Stress Flashcards
What are the characteristics of stress?
- Stress as a physical and psychological response
- Different Types of Stress
- Effects of Stress
What are the different types of stress?
Acute and Chronic
Explain the different types of stress
- Acute Stress – the response to an immediate threat, e.g. an exam or deadline
- Chronic Stress – happens over a long period of time, e.g. relationship problems. Person sees no escape and be difficult to treat as individual may get used to it
What are the psychological and physical effects of stress?
Physical response:
- research in rats – general physical response to stress, involves the activation of the nervous system – release cortisol and adrenaline – makes us more aware
- Adrenaline – prepares body for fight or flight / Cortisol – releases glucose for energy
Stress as a psychological response:
- How we respond to stress depends on how we perceive it
- Transactional model of stress – stress seen as an interaction between a person and the environment
- When a stressor is interacted with the person they decides whether they are able to cope.
Primary appraisal - is the threat harmful?
Secondary appraisal – do we have the resources to deal with the stressor?
What are the effect of stress?
Physical:
- Short-term effects: increased blood pressure / sweaty palms / headaches / stomach problems.
- long-term effects: leading to illness.
- Stress damages the immune system and can lead to illnesses like CHD.
Psychological:
- Feel isolated / low self-esteem
- Stress not a mental illness - can cause mental health problems. e.g. anxiety
- Struggle to cope with management of stress
Lifestyle:
- Effects made worse by changes in lifestyle
e.g. smoking or drinking as a coping mechanism
- Develop nervous habits – nail biting
- Develop sleep problems
Yerkes-Dodson:
- Eustress – positive stress – can provide motivation for situation. e.g. stress and arousal can increase performance in sports.
- Distress – bad stress – too much can have a negative effect on performance.
What are the individual difference explanations for stress?
Hardiness and Type A and B personality
What are the main components to a hardy personality?
- Control - in control of their own lives
- Commitment - have a sense of purpose / want to stay involved even when it goes wrong / curious about others
- Challenge - see stressful situation as an opportunity to grow and develop as a person / don’t see life as easy and need to be able to overcome these situations
How do hardy characteristics buffer against stress?
- used as a pathway to deal with stress
- coping strategies are used to good effect when stressor is present
- hardy personality = less physical response
- less illness from stress = reduced cortisol
What sections are used to evaluate hardiness?
Gender differences and Neuroticism
Evaluate Hardiness using gender differences
Kobasa - different for females
- different responses to stress
- control + commitment –> for males
- stress different for different ages
- relationship with health outcomes
What is the evaluation on neuroticism?
Hardiness+ negative affectivity
Focused on the negatives in life
Over-exaggeration of illness
low hardiness may not be more ill - just complain more
Is there always high hardiness and low neuroticism?
What are the sections of explanation of Type A and B personalities?
Differences is personality
Link between Type A with stress-related illness
Western Collaborative Study
What is the Western Collaborative Study?
- longitudinal study
- 3,000 men
- Using interviews - questions trying to provoke type A behaviour
- Type A more likely to interrupt a hesitant question
- Men that showed more type A traits more likely to have health problems - heart attack/disease
Evaluate the Type A & B personality explanation of stress
1) Gender + Culture Bias
- imposed Etic - assumption of own culture as normal - always compare to own
- Type A traits always compared to male, but females may have different traits
- Traits compared to west - type A concept may not apply to certain cultures
2) Role of hostility
- Traits in Type A may be more important to others to cause illness
- Elements that don’t increase ask of illness
- Some elements may be more helpful in response to stress
e.g. flight or flight
Explain the Social psychological explanation of life events
- Life events: events that cause significant change in your life - can cause large amounts of stress
1) Measuring Life events - Holme - patients became ill after suffering large amounts of life changes
- Created list of life events using 400 people to rank
- SRRS - death of spouse, marriage, breaking law
- Value calculated by participants ticking off how many changes that they experienced
- Higher score means more stress
- A score of 150+ increase illness by 30%
Evaluate the explanation of life events for stress
1) Correlation + Causation
- all research is correlational - doesn’t prove cause
- may be other factors that mediate life events + illness
e.g. a woman during pregnancy with high social support have less complications than women with low social support
- Support through situations may be an intervening variable
2) Issues in Recall
- Validity relies on accuracy of recall over time
- Recollections may not be accurate
Raphael - asked women after a 10 months period of time - only 1/4 of events were recalled
- A more detailed interview method should be used rather than the SRRS as social desirability may effect
What methods of modification are used for stress?
