social psychological explanations of stress

Question 1

2 explanations ?

Answer 1

1. life events (sidekick)
2. daily hassles (superhero)

Question 2

what are daily hassles ?

Answer 2

relatively minor day to day irritations that can trigger our stress response such as burning that or missing a bus

Question 3

what are uplifts ?

Answer 3

positive experiences we have such as a good nights sleep, these uplifts might neutralise the harmful effects of tassels by making us feel more positive, this gives us a break from hassles.

Question 4

the research for daily hassles and heath?

Answer 4

kanner used a longitudinal study to compare impact of life events and daily hassles. 100 Pt aged 45-65 completed a hassle and uplift questionnaire once a month for 9 months. they found significant negative correlation between hassles and psychological well-being
- hassles were a better predictor than life events of well-being

Question 5

why might daily hassles have an effect ?

Answer 5

• build up of stressors over time leads to negative effects this may lead to an accumulation
• this may add to any chronic stress that may amplify these stressors
• a lack of social support may also increase the intensity of daily hassles

Question 6

2 evaluation points?

Answer 6

• supporting evidence
• age differences

Question 7

supporting evidence for daily hassles ?

Answer 7

• strong relationship between tassels and negative health effects
• Bouteyre et al studied a cohort of 233 French students as they moved from school to uni, researchers found 41% of sample suffered depressive symptoms due to hassles
• Sher also found biological response through daily hassles, they found those with increased cortisol levels in healthy individuals and also contributed to the development in depression of vulnerable individuals therefore it might be a biological response which links to daily hassles and negative effects

Question 8

age differences ? - daily hassles

Answer 8

• Aldwin et al used data from a longitudinal study and 1,389 male PT ranging in age from 48 to 101 years. between the ages of 48 to 70 PT experiences fewer hassles as they became more settled and more used to dealing with situations. however as PT got older they showed an increase in the number of hassles and decrease in the number of uplifts. suggesting as people age they become more able to deal with hassles however as new problems emerge in older age it can be more difficult to deal with combining this with fewer opportunities of uplifts.

Question 9

what is a life event ?

Answer 9

something that happens in our life that affects is and causes is to make a readjustment this can be negative or positive
- moving house, unemployment, bereavement

Question 10

what is a psychic cost ?

Answer 10

the time and energy we spend dealing with this event, it has been found theres a relationship between life events and stress related illness

Question 11

how did they measure life events ?

Answer 11

Holes developed a standardised measuring tool they drew up a list of life changes that may lead to illness and asked PT to rank each item in terms of how much readjustment it would require in someones life, they started as the baseline off with the value of marriage at 50

Question 12

what was the standardised tool called? and result

Answer 12

SSRS
- score of more than 150 increased the chance of stress related illness by 30%
- score of 300 increased by 50%

Question 13

supporting evidence of life events?

Answer 13

• Cohen et al gave 394 PT a variety of questionnaires to complete including the life events scale, PT were then exposed to the common cold virus, monitored for signs of infection, higher life events score were positively correlated with an increased risk of getting a cold. suggesting that there are biological changes linked to the experience of stressful life events that kleads us to be more susceptible to infection