Health-Stress Flashcards
Define stress
‘A pattern of negative physiological states and psychological responses occurring in situations where people perceive threats to their well-being which they may be unable to meet’-Lazarus and Folkman (1984)
Acute stressors
- Sudden
* Eg being diagnosed as seriously ill
Chronic stressors
- Persists over a long period of time
* Poverty, illness, being bullied, violent relationships
Workplace stressors
Workplace Categories: • Work environment • Work overload • Control o Unpleasant/meaningless tasks o Bullying o Unclear job description o Long hours, lack of control, heavy responsibility but lack of control
Holmes and Rahe (1967)
- Suggested that major life events precede illness.
- Negative or positive but change required to adapt to new situation is perceived as stressful
- Created as list of life events and asked people to rate the life events on as social readjustment scale
- if individual perceives as serious and life threatening to well bring it is a stressor
- Top 5: death of spouse, divorce, marital separation, jail term, death of close family member
What two hormones are released when presented with a threat?
• Adrenaline
• Cortisol
Both give boost of energy.
Adrenaline
Adrenaline- released immediately and causes ‘fight or flight’ reaction.
Cortisol
Cortisol- continuous stress, it continues to be released into bloodstream, makes vulnerable to illness and disease.
Kiecolt-Glazer et al (1984)
Aim: To investigate the effects of a naturally occurring stressor on the immune system
Method:
• 75 medical students from a university in Ohio volunteered to participate. 26 females and 49 males with an average age of 23.
• Initial blood sample taken 1 month before first year final examinations.
• 2nd first day of final examination week (already completed 2 exams)
Scales used:
• Social Readjustment Rating Scale at 1st sample (to asses life changes within the year). Median value was used to split participants into groups, ‘high stress’ and ‘low stress’.
• UCLA Loneliness Scale at 1st sample (measure adequacy of interpersonal contacts). Again scores divides at median and sorted into groups ‘high loneliness’ and ‘low loneliness’.
• Natural killer cell (NK) activity was measured in student’s blood samples as it’s a lymphocyte that defends against viruses. Low level indicates poorly functioning immune system.
Findings:
• Significant decrease in NK cell activity from 1st sample to 2nd sample.
• Scored highly on SRRS, had lower levels of NK activity.
• Highly loneliness scorers also had lower levels of NK activity
Concluded:
• NK cell data can provide direct evidence of immunosuppression associated with increased distress in a young and otherwise healthy population.
Evaluation:
+
• Use of humans unlike previous studies makes generalising finding more straightforward.
• Used repeated measures experimental design therefore participant variables controlled.
• Longitudinal=high EV.
-
• Natural experiment therefore not possible to establish a cause-effect relationship.
• Participants: not representative/generalizable. Now known an age where stress has greater effect on immune system (Segerstrom and Miller 2004).
RW implications:
• Could lead to methods how to cope with stress.
• Suggests we need to control stress to prevent/worsen illness.
Theory:
• As biological explanation, suggests all humans behave the same way. This takes a reductionist approach and stress should have a holistic explanation.
Psychological aspects of stress
Humans respond to stressors very individually and cognitive appraisal appears to be important in determining whether an event is perceived as stressful or not.
Lazarus and Folkman (1984) The transactional model of stress and coping cognitive appraisal model.
Lazarus and Folkman (1984) The transactional model of stress and coping cognitive appraisal model.
Based in assumption stress involves a transaction (two-way process) between the disposition of an individual and the nature of the environment. This theory argues that it is the appraisal of the environmental stressor that leads to emotional response-or lack of. When faced with potential stressors, the individual engages in process of primary and secondary appraisal.
• Primary appraisal: the event perceived to be either neutral, positive, or negative in its consequences.
• Secondary appraisal: individual assessment of how well equipped to cope. Various coping strategies are considered before choosing a way to deal effectively with the stressor.
Interaction between psychological and physiological factors is illustrated in stress processes. Cognitive appraisal of stressor influences the extent of the physiological response.
• Lazarus (1975) claimed that cognitive appraisal is an important part of stress reactions and that stress experiences are not only physiological as claimed by traditional theories. People are psychological beings who are not simply passively responding to the world but actively interpret and evaluate what’s happening to them.
