II-7 Coping, External Resources, and Social Support Flashcards
Discuss the effects of external resources on health.
Coping is influenced by many external resources such as time, money, education, a decent job, children, friends, family, standard of living, the presence of positive life events, and the absence of other life stressors. Individuals with greater resources typically cope with stressful events better because these resources simply provide more ways of dealing with a stressful event. For example, divorce is typically a very stressful experience. However, men and women with higher income, higher educational achievement, and a greater number of close friends experience less distress.
Name two characteristics of psychological resilience
Resilience is the ability to recover from stressful events quickly and completely from stressful events. It is characterized by: the ability to bounce back from negative emotional experiences and the ability to adapt flexibly to the changing demands of stressful experiences.
Describe three forms of social support.
- Tangible assistance: Involves the provision of material support, such as services, financial assistance, or goods. For example, the gifts of food that often arrive after a death in a family mean that the bereaved family members will not have too cook for themselves and visiting relatives at a time when their energy and enthusiasm for such tasks is low.
- Informational support: Information may help an individual understand a stressful event better and determine what resources and coping strategies may be mustered to deal with it. For example, if an individual is facing an uncomfortable medical test, a friend who went through the same thing could provide information about the exact procedures, how long the discomfort will last, and the like.
- Emotional support: During times of stress, people often suffer emotionally and may experience bouts of depression, sadness, anxiety, and loss of self-esteem. Supportive friends and family can provide emotional support by reassuring the person that he or she is a valuable individual who is cared for. The warmth and nurturance provided by other people can enable a person under stress to approach it with greater assurance.
Identify two potential costs of social support.
Receiving social support may come at a cost for some individuals. They may feel the guilt associated with making demands on someone else’s time and resources. They may also feel threats to their self-esteem by having to be dependent on others.
Summarize the beneficial effects of social support on stress and health.
Social support can: reduce psychological distress (e.g., depression, anxiety) during times of stress; reduce the likelihood of illness; speed recovery from illness; reduce mortality; lower the number of complications during pregnancy and childbirth; decrease an individual’s susceptibility to herpes outbreaks, heart attacks, and age-related cognitive declines; improve adjustment to chronic illnesses such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, arthritis, and cancer; lower pain levels, especially in chronic pain patients; improve health habits; and increase adherence to medical regimens.
Distinguish between the direct effects hypothesis and the buffering hypothesis
The direct effects hypothesis maintains that social support is generally beneficial during non-stressful times as well as during stressful times. Generally, when researchers have looked at social support in social integration terms, such as the number of people one identifies as friends or the number of organizations one belongs to, direct effects of social support on health have been found.
The buffering hypothesis claims that the health benefits of social support are chiefly evident during periods of high stress. When there is little stress, social support has few physical or mental health benefits. According to this hypothesis, social support acts as a reserve and resource that blunts the effects of stress improves coping.
Identify the kinds of support that are most and least effective.
Having a confidant (such as a spouse or partner or one close friend) is the most effective form of social support, especially for men. The least effective is too much or overly intrusive social contact, which may actually exacerbate stress.
When social support is controlling or directive, it may have some benefits on health behaviors but also produces psychological distress. People who belong to “dense” social networks (friendship or family groups that are highly interactive and in which everyone knows everyone else) may find themselves besieged by advice and interference in times of stress.
Compare the health benefits of marriage for men and for women.
On average men’s health is substantially benefited from marriage, whereas women’s health is only slightly benefited by marriage. The quality of a marital relationship influences these outcomes as well. Ending a marriage, being unmarried, or being in an unsatisfying marriage all bring health risks to both men and women.
Discuss the relationship between marital conflict and health
Behaviors and conflicts that include hostile and negative behavior directed towards spouses increases catecholamine and cortisol levels while reducing immune function.
Describe the health effects associated with giving social support to others.
Although being a long-term care provider can have negative effects on physical and mental health, increasing the risk for depression and lowering immunity, overall the benefits outweigh the risks. Giving social support to others, at least at moderate levels, has significant positive effects on health. For example, one five-year study assessed the effects of giving and receiving social support on mortality rates in older adults. Mortality was significantly lower in people who reported providing instrumental support to friends, relatives, and neighbors and in those who reported providing emotional support to their spouses. Receiving support did not affect mortality.
social support
Information from other people that one is loved and cared for, esteemed and valued, and part of a network of communication and mutual obligation.
direct effects hypothesis
The theory that coping resources, such as social support, have beneficial psychological and health effects under conditions of both high stress and low stress
buffering hypothesis
The hypothesis that coping resources are useful primarily under conditions of high stress and not necessarily under conditions of low stress.
matching hypothesis
The hypothesis that social support is helpful to an individual to the extent that the kind of support offered satisfies that individual’s specific needs.
