Module 8: Health & Stress

Question 1

Stress

Answer 1

An unpleasant state of emotional and physiological arousal that people experience in situations that they perceive as dangerous or threatening to their well-being. Major life changes, Catastrophic events and Daily hassles all contribute to having stress.

Question 2

Primary Appraisal

Answer 2

Based on one’s perceptions of the characteristics of the stressor, how much demand it represents, and its relevance for the person.

Question 3

Secondary Appraisal

Answer 3

Baes on one’s perceptions of the resources available for coping for a specific stressor.

• Internal Factors: e.g., personality and personal qualities
• External Factors: e.g., social support or financial resources

Question 4

Threats

Answer 4

Defined as situations in which demands exceed the resources available for coping. Danger, uncertainty, uncontrollability, novelty, and high levels of effort all have higher demands and are more likely to be perceived as threats

Question 5

Challenges

Answer 5

Defined as situations in which resources exceed the demands of the situation. The potential for positive outcomes and gain are more likely to be perceived as challenges.

Question 6

Eustress

Answer 6

Good stress, which includes external circumstances, internal emotional experiences, and bodily responses that can be beneficial and motivating.

Question 7

Distress

Answer 7

Bad stress, which includes external circumstances, internal emotional experiences, and bodily responses that can be harmful, reduce motivation, and impair functioning.

Question 8

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Answer 8

A proposed inverted-U-shaped curve for the relationship between stress and performance, which specifies that too little or too much stress impairs performance (Yerkes & Dodson, 1908).

Question 9

Stressors

Answer 9

External circumstances and stimuli that are perceived as having the potential to disturb an individual’s balanced state.

Question 10

Stress Response

Answer 10

Internal integrated psychological and biological responses to stressors that work to restore a balanced state.

Question 11

Acute Stressors

Answer 11

Short-term external circumstances or stimuli, lasting minutes to hours, with the potential to disturb an individual’s balanced state.

Question 12

Chronic Stressors

Answer 12

Enduring external circumstances or stimuli, lasting weeks to years, with the potential to disturb an individual’s balanced state.

Question 13

Traumatic Stressors

Answer 13

Stressors involving threat to your own or another’s life or physical integrity.

Question 14

Inflammatory Response

Answer 14

The inflammatory response is an immune system response to injury, infection, and also to psychological stressors that allows for killing of any foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria as well as healing of bodily tissue.

Question 15

Perceived Stress Scale

Answer 15

A questionnaire measure of perceived stress that aims to assess the extent to which people perceive their lives as unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloading.

Question 16

Plasticity Factor

Answer 16

The extent to which people are sensitive to their environment and are likely to benefit from a positive environment and suffer in a negative environment.

Question 17

Vulnerability Factor

Answer 17

The extent to which people are likely to suffer negative consequences if they are exposed to a negative environment.

Question 18

Diathesis-Stress Model

Answer 18

Some people show vulnerability to the adverse effects of stressors because of genetic or biological factors that put them at increased risk for negative outcomes.

Question 19

Social Rejection

Answer 19

Circumstances that involve exclusion from a relationship or interaction with other people.

Question 20

Loss Events

Answer 20

Stressors involving loss of people, material possessions, employment, health or cherished ideas about the self or close others.

Question 21

Humiliation Events

Answer 21

Stressors involving devaluation of self in relation to others or the sense of self, including events involving rejection or failure.

Question 22

Entrapment Situations

Answer 22

Markedly difficult circumstances of at least six months’ duration that are likely to persist or worsen.

Question 23

Danger Events

Answer 23

Circumstances involving the potential for future loss, including the possibility of traumatic events.

Question 24

Latent Virus

Answer 24

A virus that stays dormant in bodily cells and then reactivates at intervals.

Question 25

Emotion-Focused Coping Skills

Answer 25

• Excercise
• Take a bath
• Give yourself a pep talk
• Meditate

Question 26

Problem-Focused Coping Skills

Answer 26

• Work on managing time
• Ask for support
• Establish healthy boundaries
• Create a to-do list