Stress

Question 1

What is stress:

Answer 1

• A state of physiological and/or psychological strain caused by anything (stressor) that tend to disturb the functioning of the body.
• A mismatch between the demands made upon an individual and their ability to meet these demands.
• Everyone reacts differently to stress, with some people having higher thresholds than others.

Question 2

Positive of stress:

Answer 2

• Some can be productive, give you motivation and help you to perform better at something.

Question 3

Cortisol:

Answer 3

• Hypothalamus and pituitary gland sense if your blood contains the right level of cortisol.
• The adrenal gland picks up signals on levels of cortisol in the blood stream.
• Constricts blood vessels and increases blood pressure to enhance the delivery of oxygenated blood.
• Advantageous for F or F response, but over time such arterial constriction and high blood pressure can lead to vessel damage and plaque build up, this can lead to cardiovascular disorders e.g: heart attack.
• Regulates body’s stress response.
• Helps control body’s us of fats, proteins, and carbs, or your metabolism.
• Increases the availability of blood glucose to the brain.

Question 4

Newcomer et al:

Answer 4

• Found Ps given levels of cortisol high enough to produce blood sugar levels similar to those experiencing major stress events, were poorer at recalling prose passages compared to P’s given cortisol only high enough to produce a stress response similar to minor surgery (stitches out).
• Suggesting high levels do impact on cognitive functions.

Question 5

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS):

Answer 5

• Based on work with rats and later hospital patients.
• The rats in the research would become I’ll (eg. develop stomach ulcers) even when they were given harmless injections.
• From this Seyle concluded that rats became I’ll for the stress of the injections and that humans react the same way.
• Therefore, the body shows the same physiological response to all stressor and that non specidc response consists of three stages.

Question 6

1st stage of GAS:

Answer 6

• Alarm reaction
• During the initial alarm stage, perceived threats trigger the hypothalamus to produce the corticotrophic releasing hormone (CRF).
• Which in turn stimulates the pituitary gland’s production of ACTH via the bloodstream which then acts on the adrenal cortex, which produces corticosteroids.
• Simultaneously the hypothalamus also activates the sympathetic branch of the ANS to stimulate the sympathetic branch of ANS to stimulate the production of adrenaline and noradrenaline from the adrenal medulla.
• As a results of these two parallel processes the body is activated in many ways and is prepared for F or F.

Question 7

2nd stage of GAS:

Answer 7

• Resistance
• During the resistance stage, the body’s resources are fully mobilised to cope with the stressor.

Question 8

3rd stage of GAS:

Answer 8

• Exhaustion
• If stressors persists and can’t be overcome, the resistance of the individual sooner or later gives way to exhaustion.
• The physiological consequences include effects on the adrenal glands, which are enlarged but depleted, and an endocrine system that is generally thrown into disarray.
• Seyley argued that all body tissues and processes can be affected and, in extreme cases, become diseased.

Question 9

Evaluation of GAS model by Seyle:

Answer 9

• Highly scientific
• Rats were bred for scientific research, so they were used to the environment.
• GAS suggests a universal response to stress - ignores individual differences.
• Ulcers found in the stomach were thought to be due to stress, no direct link. They’re a results of bacteria in the stomach, if not treated can cause cancer - indirect relationship.

Question 10

Immunosuppression:

Answer 10

The suppression of our immune system p, which protects us from antigens like bacteria, viruses.

Question 11

Lymphocytes:

Answer 11

• Cells in the immune system
• They recognise and destroy harmful viruses and bacteria that invade the body.
• They lock onto the invaders, multiply rapidly and destroy them.
• 2 types

Question 12

Types of lymphocytes:

Answer 12

• B cells: produce antibodies which are released into the fluid surrounding the body’s cells to destroy the invading viruses and bacteria.
• T cells: if the invader gets inside a cell, these lock on to the infected cell, multiply and destroy it.

Question 13

Effect of cortisol on the thymus gland:

Answer 13

• Cortisol shrinks the thymus gland.
• Chronic stress produces excess cortisol which shrinks the thymus gland, and so less T cells are produced causing the immune system to be compromised = immunosuppression.
• There is a correlation, not causation.

