Chapter 3 - Stress as a Psychobiological process

Question 1

stress

Answer 1

Stress is a psychological and physiological experience that occurs when an individual encounters something of significance that demands their attention and/or efforts to cope.

Question 2

internal stressor
+ Eg

Answer 2

a stimulus from within a person’s body that prompts the stress response.
- originate from within an individual
- psychological and biological processes
Eg,
* Attitude – If someone has a negative attitude more likely that they consider a situation to be outside of their capacity to cope, increasing the likelihood of experiencing stress.
* Rumination – Repeatedly thinking about the negative components of an event increasing the likelihood of experiencing stress.

Question 3

external stressor
+ Eg

Answer 3

a stimulus from outside of a person’s body that prompts the stress response.

Eg
* a test or an exam
* financial difficuties

Question 4

Distress

Answer 4

form of stress characterised by a negative psychological state.

Question 5

Eustress

Answer 5

form of stress characterised by a positive psychological state.

Question 6

Acute stress

Answer 6

form of stress characterised by intense psychological and physiological symptoms that are brief in duration.

Question 7

Flight response

Answer 7

• an organism flees from the stressor.
• This is generally because escaping the situation is perceived by the organism to be the safest option.
• activation/domination of the sympathetic nervous system, which prompts the release of adrenaline from the adrenal glands and allows the body to quickly flee from the threat.

Question 8

fight response

Answer 8

organism confronts their stressor.
* activation/domination of sympathetic responses that energise the body and make it better able to deal with danger.

Question 9

freeze response

Answer 9

• characterised by the body’s immobility and shock in response to a stressor.
• involves a brief activation/domination of the parasympathetic nervous system.
• also involve an almost simultaneous activation/domination of the sympathetic nervous system, with the freeze response often only lasting seconds.

Question 10

chronic stress

Answer 10

form of stress that endures for several months or longer.

Question 11

cortisol

Answer 11

a hormone that is released by the adrenal glands in times of stress to aid the body in initiating and maintaining heightened arousal.

Question 12

cortisol effects

Answer 12

responses to acute stress:
* Cortisol helps to energise the body by inducing the release of glucose and a rise in blood-sugar levels
* Confronts the threat (fight)
* Fleeing from the source of danger (flight)
* Immobility and shock (freeze).

responses to chronic stress:
* Energising the body
* Reducing inflammation
* Immuno-suppression.

Question 13

GAS

Answer 13

is a biological model involving three stages of physiological reactions that a person experiences in response to a persistent stressor.

Question 14

Alarm Reaction - Shock

Answer 14

involving decreased bodily arousal for a brief period of time following the initial exposure to a stressor.

the body experiences a temporary state of shock. It reacts as though it has been injured, as biological processes within the body fall below normal functioning.

Question 15

Alarm reaction - Countershock

Answer 15

Sympathetic nervous system responses occur that mobilise the body to respond to the stressor, heart rate increases and stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, are released into the bloodstream. This energises the body to confront and respond to the stressor.
levels of bodily arousal, and therefore their ability to deal with the stressor, increase to above normal.

Question 16

Resistance

Answer 16

maintaining high levels of bodily arousal in response to a persistent stressor.
Increased cortisol levels contribute to the maintenance of this heightened physiological state.

Resistance to the initial stressor increases, resistance to subsequent stressors that may arise decreases.

Prolonged presence of stress hormones in the bloodstream, particularly cortisol, begins to suppress immune system functioning, which increases susceptibility to illness.

Question 17

Exhaustion

Answer 17

body becomes unable to maintain these heightened levels of physiological arousal due to depletion of energy levels and bodily resources, resulting in an inability to cope with the stressor.

can no longer cope with the demands of the stressor and is also unequipped to confront any other stressors that may arise.

vulnerable to both physiological and psychological illnesses due to immune-suppression.

Question 18

Explanatory Power of GAS

Answer 18

Strengths:
- recognises the relationship between chronic stress and illness.
- The GAS provides objective, empirical information about the biological processes involved in the stress response.

weaknesses:
- based on research that was conducted on rats, reducing the generalisability to the human population.
- focuses on the biological aspects of stress. It ignores the importance of psychological factors
- The GAS prescribes a uniform model
that is the same for every individual in response to all stressors. Therefore, it fails to recognise the subjective nature of the stress response, meaning that different people respond to different stressors in unique ways.

