Current Research on Stress Flashcards
True or false: there is a strong belief that stress leads to illness.
True
What did researchers find with stress and illness?
They found that there was actually zero correlation between stress and illness; the correlation between them was sporadic.
Sometimes the correlation was significant, but occurred at low magnitude.
What is the definition of sporadic?
Occurring at irregular intervals or only in a few places; scattered or isolated
Some individuals don’t realize how stressed they really are in the moment. What does this signify?
Freud’s definition of denial. It is a defense mechanism used by people when they are experiencing stress.
True or false: individual differences play a role in the levels of vulnerability someone has during stress
True. Some people become more prone to stress than others.
Which factors play a bigger role in stress–environmental factors or physical factors?
Environmental
What are some individual differences?
1) perceived control
- in painful situations, if you maintain control, you suffer less (breaking up with someone)
2) perceived coherence
- if you can find meaning in a painful situation, you suffer less (a loved one’s death)
3) defense mechanisms
4) coping
- problem solving, social-seeking support, avoidance
When did Selye create his biological model?
1956
What is stress, according to Selye?
The sum total of “adaptational demands”
What did Selye believe?
He stated that little things which bump us out of our regular routines/resting state add up to our individual stress level
Ex: You have a final in the morning. You stay up late to study, don’t eat healthy, and realize that you ran out of milk for breakfast that morning. You step in some mud on your way out. Your car breaks down. These all add up to your stress.
True or false: Selye said that, despite all the little things adding up to our stress levels, we may not get sick.
True.
According to Selye’s stress model, what are the stages of stress reaction?
1) “alarm”
- the initial trigger
2) “coping”
- how you deal with the initial trigger
3) “exhaustion”
- the level you get to when you can’t deal with trigger
According to Selye, if we cope with our demand/stressor successfully, we will…
Get back to homeostasis
According to Selye, if we don’t cope with our demand/stressor successfully, we will…
Go into the final stage (exhaustion)
When did Lazarus and Folkman create their psychological model?
1984
According to Lazarus and Folkman, what are the stages of stress reaction?
1) primary appraisal
- initial reaction
2) secondary appraisal
- weighing/coping resources against demand
If resources are adequate, it will be a “challenge”
If resources are inadequate, it will be a “threat” and may lead to illness
When did Hobfoll create his economic model?
1989
The spiral of resource loss causes…
The individual to be susceptible to illness/dysfunction
What is pathogenic stress?
When demands overwhelm resources; stress overload
What is the common denominator to all theories?
Whether you feel you can cope with the stress
If demands are low and resources are high…
You are low at risk of getting sick
If demands are high and resources are high…
You may see the stressor as a challenge
If demands are low and resources are low…
You are at a “fragile” stage
If demands are high and resources are low…
You are at high risk of getting sick
What are some examples of resources?
- Social support
- Information
- Experience
What are some measures of stress?
- Physiological (BP, GSR, heart rate, epinephrine, cortisol)
- Self-report (“how stressed are you?”)
- List of life events (Holmes and Rahe, 1967)
- List of hassles + uplifts (Lazarus, 1990)
Why is the physiological measure of stress so unreliable?
Because slight changes to hormones can vary daily and will impact the measurements
Why is self-reporting so unreliable?
Because people don’t realize how stressed they really are
Why is the list of life events so unreliable?
Because it is only measuring demands, not resources
Which model did Amirkhan come up with in 2012? What does it measure?
Stress Overload Scale. It measures personal vulnerability (lack of resources) and event load (build-up of demands)
If you have low event load and low personal vulnerability…
You are at low risk
If you have high event load and low personal vulnerability
You consider it a challenge
If you have low event load and high personal vulnerability…
You are “fragile”
If you have high event load and high personal vulnerability…
You are at high risk