Question 14

Effects of stress on cardiovascular system:

Answer 14

• Raised blood pressure and increased heart rate can damage the blood vessels as the blood is being pumped faster and so at a higher pressure through the blood vessels.
• Blood vessels get built up with plaque.
• Stress activates the SNS leading to an increase in heart rate and BP.
• An increase in heart rate wears the blood vessels.
• Stress leads to increased glucose levels which can clump the blood vessels.

Question 15

Williams et al (2000), method:

Answer 15

• Gave a questionnaire to 13,000 people where by none of them had a heart disease.
• The questionnaire contained a 10 question anger scale, for example if they felt like hitting someone when they got angry.

Question 16

Williams et al (2000), results:

Answer 16

• After 6 years the health status of the P’s was checked.
• 256 had developed heart attacks.
• Those who had scored highly on the anger scale were two and ahold times more likely to have had a heart attack than those with low anger scores.
• People who scored moderately were 35% more likely to experience some forms of heart problems, compared to those with low anger anger scores.

Question 17

Williams et al (2000), conclusion:

Answer 17

• The physiological response on stress is closely associated with cardio vascular disorders.
• It’s correlational evidence so causation can’t be assumed.

Question 18

Williams et al (2000) aim:

Answer 18

To see if anger was linked to heart disease.

Question 19

Wilbert - Lampen et al (2098), aim:

Answer 19

To investigate the effect if short term stress on CVD’s.

Question 20

Wilbert - Lampen et al (2098), procedure:

Answer 20

Researchers looked at instances of nape art attacks in Germany during football matched played on the 1996 World Cup.

Question 21

Wilbert - Lampen et al (2098), results:

Answer 21

When Germany played, there was a 2.66 increase in the number of cardiac emergencies on that day, compared with days when Germany were not playing.

Question 22

Wilbert - Lampen et al (2098), conclusion:

Answer 22

Acute stress, such as watching your team play an important football match, doubled the risk of cardiovascular event.

Question 23

Yusuf et al (2004), aim:

Answer 23

To investigate the effects of long term stress on CVD’s.

Question 24

Wilbert - Lampen et al (2098), procedure:

Answer 24

P’s from 52 countries of different cultures were included 1500 people who had a heart attacked were compared with a similar number who had not.

Question 25

Wilbert - Lampen et al (2098), results:

Answer 25

• Several chronic stressors were linked with heart attacks, eg: work place stressors and stressful life events.
• Stress not only caused the CVD’s in the first place, but made consistions worse,

Question 26

Wilbert - Lampen et al (2098), conclusion:

Answer 26

Chronic stress contributed to the onset of, and severity of, CVD’s.

Question 27

Life changes:

Answer 27

• Throughout life, there will be life changing events.
• These changes cause physiological readjustement.
• They ça be experienced differently - individual differences.

Question 28

Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS):

Answer 28

• Devised by Holmes and Rahe
• ## Includes 43 life changes

Question 29

Rahe et al, procedure:

Answer 29

• 2,500 male American sailors.
• Given SRRS and how many life events they’ve experienced over 6 months.
• Health was monitored for next 6 months.

Question 30

Rahe et al, results:

Answer 30

• Found a weak positive correlation of +0.118, a perfect correlation is +1.00
• Since it’s such a large sample it increased the chance of results being statistically significant.

Question 31

Rahe et al, conclusions:

Answer 31

• LCU are positively correlated with illness so experiencing life events increases the chances of stress related illness.
• Not a perfect correlation so other factors must play a role.
• The study didn’t take into account individual differences, such as personality, in reaction to stress.
• The sample was restricted to males (androcentric and beta bias) and American (ethnocentric).
• Western culture is individualistic.

Question 32

Rahe et al, evaluation:

Answer 32

• May be experienced very differently, individual differences also effect it (personality/gender).
• LCU score and stress related illness is correlational, not causation, so can’t say life changes cause illness.
• Controllability may effect the extent to which a life change cause stress - changes we can have control over are less stress inducing.
• Need to distinguish between positive changes (getting a better job) and negative changes (losing a good job) as they can have vastly different effects, however the LCU gives the same points regardless of whether the person feels the event is positive or negative.

