Discuss a cognitive approach to one health problem

Question 1

Stress

Answer 1

The process that arises when the perceived demands on an individual exceed a person’s capacity and capability to cope with those demands

Question 2

What can stress be considered as?

Answer 2

Both the state of this imbalance and the effects it has on someone as their body and mind respond to this state

Question 3

Biological approach of stress

Answer 3

Stress is most often seen as a biological problem.

Psychologist often look at the biological approach for stress.

In response to a stressor, the HPA axis is activated, resulting in the release of stress hormones – specifically, adrenaline and cortisol.

The long-term release of these hormones is known to affect hippocampal development, cardiovascular fitness and even the length of our telomeres.

Question 4

Cognitive argument of stress

Answer 4

However cognitive appraisal can have a significant effect on how the physiological stress affects an individual.

Cognitive appraisal is defined as one’s personal interpretation of a situation.

It is how an individual views a situation in terms of expecting either a positive or negative outcome.

Question 5

What is the cognitive approach mostly based on?

Answer 5

The transactional model

Question 6

The transactional model

Answer 6

Defines stress as arising from the appraisal that a stressor in the environment will threaten one’s well-being.

The theory argues that there are two types of cognitive appraisal.

Question 7

Primary appraisal

Answer 7

In primary appraisal, a situation is perceived as being either irrelevant, beneficial or stressful.

Question 8

Secondary appraisal

Answer 8

In secondary appraisal, the individual considers ‘what can be done about this?’

Cognitive appraisal then leads to the stress response.

Question 9

What does the transactional model argue?

Answer 9

The theory argues that cognition is a mediating factor in the stress response and therefore does not contradict the biological approach but argues that it works together with it.

Question 10

A study that supports the transactional model

Answer 10

Speisman et al

As the study is evidence that as individuals we take the information from the environment and we then decide how to react to the situation.

Question 11

Aim of Speisman et al

Answer 11

To test the role of cognitive appraisal on the stress response

Question 12

Procedure of Speisman et al

Answer 12

The researchers had participants watch a film of an indigenous circumcision ceremony which involved the cutting of the young boys’ genitals.

While showing this film, one of three sound-tracks was played.

The trauma condition which emphasised the mutilation and pain.

The intellectualisation condition which gave an intellectual interpretation of the ceremony and the denial condition which was about the celebration of these young boys becoming men.

There was also a control group in which the film was shown but without sound.

During the film, researchers measured their heart rate and galvanic skin responses.

Participants were asked to fill in questionnaires that evaluated the participants’ feelings of stress.

Question 13

Results of Speisman et al

Answer 13

Were that the trauma condition showed much higher physiological measures of stress than the participants in the other two conditions.

Emotional responses, which were self-reported in the questionnaire, were stronger for those that were in either the control group or the trauma group

Question 14

What does Speisman et al support?

Answer 14

Supports that we gather information from our environment to determine how we react to a situation and that it can the cognition can actually lead to physiological changes which supports that the cognitive approach can relate to the biological approach.

Question 15

Control group findings in Speisman et al study

Answer 15

It also found that the control group had a strong emotional response which therefore suggests that the participants interpreted the visual information as stressful.

Therefore suggests that as the information was unusual the participants automatically felt stressed and that it requires the intellectual or denial conditions to reduce this emotional response suggesting that cognitively we automatically feel stressed.

Question 16

Evaluation of Speisman et al

Answer 16

A key issue with the study is that it required questionnaires and therefore could have led to demand characteristics as the participants might have been able to guess what the researchers were looking for and lead to social desirability bias as they may want to please the researchers which would affect the results.

Question 17

What does Jamieson et al argue?

Answer 17

argues that cognition is a mediating factor in the stress response and also argues a biopsychosocial model of stress.

He argues that a stress response is a combination of the body’s physiological response to an environmental threat, mediated by cognitive appraisal.

Question 18

What does Kelly McGonigal argue?

Answer 18

Kelly McGonigal argues that when we see stress as a way to help us to deal with something, rather than something to be feared, then it has a less negative effect on our health.

It therefore suggests that the stress response is dependent on whether the participants is pessimistic or optimistic and that the stress response is dependent on the thinking of the participant.

Question 19

Procedure of Jamieson

Answer 19

A baseline cardiovascular recording was taken for all participants.

Participants were then randomly assigned to one of three conditions.

The reappraisal condition, where participants read a script about the benefits of reappraising arousal.

The ignore stress condition, where participants were read a script that said that the best way to overcome stress is to ignore the source of stress.

Finally, the no-intervention condition, where participants were not asked to read anything but carried out a non-demanding task.

The researchers then took physiological data by taking participants’ cardiovascular responses.

Question 20

Findings of Jamieson

Answer 20

The researchers found that participants instructed to think of their stress as helpful exhibited more positive cardiovascular stress responses, increased cardiac efficiency, and less significant increases in blood pressure than either of the other two controls.

Question 21

Conclusion of Jamieson

Answer 21

Thus, cognitive reappraisal of stressful situations shows potential health benefits. It therefore supports that when looking at stress as positive it can significantly help with the response.

Question 22

Evaluation of Jamieson

Answer 22

An issue with the two studies mentioned is that the results may not be generalisable to all forms of stress as the stress in the studies are acute, not chronic stress. Therefore, an issue is that this was a short term experiment and therefore, it is not clear what the long-term effectiveness of such cognitive strategies would be.

Question 23

What does Jobin et al investigate?

Answer 23

A study that further investigates the effect of optimism against pessimism in the effect on stress but longitudinally and therefore analyses chronic stress

Question 24

Procedure of Jobin et al

Answer 24

Participants reported the level of stress they perceived in their daily lives.

They also took a test to measure their level of optimism and pessimism.

Researchers then measured cortisol levels over a 6 year period

Question 25

Results and conclusion of Jobin et al

Answer 25

Jobin found that on days where the participants experienced higher than average stress, that’s when the pessimists’ cortisol levels were elevated and those levels of cortisol were sustained for a longer period of time than was observed in the optimists.

It therefore further reinforces the way of thinking as being a strong determiner of how stress has an effect.

Question 26

Evaluation of Jobin et al

Answer 26

However, a key issue with the study and with many other studies on stress is that to find whether a participant is pessimistic, it requires them to self report which is not reliable as a source and therefore affects whether the results can be valid. On the other hand, there is currently no other way in determining whether a person is pessimistic or optimistic without the participants’ response to the question.

Question 27

Conclusion of Cognitive approach to stress

Answer 27

In conclusion the cognitive approach can work together with the biological approach to cause health problems but not on its own.

It is therefore a more holistic approach to the question of what causes health problems and helps to understand better how people can reduce the negative impact of stress on themselves.

The studies presented in the essay were all mentally healthy individuals like many other studies in stress due to ethical reasons and therefore as stress and anxiety is part of many disorders, it is not clear what effect such reappraisal would have on people with such disorders.

However, this research could help provide a preventive strategy for anxiety and stress-related illnesses.

Question 28

Cognitive appraisal

Answer 28

Cognitive appraisal is the subjective interpretation made by an individual to stimuli in the environment.

It is a component in a variety of theories relating to stress, mental health, coping, and emotion.