II-4 Sources of Chronic Stress

Question 1

Summarize the findings on the effects of early stressful life experiences.

Answer 1

Chronic physical or sexual abuse in childhood or adulthood has long been known to increase a broad array of health risks because it results in intense, chronic stress that taxes physiological systems. It is now clear that even more modest family stress can increase risk for disease as well. A study reported that “risky families” – that is, families that are high in conflict or abuse and low in warmth and nurturance – produce offspring with problems in stress regulatory systems. By virtue of having to cope with a chronically stressful family environment, children from such families may develop heightened sympathetic reactivity to stressors, exaggerated cortisol responses, and may be more susceptible to diabetes, depression, coronary heart disease (CHD), and lung disease.

Question 2

Discuss the relationship between work overload and stress.

Answer 2

Workers who feel overloaded experience more stress, practice poorer health habits, and sustain more health risks, including a higher risk of coronary heart disease. Work overload is a subjective as well as an objective experience. The sheer amount of work that a person does – that is, how many hours he or she works each week – is not consistently related to poor health and compromised psychological well-being. The perception of work overload shows a stronger relationship to physical health complaints and psychological distress.

Question 3

Explain why air traffic controllers have higher rates of illness than second-class airmen

Answer 3

The reason that air traffic controllers have four times the rate of hypertension and are twice as likely to have ulcers and diabetes is that they have greater responsibility for other people’s lives

Question 4

Describe the demand-control-support model

Answer 4

The following combination of factors is associated with the highest risk for CHD:
high levels of psychological demand on the job, low levels of control in decision-making, and low levels of social support.

Question 5

Summarize the findings on the health effects of unemployment

Answer 5

Unemployment can produce a variety of adverse outcomes, including psychological distress, depression, anxiety, physical illness, alcohol abuse, difficulty achieving sexual arousal, low birth weight of offspring, and a weakened immune system

Question 6

List seven ways to reduce occupational stress.

Answer 6

1. Eliminate or reducing physical stressors in the workplace.
2. Minimize unpredictable and ambiguous stressors.
3. Involving workers in decision-making roles.
4. Make the job as interesting as possible.
5. Give workers a chance to develop meaningful social relationships in the workplace.
6. Focus on rewards rather than punishment.
7. Look out for early signs of stress.

Question 7

Discuss the positive and negative effects of multiple roles.

Answer 7

Positive effects: Multiple roles can improve self-esteem, feelings of self-efficacy, and life satisfaction. Combining employment with the family role has also been tied to better health, including lower levels of coronary risk factors.
Negative effects: Because concessions to working parents are rarely made at work and because mothers in the workforce usually bear a disproportionate number of household and child-care tasks, home and work responsibilities may conflict with each other, enhancing stress. Working women who have children at home show higher cortisol levels, higher cardiovascular reactivity, and more home strain than those without children at home.
Whether the effects of multiple roles are beneficial or not depends on: income, having control and flexibility in one’s work environment, having domestic help, having adequate childcare, and having an adequate partner.

Question 8

role conflict

Answer 8

conflict that occurs when two or more social or occupational roles that an individual occupies produce conflicting standards for behavior