Question 33

Measuring stress: self report scales, SRRS:

Answer 33

• Hormes and Rahe:
  
  • 43 life events
  • 5000 participants
  • Gave 43 life events to 400 ppl to rate
    
    • Death of spouse rated highest
  • LCU under 150 = 30% risk of illness
  • LCU under 300 = 80% risk of illness

Question 34

SRRS evaluation:

Answer 34

• Validity of measures as certain as LE on SRRS may be stressful for some e.g: divorce but not others.
• No distinguish between positive and negative events.
• Causality illness may lead to divorce/ losing a job rather than the other way around.
• Age specific
• Culture specific
• Reliability = test-retest varies
• Illness outcomes are not clearly specified.
• Correlation between SRRS scores and illness outcomes are small.
• Retrospective questionnaire has problems d self presentation, demand characteristics, accuracy of recall.
• Socially desirable responses.
• A strength because the continued use of these questionnaires to have a great deal of validity and reliability.
• Ignores individual differences:
  
  • Culture
  • A problem as the SRRS can be criticised for not accurately measuring in distress associated with life events for each individual and therefore can be seen to be lacking internal validity.
• SRRS scale is used in many current studies and, if not those scales, adaptation of the skills are used.

Question 35

Daily hassle:

Answer 35

• A minor event that arises on the cause of a normal day.
• Short lived but may longer if left unresolved and the ‘after effects’ of unresolved issues may then intensify over time as they accumulates with subsequent issues.
• Examples, crime, physical appearance, weigh/health issues, workload.

Question 36

Daily uplift:

Answer 36

• Is positive, desirable experience that makes a daily hassle more bearable.
• Can counteract daily hassles
• Examples: Sleeping well, positive relationship with partner/friends, relaxing.

Question 37

Explanation of daily hassles leading to stress:

Answer 37

Accumulation effect: minor daily responses builds up and multiply. This leads to severe stress reactions.
Amplification effect: Chronic stress makes us more vulnerable to daily hassles e.g. exam. Stress might need to be in less able to cope with a minor disagreement with friends.

Question 38

Bouteyre et al (2007), aim:

Answer 38

To investigate relationship between daily hassles and mental health of students during the transition between school and university.

Question 39

Bouteyre et al (2007), method:

Answer 39

First year psychology students completed the HSUS and the Becks Depression Inventory to measure depression.

Question 40

Bouteyre et al (2007), results:

Answer 40

Found a positive correlation between students suffering from depression, (41% of total) and scores on the daily hassles.

Question 41

Bouteyre et al (2007), conclusions:

Answer 41

• Transition from school to university has frequent daily hassles, which are a risk factor for developing depression.
• Pastoral care can improve it.

Question 42

Gervais (2005), method:

Answer 42

Nurses kept diaries for a month, recording all their daily hassles and uplifts while at work.

Question 43

Gervais (2005), results:

Answer 43

• Daily hassles increased job strain and decrease job performance.
• Nurses felt some of the uplifts they experienced counteracted the negative effects of the daily hassles.

Question 44

Evaluation of daily hassles as a source of stress:

Answer 44

• It’s correlational, lacks cause-and-effect.
• Daily hassles accumulate over the course of the day and so provide a more significant source of stress the life changes.
• Severe life changes may make the participants more susceptible to daily hassles.
• Use of self report questionnaire = socially desirable answers.
• Cultural differences: social support is an important protective factor against stress and there are cultural variations and how it’s used.
  
  • African Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanics were found to use the social support offered by significant others more than White Americans.

Question 45

Overview of Hassles and Uplifts Scale:

Answer 45

• Way to measure stress.
• A self report.
• Has 3 forms
  
  • Daily Hassles Scale (DHS) 117 items
  • Daily Uplifts Scale (DUS) 135 items
  • HSUP combined scale of DHS and DUS - 250 items.
• Kanner et al was interested in investigating, whether it’s daily hassles, rather than major life events that are the most stressful. They developed the scales to examine the relationship between hassles and health.

Question 46

Evaluation of Hassles and Uplift Scale:

Answer 46

• A very long questionnaire
• Means that it’s likely that respondents don’t maintain thoughtful, focused attention throughout completing the scale.
• Test-retest correlations supports the idea that respondents don’t maintain full concentration as the correlation coefficient figure is only 0.48 for scores on the severity rating of hassles, (weak positive correlation) and the highest score of 0.60 frequency ratings of uplifts (strong positive correlation).
• This is a weakness as it shows that participants scores lack reliability.
• Both SRRS and HSUP scales are still used in research.
• This is a strength because of the continued use of the scales highlights that psychologist view these questionnaires to have a great deal of credibility.
• Self-report: socially desirable answers which can weaken the reliability and validity of findings.
• Supporting evidence is carried out longitudinally and can result in data being incorrect.
• Cultural differences - directed towards the Western world problems, culturally related.

