Stress Flashcards
Stress
Process of adjusting to circumstances that disrupt, or threaten to disrupt, a person’s equilibrium.
It involves a transaction between people and their environments
Stressors
Events or situations to which people must adjust
Psychological stressors
Any event that forces a person to change or adapt
Process of stress
Stressors -> stress mediators -> stress responses
Biological responses to distress
They exist.
Psychological responses to stress
> Emotional
Cognitive - ruminative thinking and catastrophizing. Overarousal created by stressors impairs problem-solving and decision-making
Behavioural stress responses - escape and avoidance responses, aggression
Holmes and Rahe’s ‘Social Readjustment Rating Scale’ (SRSS)
Scale based on assumption that all change, good or bad, is stressful.
> People who scored high on SRSS and other life-change scales more likely to suffer from physical or mental disorders
> Whether a person considers an event positive or negative is very important
Selyes General Adaptation Syndrome
What happens when an organism is threatened.
1. Alarm - organism mobilises.
> Sympathetic nervous system activated/adrenal activity
> Biggest physiological response to stress
> Low level of resistance
- Resistance - if stressor still present, organism must deal with it
> Coping mechanisms
> Resources diverted to defence
> Higher level of resistance - can only do this for so long - Exhaustion
> Can no longer resist or cope
> Defence mechanisms break down
> Lowest level of resistance = - Non-specific
Eustress
Positive stress or stress that produces positive outcomes
Stress it not merely nervous tension
Stress can have positive outcomes
Stress is not something that can be avoided
Complete absence of stress is death
Appraisal Process - Lazarus and Folkman
Primary appraisal - is it positive, negative or irrelevant
Secondary appraisal - what can be done to minimise harm or maximise gain
Transactional models of stress (early work and modern theories)
Earlier work focussed on stress inducing factors - atheoretical
Most modern theories are transactional, however.
Complex relationship between environmental variables, individual cognitions and stressors in their relations with well being
Predictability and control of stressors
Predictable stressors tend to have less impact than those that are unpredictable
Especially when the stressors are intense and occur for relatively brief periods
Perception of control can mediate the effects of stressors
Belief that a stressor is controllable can reduce the impact of the stressor
Karasek, 1979 - job control model of stress
Job demands
Job decision latitude
While lots of demands and low control is generally bad, having too little demands can also lead to stress due to boredom.
High demands lead to arousal, and cannot be channelled into a coping response so there’s a larger and longer physiological reaction.
Positives - motivation and learning
Coping with stress - problem focussed
Active
Planning
Seeking social support
Coping with stress - emotional focussed
Acceptance
Denial
Re-structuring
Developing coping strategies (4)
Cognitive - changing how people interpret stimuli and events (e.g. cognitive restructuring)
Emotional - seeking and obtaining social support
Behavioural - changing behaviour to minimize impact of stressors
Physical - alter physical responses before, during, or after stressors occur
Stages of coping with stress
Assessment Goal setting - what can/cannot be changed Planning Action Evaluation Adjustment
Social support - stress
Definition - amount of helpfulness derived from social relationships
> Support perceived but not used better than support not perceived
Support used best - it also means you know it’s available next time
Social support network - stress
Friends and social contacts on whom one can depend for help and support
Quality of social support can influence one’s ability to cope with stress - may also determine quality of social support one receives
Stress-reducing techniques
Muscle relaxation Biofeedback Meditation Cognitive restructuring - bad thoughts identified and replaced with rational and logical ones Holistic wellness
Stress and personality
Stress-related health problems are more common among people who:
Tend to be angry, anxious or depressed
Persist at mentally avoiding perceived stressors
Perceive stressors as long-term, catastrophic threats brought on by self
Are pessimistic about their ability to overcome stressors or other negative situations
People with ‘stress-hardy’ personalities tend to be more optimistic
Hardy personality - attributes
- Control
- Commitment
- Challenge
Occupational burnout
> More strongly related to employees’ work demands than to the resources people receive at work
Removing personal stressors and job/organizational stressors is best way to reduce burnout
Stress and gender
Males get more angry and/or avoid stressors (or both)
Fight or flight
Females more likely to help others and make use of social support network
Tend and befriend
Psychoneuroimmunology
Field that examines interaction of psychological and physiological processes that affect the ability of the body to defend itself against disease
Immune system and illness (and stress, obviously)
Stress can impair or suppress the immune system
Social support and other stress-mediating factors can help sustain one’s immune system
Social support may prevent illness by providing an outlet for the person under stress
