II-8 Coping Outcomes and the Management of Stress

Question 1

List three criteria of successful coping.

Answer 1

1. Reduced sympathetic and HPA activity (lower catecholamine and cortisol levels).
2. Whether and how quickly people return to their pre-stress levels of activity.
3. Effectiveness in reducing psychological distress (anxiety and depression).

Question 2

Identify the illnesses that stress management programs have been effective in treating.

Answer 2

Stress management programs teach individuals to deal with stress by appraising stressful events, developing coping skills, and putting those skills into practice. These programs have been useful in treating and managing tension and migraine headaches, coronary heart disease, multiple sclerosis symptoms, and high blood pressure.

Question 3

Describe three phases of a stress management program

Answer 3

1. Participants learn what stress is and how to identify the stressors in their own lives.
2. They acquire and practice skills for coping with stress.
3. They practice these stress management techniques in targeted stressful situations and monitor their effectiveness.

Question 4

Identify the common forms and the health benefits of relaxation training

Answer 4

Relaxation training therapies include progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, transcendental meditation, and other forms of meditation, yoga and hypnosis. These techniques can reduce heart rate, skin conductance, muscle tension, blood pressure, inflammatory processes, lipid levels, energy utilization, self-reports of anxiety, and tension.

Question 5

coping outcomes

Answer 5

The beneficial effects that are thought to result from successful coping; these include reducing stress, adjusting more successful to it, maintaining emotional equilibrium, having satisfying relationships with others, and maintaining a positive self-image.

Question 6

stress management

Answer 6

A program for dealing with stress in which people learn how they appraise stressful events, develop skills for coping with stress, and practice putting these skills into effect.

Question 7

stress inoculation

Answer 7

The process of identifying stressful events in one’s life and learning skills for coping with them, so that when the events com up, one can put those coping skills into effect.

Question 8

time management

Answer 8

Skills for learning how to use one’s time more effectively to accomplish one’s goals.

Question 9

stress carriers

Answer 9

Individuals who create stress for others without necessarily increasing their own level of stress.