Question 47

Ways of measuring stress:

Answer 47

• ECG - heart rate
• Breathing rate
• BP
• Hormone levels in blood or urine, adrenaline and noradrenaline.
• Sweating - skin conductance response

Question 48

Skin Conductance Response (SCR):

Answer 48

• 19th-century when the scientists realised that skin is electrically active, and that this electrical activity is conducted when the skin is wet (SCR).
• As sweat is produced the amount of electricity that is conducted increases.
• This effect is strongest in the palms of the hands and souls of the feet.
• To measure the skin conductance response to electrodes are placed on a persons index and middle finger.
• 0.5 V is applied across these electrodes.
• By measuring the current that flows conductance can be reported.
• Can be used in the treatment of anxiety, fears or phobias and stress - applications in real life.

Question 49

Evaluation of Skin Conductance Response (SCR):

Answer 49

• Lacks individual differences are some sweat more than others.
• Stabiles: The SCR is very little when they are at rest and aunts influenced by internal or external stimuli.
• Labiles: Produced a lot of SCR even when they’re at rest.

Question 50

Hormone checks as a way of measuring stress:

Answer 50

• Adrenaline is the hormone produced as a response to ongoing stressors and can be measured in urine.
• Backed up by study of Johansson et al (1978) where two groups of people with different jobs were tested.

Question 51

Evaluation of measuring stress (SCR and hormone checks):

Answer 51

• Overcomes the subjectivity of self report measures.
• Objective and scientific as they use hormones, heart rate, BP.
• The main issue is the validity as other issues can cause physiological changes which can mimic the stress response: drugs, alcohol, caffeine.

Question 52

Overview of the demand control model:

Answer 52

• The demand control model is focused on the balance of workload and control.
• Developed by Karasek (1979), states that those who experience high demands at work with little control are more likely than other employees to feel stressed.

Question 53

Johansson et al, workplace stress, aim:

Answer 53

To investigate whether the work stressors such as repetitiveness, machine regulated pace of work and high levels of responsibility, increase stress-related physiological arousal and stress related illness.

Question 54

Johansson et al, workplace stress, procedure:

Answer 54

• 24 male workers in a Swedish sawmill.
• High risk/low control were 14 participants and classified as having repetitive, constrained, isolated jobs with little or no control of piece of work routine, the so-called ‘finishers’.
• Low risk/high control with 10 participants whose work was self-paced and allowed more socialising with other workers.
• Urine samples, adrenaline (F or F) - objective.
• Self report, questionnaires - subjective.
  -Each participant was asked to give a daily urine sample, four times a day, including on the rest days.
• Body temperature was also measured.
• In the questionnaire, participants had to answer if they consumed, caffeine and/or smoked.
• They also had to write a list of emotions and feelings, such as sleepiness, well-being, calmness, and irritation.
• Baseline measurements were taken when they were at home.

Question 55

Johansson et al, workplace stress, results:

Answer 55

• The 14 ‘finishers’ had adrenaline levels twice as high as the baseline measurements which continued to rise throughout the day and compared to rest days. Also higher than the control group.
• The finishes also had higher levels of stress related illness, such as headaches and absenteeism than the control.
• The control group had a peak level of one and a half-time baseline in the morning, and this decreased throughout the day.
• In the self report, the finishing group felt more rushed and irritated then the control group and rated their well-being as being lower.

Question 56

Johansson et al, workplace stress, conclusions:

Answer 56

• The repetitive and machine paced work of the high risk group contributed to the higher stress levels.
• Correlational, cannot link cause and effect.
• Individual differences were not controlled - personality type. Unclear which aspect of the most stressful.
• Beta bias, gender bias.
• Suggests that the more responsibility someone has in their place of work, the higher the intensity of the job and the more repetitive it is (lack of control), the more stressed the individual is likely to feel.

Question 57

Job strain model:

Answer 57

The workplace creates stress and illness in 2 ways: high demand, and low control.

Question 58

Marmot et al, workplace stress, aim:

Answer 58

Interested in the job strain model, see whether or not there was a relationship between job control and stress related illness in male and female civils servants.

