
Type A
- High levels of competitiveness and ambition
* Can be aggressive and hostile
Type B
• More relaxed, agreeable
Spiritual beliefs
• Can help with effective coping
• Certain religious beliefs can have negative effect on adjustment
- E.g., Being punished; Guilt
Which strategy is best for coping with stress ?
• Problem focused & Seeking social support
Coping strategies
1) problem-focused coping
2) emotion-focused coping
3) seeking social support
(Effectiveness depends on situation for each)
Problem-focused coping
- planning
- active coping and problem solving
- show restraint
- assertive confrontation
Emotion-focused coping
- positive reinterpretation
- acceptance
- denial
- repression
- escape-avoidance
- wishful thinking
- control feelings
Seeking social support
- help and guidance
- emotional support
- affirmation of worth
- tangible aid (money)
Expressing emotions in an adaptive manner
• Long-term positive consequences on health
Inability to express negative feelings has costs
• Higher likelihood of cancer
Research suggests that the impact of disclosure
lessens over time
Gender Differences in coping methods
• Males
- Favour problem-focused approach
• Females
- Favour emotion-focused approach
Cultural differences in coping methods
- Problem focused = North Americans & Europeans
* Emotion-focused = Asians & Hispanics
Health Psychology
- Recognizes the role that behaviour plays in health maintenance
- Studies psychological and behavioural factors in the prevention and treatment of illness and in the maintenance of health
Health-related behaviours fall into two categories:
- Health-enhancing behaviours
* Health-compromising behaviours
Health-enhancing behaviours
- Serve to maintain or increase health
* Exercise, healthy diets, safe sexual practices, regular medical checkups, and breast and testicular self- examination
Health-compromising behaviours
- Promote the development of illness
* Smoking, fatty diets, a sedentary lifestyle, and unprotected sexual activity
How People Change: The Transtheoretical Model
6 Major Stages:
• Precontemplation (no desire to change)
• Contemplation (desire to change)
• Preparation (plans to change, no action yet)
• Action
• Maintenance (avoid relapse)
• Termination (permanent change)
Increasing Behaviours That Enhance Health
Exercise
• Sedentary lifestyle & health problems
- E.g., Heart disease, obesity
Benefits of exercise
• Aerobic exercise
- Oxygen better utilized; lower cholesterol levels
- Moderate levels of exercise produce best results
- Physical health
- Longevity
Aerobic exercise: sustained
activity
• Such as jogging, swimming, and
bicycling
• Elevates heart rate and increases
the body’s need for oxygen
Reducing Behaviours That Impair Health
- Behavioural interventions
- Self-monitoring
- Reinforcement for successes
- Exercise
Behavioural interventions
- Self-monitoring & self-regulation
* Behavioural self-regulation
Self-monitoring
Identify roots/causes for behaviour
Prevention Programs: AIDS
4 Basic features • Education • Motivation • Specific guidelines • Support
Challenge with AIDS prevention program
• Irrational sense of invulnerability among adolescents & young adults
Motivational Interviewing
- Goal: Lead person to their own conclusion
- Process: Question discrepancies between current state & self-image, behaviours
- Counsellor: Provides guidelines, feedback
Aversion therapy
Undesired behaviour associated with aversive stimulus (shock)
Relaxation and stress management training
Help person adapt and deal with stressful situations. (Mindful meditation)
Multimodal Treatment Approaches
• Combination of techniques
Can include: • Biological measures • Learning techniques • Stress management • Coping skills • Counselling
Relapse =
return to undesirable behaviour
Lapse =
‘one-time’ slip
Increased self efficacy decreases the chances of a
Relapse
What causes relapse?
- Insufficient coping skills
- Lack of self-efficacy
- Expected positive benefits from substance
Abstinence violation effect
• Self-blame & guilt reinforce sense of helplessness
Harm Reduction Approaches to Prevention
- Significant positive effects
* Seen with brief interventions on binge drinking
Harm Reduction
- Goal is not to eliminate behaviour but to reduce harmful effects
- Methadone, reduction of binge drinking, needle exchange programs
Positive psychology
- Uses the scientific method and the research tools that psychologists have developed to study human behaviour
- Focus on positive experience and well-being
- Does not mean that psychology should ignore negative experience and illness