- Beta Blockers
- Stress Inoculation Training
Describe Beta Blockers
HOW THEY WORK
- Have reverse effect on the sympathetic nervous system
Decrease HR, BP, shaking and sweatiness
- Block receptor sites – for adrenaline and noradrenaline
- Reduces physical reaction when adrenaline tries to bind to muscle – HR and Breathing Rate do not increase – Calm response, reduce anxiety
- Useful in acute stress situations – giving a public speech / competing in a sporting event
Therefore reduces anxiety and arousal
TYPES OF BETA BLOCKERS
- Non-selective – block adrenaline and noradrenaline in other areas of the body other than at the heart – block all receptors and will effect the heart, liver and kidney
- Selective – effect mostly just the heart – only B1 receptors
OFF-LABEL USE
- Mainly prescribed for high blood pressure
- Are used for anxiety (not intended use)
Drug not undergone clinical trial - safety
- Benefits outweigh the risks
Evaluate the effectiveness of Beta Blockers for stress
1) Performance Benefits & Self-reported levels of stress:
- Reduce performance anxiety in musicians - musicians given the drug or a placebo before performing
- Musicians given drug showed significant levels in reduced heart rates and were able to play complex parts more accurately – less reported stage fright – compared to placebo
- May be differences on the stress being self-reported – depending on beta-blocker used
Maths test – drug had expected physical effects – differences in reported stress levels in the group - subjective
2) Benefits for other aspects of Stress
- Stress can cause people fall into habits (e.g. addiction)
- 3 groups – stress + beta blocker, no stress + beta blocker, stressed + placebo
- Stress + beta blocker group = goal directed just like non-stressed people
- Beta blocker prevented stress and reduced the habit behaviour
- Shows potential usefulness of beta blockers when dealing with stress
What are the social and ethical implications of Beta Blockers for stress?
- Side effects (ethical)
- Possible Over-prescription (social)
Describe the ethical implications of using Beta Blockers for stress
- Usually mild and temporary
e.g. dizziness, nausea, blurred vision - Cause sleep issues and breathing difficulties for asthmatics – overall effects are minimal
- Suddenly stopping taking them = heart palpitations and increase in blood pressure
Body needs to overcome drugs effects – slow down sympathetic response - People may become dependent on the drug – and may not be able to cope without
Describe the social implications of Beta Blockers for stress
- There has been an increase in prescribed beta blockers
- There may have been increased number of heart problems
- Health professionals saying they are over-used for stress
- Anxiety is a bigger problem and there are limited treatments – therapy is expensive and beta blockers are a more cost effective option – but may not deal with root cause of the stress
Describe Stress Inoculation Training (SIT)
- SIT – gives the individuals the experience of minor stressors that make them more prepared
- Helps develop coping mechanisms and confidence for the future
- Stressor needs to be strong enough to arouse the defences - but not causing negative effects
IMPORTANCE OF PERCEPTION - 2 main areas – identifies the area of importance of how a person perceives the stressor + how they cope with the stressor
- Gives people tools to deal with stressor in a different way – deal with is more effectively
- Helps people to overcome and be more aware of behaviours that hinder the individual
Helps make a narrative when faced in the situation
THE PROCESS - Very flexible
- Customised to the individual – depend on stressor and tailored existing coping abilities
- Carried out for about 10 sessions – may be follow-up sessions
- Has been used in many settings – medical patients, people with anxiety
1) Conceptualisation – relationship established between client and trainer
Increase clients awareness of nature of stress – and their coping strategies
Break down problem into more manageable concepts
2) Skills acquisition – acquire coping skills
Taught strategies in clinical setting + generalised to different life settings
3) Application – practising applying skills – increasingly demanding situations
Use strategies – imagery, modelling and role play – prevent relapse of stress
Rehearsing situation in which their stress may appear
Follow-up sessions are used to make sure that people are using the techniques properly
Evaluate the effectiveness of SIT for stress
EFFECTIVENESS
- Effective in reducing stress across many settings
- Studies in workplace – effective in enhancing performance under stress and reduces anxiety
- Effective regardless of the trainer and setting
- Led to improvements for high and low anxiety groups
- SIT on law students – students that received SIT showed lower levels of stress over time
WHICH PART IS EFFECTIVE?
- SIT issue – difficult to see which part of the components are effective
- If key part determined would save time for patients as only that section would be needed
- Study carrying out separate elements – random allocation of groups
Some given just SIT and some given extra training alongside SIT – there were no differences between groups in terms of anxiety levels
- Application is the most important part
What are the social and ethical implications of SIT for stress?
- Risk of harm (ethical)
- Impact on the economy
Describe the ethical implications of SIT on stress
- Processes of SIT may cause some distress – rehearsing stressful situations
- May cause psychological harm
- Benefits may be more long-lasting compared to drug therapy – benefits may outweigh the costs
Small amount of stress may be worth it for bigger gains
Describe the Social Implications of SIT on stress.
- Big impact on the economy and people may take days off work sick
- Effects of stress cost health services money
- Stress techniques have a long-term benefit
People with CHD + stress techniques vs control vs a group with exercise
Group with stress techniques experienced less health problems - May not purely be SIT but still giving techniques to deal with stress