Question 59

Marmot et al, workplace stress, procedure:

Answer 59

• Over 10,000 participants, both men and women.
• Used civil servants.
• Job controller was measured through completion of the self-report service and by independent assessment of the work environment by personal managers.
• Records were also kept of stress related illness.

Question 60

Marmot et al, workplace stress, results:

Answer 60

• Participants that reported having low job control were four times more likely to die of a heart attack than those with high job control.
• Higher grade civil servants developed fewest cardiovascular problems.
• High workload not associated with CHD but low job control was.
• They were most likely to suffer from the other stress related disorders, such as cancers, strokes and gastrointestinal disorders.
• Association was still significant after eliminating other factors, such as job position and a risk factors for coronary heart disease (diet weight and lifestyle).
• Control is more important than the workload.

Question 61

Marmot et al, workplace stress, conclusions:

Answer 61

• Companies can change their policy so workers can be more mentally relaxed, feel they have more control over the work, so better productivity - implications on the economy.

Question 62

Personality:

Answer 62

Difficult to define, but thought of as a set of characteristics, behaviours, attitudes and general temperament that remain relatively stable and distinguish one individual from another.

Question 63

Characteristics of a Type A personality:

Answer 63

• Linked to stress
• Competitive
• Strive for perfection (sports people)
• Impatient
• Always time urgent
• Hostile/aggressive
• Believed to lead to high BP and raised stress hormones - can lead to CHD - F or F, cortisol.

Question 64

Characteristics of a Type B personality:

Answer 64

• Relaxed
• Not competitive
• Don’t strive for perfection
• Patient
• Rarely in a rush
• Laid back
• ‘Lazy’
• Express feelings/emotion in a non aggressive manner.
• Less vulnerable to stress related illness

Question 65

Freedman and Rosenmans, personality types, aim:

Answer 65

Study to see if people with Type A personality are more likely to develop CHD.

Question 66

Freedman and Rosenmans, personality types, method:

Answer 66

• Looked for 3 key components: impatience, competitiveness and hostility.
• 3200 male volunteer sample
• Longitudinal study if 8 1/2 years
• All were healthy at the beginning of the study.
• Personality type was determined through a interview, where they were constantly interrupted.
• Type A,B and X (mix of A and B)
• Followed 8 1/2 years later and CHD incidences were recorded.

Question 67

Freedman and Rosenmans, personality types, results:

Answer 67

• 257 out of 3200 developed a CHD during 8 1/2 years, 70% of whom had been classified as Type A.
• This was nearly twice as many as were Type B, even when other factors known to be associated with heart disease were taken into account.
• Compared to Type B’s, Type A’s were found to have higher levels of adrenaline, noradrenaline and cholesterol.
• A significant but moderate positive correlation was found between personality type and coronary heart disease.
• Type A had higher BP and cholesterol, also more likely to smoke - increases chances of CHD.
• The physiological measures matched the questionnaires, meaning that this form of personality allocations was valid.

Question 68

Freedman and Rosenmans, personality types, conclusions:

Answer 68

• Shows that Type A behaviour is correlated to CHD.
• Type A behaviour pattern increases the person’s experience of stress, which increases physiological reactivity and that in turn increases vulnerability to CHD.
• The high levels of the stress hormones suggest that they do experience more stress than Type B’s.
• The stress response inhibits digestion, so higher levels of cholesterol in the blood, and this places Type A’s risk of CHD.
• Implications include the need to reduced ‘harmful’ Type A characteristics.
• Behaviour modification programmes to reduce Type A behaviours.

Question 69

Characteristics of a Type C personality:

Answer 69

• A people pleaser
• Passive, self sacrificing
• Poor self motivation
• Emotional dysfunction
• Learned helplessness
• Feels hopeless, give up, hopeless, little or no emotional
• Pleases others at their expense, often depressed, behavioural inertia
• Related to poor health, more likely to get cancer due to some stressors activating the ANS and chronic stress impacting the immune system.

Question 70

Datore et al (1980), method:

Answer 70

• 200 participants from the Vietnam war
• 75 had cancer, remaining didn’t
• Completed a self report questionnaire to measure their repression of emotions and depression, years before their cancer diagnosis.

Question 71

Datore et al (1980), results:

Answer 71

Veterans diagnosed with cancer has scored, much higher on the depression scale, compared to the non-cancer group.