Question 19

Primary appraisal

Answer 19

initial process of evaluating the nature of the incoming stressor, specifically the kind of stress it might cause.

Question 20

Benign Positive

Answer 20

An initial appraisal of a stimulus as neutral or good that does not cause stress for the individual.

Question 21

Irrelevant

Answer 21

An initial appraisal of a stimulus as a non-issue for the individual.

Question 22

stressful

Answer 22

An initial appraisal of a stimulus as a source of worry or emotional significance for the individual.

Question 23

harm/loss

Answer 23

A further appraisal of a stressor as having caused some damage to the individual. Already experienced direct distress as a result of the stressor.

Question 24

threat

Answer 24

A further appraisal of a stressor as potentially causing damage to the individual
in the future. This appraisal causes the individual to experience distress, even if the stressor has not directly caused distress yet.

Question 25

challenge

Answer 25

A further appraisal of a stressor as potentially providing a positive opportunity for growth or change for the individual.

Question 26

emotion-focused coping
eg

Answer 26

the use of coping strategies that target the emotional components of a stressor, dealing with it indirectly rather than confronting its source.
wishful thinking
denial
reframing
venting
optimism

Question 27

problem-focused coping
eg

Answer 27

the use of coping strategies that directly target the source of the stressor, aiming to reduce it in a practical way.
time management
taking action
seeking help or advice

Question 28

Lazarus explanatory power

Answer 28

strengths
* Allows one to track the subjective stress response of an individual.
* Human subjects were used as a source of data during the creation of the model.

weaknesses
* primary and secondary appraisal may occur simultaneously and ordering chronologically may not be reflective of the true stress response.
* Does not include biological processes of stress.

Question 29

gut microbiota gut microbiome

Answer 29

The gut microbiota refers to all of the microorganisms that live in the gut, whilst the gut microbiome refers to all of the genes of the microorganisms that live in the gut.

Question 30

Health of gut due to microbiome

Answer 30

When the gut microbiota is imbalanced, meaning there is not enough ‘good’ bacteria and too much ‘bad’ bacteria, it is called gut microbiota dysbiosis./ gut microbiota symbiosis.

• there is emerging research on the connection between mental health and its influence on the brain
• research has only been conducted on animals

Question 31

gut brain axis

Answer 31

The gut-brain axis (GBA) is a bi-directional link between the enteric and central nervous systems, connected via the vagus nerve.
- majority of neural messages being sent from the gut to the brain (~90%) which previous studies have shown to influence a person’s perception and experience of stress.
- during the experience of stress, the prolonged release of cortisol – the primary stress hormone – can cause damage and disruption to the digestive system (seen in microbiota) which in turn may impact the experience of stress in the brain

Studies have shown that gut microbiota are directly linked to the production of important neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, such as dopamine, GABA and serotonin. This means that the diversity of gut microbiota can positively impact the GBA and subsequent brain chemistry and perception of stress.

Question 32

enteric nervous system

Answer 32

refers to the network of nerves in the gut and is a subdivision of the autonomic nervous system.

-dedicated to the gastrointenstinal tract and is a sustem of nevres located in the gut, also regulating digestion

Question 33

CNS and ENS

Answer 33

Nerves within the enteric nervous system communicate with nerves in the central nervous system.
can influence the neural messages

Question 34

Vagus nerve

Answer 34

vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve that connects the gut and the brain, enabling them to communicate. The vagus nerve is responsible for bidirectionally conveying information between the gut and the brain.

Question 35

Context-specific effectiveness

Answer 35

Context-specific effectiveness refers to when the coping strategy or mechanism used is appropriate for the unique demands of the stressor.

Question 36

Coping flexiblity

Answer 36

refers to the ability to adjust or change one’s coping strategies depending on the unique and changing demands of a stressor.

Question 37

Approach Strategies

Answer 37

coping strategies that directly confront the source of the stress and thus reduce or eliminate it.
eg making a list of pros and cons
seeking professional advice/counselling
making a plan and executing it

Question 38

avoidance strategies

Answer 38

are coping strategies that involve evading or distancing oneself from the source of stress.
eg
* Wishful thinking
* Substance abuse
* Venting emotions