Critical Thinking:
• Individual Differences-as a cognitive model, it explains differences in stress response. Everyone interprets things differently based on past experiences and expectations.
• Theory- as a cognitive model, it is very abstract. There is no objective evidence for the existence of this model, this reduces its credibility.
• RW implications- if we can understand the cognitive mechanisms behind stress response, we can use therapeutic approaches to manage the stress response.
Eg. CBT can be used to change an individual’s appraisal of a potentially stressful event.
Evans and Kim (2007) Effects of long-term exposure to poverty in childhood
Evans and Kim (2007) Effects of long-term exposure to poverty in childhood
Aim: To investigate the long-term relationship between poverty or low socioeconomic status, cumulative risk factors and physiological stress.
Method:
• Participants were 200 7 year olds.
• The researchers measured blood pressure and cortisol levels.
• Stress regulation was assessed by measurement of the heart’s reactivity to a standard acute stressor, and recovery after exposure to the stressor.
• Exposure to risk factors such as substandard housing, and family violence were included to have a measure of cumulative stress factors.
Results:
• Showed a positive correlation between long-term exposure to a social risk factors on physiological measures of stress.
• A greater number of years spent living in poverty correlated with more elevated cortisol levels and more problems for the heart to recover after exposure to the stressor.
Conclusion:
• There is a negative effect on the stress regulation system in children from poor backgrounds and that this effect can be explained by the cumulative risk factors associated with chronic poverty in childhood.
• Socioeconomically deprived children are exposed to a number of social stressors that disadvantage their development and health. For example, they experience more family violence, separation from their families, and chaotic households.
• The accumulation of risk factors and the lack of protective factors associated with poverty seem to have long-term effects on both physical and mental health.
Evaluation:
+
• Objective biological measures used to assess stress levels.
• Sample was large, representative. Illustrates how stress can affect all ages.
-
• Cannot imply cause and effect relationship because other factors may be involved here.
Ethics:
• Use of children as participants, consent would have been gained from parents.
• Researchers gained lots of personal information regarding children’s lives-confidentiality.
• Socially sensitive topic to suggest that children raised in poverty are at a physiological disadvantage.
RW implications:
• While findings very important, there is little practical application of it. Childhood poverty cannot be easily ‘fixed’, therefore cortisol levels will continue to rise.
Strategies for coping with stress: Stress Inoculation Therapy
*intended to help patients prepare themselves in advance to be able to handle a stressful event more successfully + with a minimum of upset
•Meichenbaum (1985) suggested that even though we usually cannot change the causes of stress in our life, we can change the way we think about these stressors-> Negative thinking may lead to negative outcomes, e.g. anxiety and depression, while positive thinking will lead to more positive attitudes and feelings
•form of CBT created to specifically deal with stress by developing a form of coping before the problem arises. A person could inoculate themselves against the disease of stress just like they would receive inoculations (vaccinations) against infectious diseases
Supporting Research for SIT:
Sheehy and Horan (2004)
Aim: To investigate the effects of stress inoculation training (SIT) on the anxiety, stress, irrationality, and academic performance of first-year law students
Method: Sheehy and Horan looked at the effect of SIT on the academic performance on first-year law students. Participants had 4 weekly sessions of SIT, each lasting 90 minutes. They also included a control group that did not receive SIT.
Findings: All students showed lower levels of stress, and more than half significantly improved on their predicted class rank. They also initially showed reductions in personal, emotional and general stress.
Evaluation of SIT
Strengths
•It accepts the stress an individual can experience is often unavoidable.
•Designed to be individually tailored
•Client-centre approach promotes equality between client and therapist and empowers the individual to take control of their stress management.
•Increases the chances of long term success through postulating emotional and cognitive awareness at the the forefront of the therapeutic environment.
Limitations
•Some individuals may not be able to cope with the stressors in their environment regardless of the training they undertake as people respond to treatment in different ways.
•Expensive and time consuming.
•Requires high levels of motivation and commitment.
•Requirement to discuss feelings and private thoughts makes the therapy more suitable to some cultures than others.