Question 72

Datore et al (1980), conclusion:

Answer 72

• These findings support the idea that people who repair their emotions may be more vulnerable to illness, but physiological illness such as depression would not become evident as they have repressed acknowledging they feel depressed.
• This study supports the theory of a relationship between personality Type C and illness.

Question 73

Ragland and Brand (1988), contradicting Freedman and Rosenman, results:

Answer 73

• Found that 214 (approx. 15%) of the men had died of CHD.
• Confirmed the importance of the CHD risk factors, but found little evidence of a relationship between Type A behaviours and mortality, thus challenging the earlier conclusions that Type A personality was a significant risk factors of CHD mortality.

Question 74

Myrek (2001), contradicts Freedman and Rosemman, method:

Answer 74

Carried out a meta-analysis of 35 students on this topic.

Question 75

Myrek (2001), contradicts Freedman and Rosemman, results:

Answer 75

• Found an association between CHD and a component of Type A personality- hostility.
• Other than this, there was no evidence of an association between Type A personality and CHD.

Question 76

Definition of hardiness:

Answer 76

• Kobasa used the term ‘hardy’ to describe people who coped well in the stressful situations.
• They’re resilient to stress.

Question 77

3 C’s for hardiness:

Answer 77

• Commitment
• Challenge
• Control

Question 78

Commitment, hardiness:

Answer 78

• Hardy individuals show greater involvement in their work and personal relationships.
• They out 100% into whatever they do and don’t give up easily.
• They feel a strong sense of involvement.

Question 79

Challenge, hardiness:

Answer 79

Stressful situations are perceived as an opportunity/chance for personal growth and development, rather than threats.

Question 80

Control hardiness:

Answer 80

• ‘Hardy’ individuals feel that they’re in control of their lives and so are less likely to blame others or experience helplessness.
• Very similar to having an internal locus of control - they don’t feel that their level of stress is controlled by external factors.

Question 81

Kobasa (1979), hardiness, method:

Answer 81

• Studied 800 male American business executives assessing stress using Holmes and Rahes SRRS.
• After 3 months also asked to complete personality tests, which included the 3 C’s.

Question 82

Kobasa (1979), hardiness, results:

Answer 82

• Approximately 150 of the p’s were classified as having high stress according to SRRS scores.
• After being also asked to list the number of illness episodes that they experienced during this time, 86 had high stress/low illness and 75 had high trees/high illness record.
• Individuals who are in the high stress/low illness group scored highly on all 3 of the hardiness characteristics where as the high stress/high illness group scored lower on these variables.

Question 83

Kobasa (1979), hardiness, conclusions:

Answer 83

• The findings suggested that there’s something else that modifies the effects of stress because individuals experience the same level stress had different illness records - 3rd variable that’s unidentified.
• Kobasa proved the notion that a hardy personality type encourages resilience and therefore helps an individual to cope with stress,
• This suggests that hardy personality type is linked to stress levels and that a hardy personality provide défense against the negative effects of stress,

Question 84

Kurdish Hasel et al, hardiness, method:

Answer 84

• Tested a hardiness training programme with university students in Iran.
• 56 students volunteered, 27 took part in 6 week hardiness training programme (experimental group).
• Other 27 formed a control group.
• All students completed measures of hardiness and perceived stress at the start and end of the 6 week period.

Question 85

Kurdish Hasel et al, hardiness, aim:

Answer 85

To see where an increase in hardiness would be accompanied by a decrease in perceived stress in the students.

Question 86

Kurdish Hasel et al, hardiness, findings:

Answer 86

Found a significant increase in hardiness in the training group (p<0.01) and a significant decrease in perceived stress (p<0.01).

Question 87

Kurdish Hasel et al, hardiness, conclusions:

Answer 87

The training programme had increased hardiness and decreased stress at the same time,

Question 88

Hardiness (programme) applications to real life:

Answer 88

• The concept of hardiness is useful to explain why some soldiers are better able to combat war related stress.
• US Navy Seals screen fro hardiness and hardiness training is becoming wide spread in the US military,
• Exams and preparations for them are clear and well defined examples of stressful experiences that all students have to endure. Researchers have been interested to find out where increasing commitment, challenge, and control can make a difference to how students deal with such stressors.
• Lifton et al (2006) measured hardiness at 5 US uni’s and found that those low on hardiness were more likely to drop out. High hardiness led to a greater chance of completing degree.

Question 89

How BZ’s work:

Answer 89

• Work directly on the brain.
• Reduce any increased serotonin activity, and so in turn reduce anxiety.

Question 90

What is GABA:

Answer 90

A neurotransmitter that is responsible for anxiety relief naturally in the body.

Question 91

Studies supporting BZ’s:

Answer 91

• Kahn et al:
  
  • Followed nearly 250 patients over eight weeks and found that BZ’s were significantly superior to placebo.
• A meta analysis of students focusing in the treatment of social anxiety found that BZ’s were more effective at reducing this anxiety than other drugs such as anti-depressants.

Question 92

How BB’s work:

Answer 92

• Reduce the activity Of adrenaline and noradrenaline (F or F).
• Work on the peripheral nervous system.
• Adrenaline has receptors around the heart and when released by and these receptors and so increase heartbeat.
• BB’s bind to such receptors so decreasing the effects of adrenaline and noradrenaline.
• They make it harder to stimulate the cells.

Question 93

Real world application of BB’s:

Answer 93

• Lackwood studied over 2,000 musicians in major US symphony orchestras and found that 27% reported taking BBS.
• It was found that those musicians who took the BBs felt better about their performance.

Question 94

Weakness of drugs being used as a coping mechanism with stress:

Answer 94

• Only treat the symptoms not the cause, if you stop taking them chances of symptoms will return.
• BZ’s are highly addictive, can only be taken for 2 weeks, max. 4 weeks.
• Can’t use BZ’s for a long time, only help short-term.
• BB’s aren’t good for short-term but long-term.
• Don’t work for everyone - individual differences.

Question 95

Strengths of drugs being used as a coping mechanism with stress:

Answer 95

• Easy to use compared to psychological therapy.
• BB’s can prevent CVD in the long term.
• BB’s don’t produce harmful side effects.

Question 96

How SIT works:

Answer 96

• Form of CBT, a more holistic way of treating stress.
• Designed to change people’s thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and expectations.
• Combines both therapies to change the act of thinking and behaviour at the same time.
• Takes in other factors: job, personal relationships.

Question 97

Meichenbaum overview:

Answer 97

• Believed that although we can’t usually change the cause of stress, we can change the way we think about these stressors.
• 2 types of trash:
  
  • Positive thinking: leads to more positive feelings so reducing stress response.
  • Negative thinking: leads to negative outcomes like anxiety and depression.

Question 98

Stressed thinking, Meichenbaum:

Answer 98

Perception of situation/stimulus asa threat or problem.
^
|
^
Belief that coping resources aren’t adequate to deal
^
|
^
Use of coping strategies that don’t help the situation

Question 99

Stage 1 of SIT:

Answer 99

• Conceptualisation
• The client therapist identify the source of the stress,
• Could include keeping a diary of when and where the stressful experiences occurred.
• During this stage the therapist might even challenge the client’s views.

Question 100

Stage 2 of SIT:

Answer 100

• Allows the client to learn specific skills and to practice them with the therapist.
• Skills taught and tailored to clients own problems, unlike drugs which are general.
• Includes psoriasis thinking, relaxation, social skills, methods of diversion, time management, social support.

Question 101

Stage 3 of SIT:

Answer 101

• Finally the client will try out these skills in the real world.
• Clients apply the skills to different and increasingly stressful situations.
• At the same time the client together with the therapist will consider how well these new skills worked.
• The therapist and client continue to monitor the success/failure of the therapy.
• Clients may able to help train others.

Question 102

Meichenbaum, research supporting SIT, method:

Answer 102

• 21 students, 17 to 25 responded to an advert about treatment of test anxiety.
• Filed experiment p’s put into 3 groups.
• SIT, standard desensitisation and a control group.
• P’s tested using a test anxiety questionnaire
• SIT group received 8 therapy sessions and positive statements to say and relaxation techniques to use in test situations.
• Systematic desensitisation Groups were also given it therapy sessions with any progressive relaxation training.
• Control group were told they were on the waiting list for treatment.

Question 103

Meichenbaum, research supporting SIT, findings:

Answer 103

Performance in tests in the SIT group improved the most although both therapy groups showed improvement over the control group.

Question 104

Meichenbaum, research supporting SIT, conclusion:

Answer 104

SIT is an effective way of reducing anxiety in the students who are prone to anxiety in test situations and is more effective than simply behavioural techniques when the cognitive component is added in.

Question 105

Sneezy and Horam, research supporting SIT, method:

Answer 105

-vSIT has been found to be effective, examined the effects of SIT on anxiety, stress and academic performance of 1st year law students.
- P’s received for weekly sessions of SIT each lasting 90 minutes.

Question 106

Sneezy and Horam, research supporting SIT, findings:

Answer 106

• All participants are displayed lower levels of anxiety and stress over time.
• Many of them did better academically than expected.

Question 107

Strengths of SIT being used as a coping mechanism with stress:

Answer 107

• Can provide the individual with a tool kit for leading with future stressful situations as well as offering help with the current problems. It’s therefore provides a long-term solution which other treatments like medication may not.
• SIT is a very flexible treatment which can range from simple problem-solving which can last 20 to 40 minutes of therapists time to a year of weekly sessions.
• The end result still relies on the person themselves to put the techniques into action within the daily lives of been forced to change required.
• The skills taught during SIT may be more beneficial than the whole training.

Question 108

Weaknesses of SIT being used as a coping mechanism with stress:

Answer 108

• Where the needs of the client are such that SIT requires a lot of time, it will only be appropriate if the individual is very determined and highly motivated.
• Anti anxiety drugs may need to be prescribed as an interim measure to reduce stress so that the individual can cope with the stress inoculation training.
• SIT also takes commitment and persistance and can be hard work.
• The ‘homework’ may be difficult and challenging and clients are often taken ‘out of their comfort zone’ when asked to discuss situations which cause stress.
• The effectiveness of SIT may be as good as the therapist delivering it.
• Compared with medication, SIT may take longer to make any difference to the client.
• SIT will be costly, usually offered by a private therapist.
• Implications for the economy?

Question 109

Overview of biofeedback:

Answer 109

• Helps control the F or F system
• Combination of giving physiological feedback and relaxation techniques (psychological).
• Works on the idea of operant conditioning, there are positive reinforcements and rewards.

Question 110

Step 1 of biofeedback:

Answer 110

• Electrodes are attached to your skin.
• Person attached to machine that monitors and gives feedback on heart rate.

Question 111

Stage 2 of biofeedback:

Answer 111

They send information to a monitoring box which translates measurements onto a compute screen.

Question 112

Stage 3 of biofeedback:

Answer 112

• Person is taught relaxation techniques reducing the activity of the SNS and activate the parasympathetic nervous system, slowing heart rate and makes them feel relaxed.
• This means that adrenaline ans noradrenaline are no longer produced, this results in reduced heart rate, BP and all other symptoms associated with stress.

Question 113

Stage 4 of biofeedback:

Answer 113

• Relaxation acts like reward and encourages person to repeat this involuntarily - person learns to use in real life situations .
• The subsequent feedback (which indicates a drop in arousal) and the feeling of relaxation itself are both rewards.
• Thus, the machine uses the principles of operant conditioning as the feedback and relaxation are positively reinforcing.
• If a behaviour has a pleasant consequence it is likely to be repeated, and hence so are the relaxation techniques.

Question 114

Research against biofeedback:

Answer 114

Lemaire et al:
- Found that doctors who were taught biofeedback techniques and used them over 4 weeks reporter much more reduced levels of stress (questionnaire) than a control group, supporting the effectiveness of biofeedback in managing stress.
- Also measured the physiological symptoms of stress, such as heart rate and BP, in the same p’s, and found no significant changes over the 4 week period.
- These findings weaken the use of biofeedback, as the effect on the physiological effects of stress seem to be very limited, or non existent.

Question 115

Research for biofeedback:

Answer 115

Budzynski et al:
- Studied the effectiveness of biofeedback on training tension headaches.

• 18 p’s into 3 groups of 6:
  
  • Group A had biofeedback sessions.
  • Group B were taught relaxation techniques.
  • Group C were a control group who received no intervention
• Group A reported a significant decrease in headaches, showing ha biofeedback can be effective.

Question 116

Strengths of biofeedback:

Answer 116

• Effective for a range of health problems
• Lacks of side effects
• Reduces pain
• Can be used in everyone, even children

Question 117

Weaknesses of biofeedback:

Answer 117

• Requires specialist equipment
• Can be more expensive and difficult to use at home than other methods.
• Time consuming - need to be committed
• Implications for the economy