Stress Flashcards
what is the term for stress that is positive and useful
eustress
who proposed general adaptation syndrome
selye
what is G.A.S
what does it assume
shows the stages the body goes through when the body is under long intense stress, assumes the response is the same for all types of stressor
what are the stages of G.A.S
1) alarm stage
the body identifies the stress and responds (stress hormones)
2) resistance
body attempts to adapt to the stressful environment, this uses a lot of energy
3)exhaustion
the bodys response to stress is failing, stress related illnesses are failing and immune system is down
evaluate G.A.S (selye)
pros:
- people have the same set of symptoms regardless of different problems
- study of rats: injected with different things yet all had similar response
cons:
- issues with animal studies
- mason- replicated selye, this time used monkeys instead of rats, found cortisol levels varied in response to stressor
what is the sympathomedullary pathway
the parts of the body involved in the immediate response to stress
describe the sympathomedullary pathway
1) SympNS is triggered and prepares the body for flight r fight
2) adrenal medulla- SNS triggers adrenal medulla to release adrenaline into the blodstream
3) adrenaline causes:
- heart rate increases
- breathing rate increases
- reduced blood flow to gut
what happens once the threat has passed
the parasympathetic branch of ANS dampens down the stress response
what happens in the HPA axis (long term stress)
hypothalamus releases CRF causes pituaitary gland to release ACTH, this stimulates the adrenal cortex to release cortisol
what is the effects of cortisol
positive; lower pain sensitivity. quick bursts of energy
negative: lowered immune system, impaired cognitive performance
describe the supporting evidence for the role of stress in illness: kiecolt-glaser et al
took blood samples from 75 medical students, took blood samples one month before their final exams and during the exams, students also completed questionnaires to assess life events,
found T Cells more present before exams rather than during exam seasons indicating immune system had gotten worse
describe the research into CHD and stress
Ute Wilbert-Lampen et al
found that during the world cup in germany, when germany played the number of cardiac emergencies in germany rose by 2.66 times,
descrbie the research into the common cold and stress
cohen
half of participants were infected with common cold and half a placebo, they all did a questionnaire to investigate stress levels
47% of people given common cold in high stress got it
27% of people given common cold in LOW stress got it
evaluate the role of stress in illness
X-individual differences: in the way people respond to stress, eg personality type: type A (competitive) type B (easy going)
friedman and rosenman found people with type A personality are more likely to have a heart attack rather than type B
X- stress doestn explicitly make u ill, it weakens ur immune system making u more susceptible
X- stress can be positive- stress in moderation can increase a persons ability to respond to extreme stress (why athletes are subjected to stress)
what are the two ways to measure stress (self report)
1) social readjustment rating scale
2) hassles and uplifts scale
describe the social readjustment rating scale
-created by holmes and rahe
-43 events on the scale, each are related to a certain number of LIFE CHANGE UNITS (LCU)
-a high score would show high susceptibility to stress related illness
-marriage was used as a baseline which other events were rated off
= found in many cases significant life changes occured in the months preceding the onset of illness
evaluate social readjustment rating scale
X- interpretation of life events- eg change in living could of been for the benefit
X- some stresses not included eg exams ( excludes young people)
X- retrospective data- issues with forgetting, consistency
describe the hassles and uplifts scale
-made by kanner
-suggested its not life events that cause stress but daily hassles that we all experience
-alternatively, uplifts eg sun shining can have positive effects on health
-they created a list of 117 hassles and 135 uplifts!
-participants had to rank each hassle on a 3point scale in terms of severity, and each uplift in terms of frequency
(in last week)
evaluate the hassles and uplifts scale
X- fatigue- the length of it means people may lose the focus which means they arent giving valid answers
X- subjective-participants can be giving socially desirable answers,
what is skin conducatance response
this is a physiological measure of the degree of sweating, this can be detected by measuring the electrical conducatance accross the skin
what other biological measures can be used to measure stress
- blood pressure- high blood pressure indicates stress
- saliva and urine- cortisol can be measured in saliva
what are some advantages of physiological measurements of stress
- objective
- test-retest reliability
- quantative (easy comparison)
describe Rahes study about the sources of stress being life changes
used a slightly different scale: schedule of recent experiences (sre)
-studied marines/navy on us navy ships, they did the SRE about events in the last 2 yrs, during the 6-8months a record was kept about the amount of times the soldiers had visited sick bay
-
results: found a positive correlation between life events and illness
evaluate life changes as a source of stress
yes: suicide- heikkinen and lonnquvist
- found that in the 3 months prior to the suicide of 219 people in Finland, there seemed to be significant changes in life events such as death, unemployment…
Xgeneralisability of being on a navy ship
X DeLongis study
describe DeLongis et al
studied stress in 75 married couples, gave them a life events questionnaire and hassles and uplifts scale
-found no relation between life events and health but a positive correlation between hassles and next day health problems, eg flu/cold
describe kanners study into daily hassles
studied men and women , completed a daily hassles and uplifts scale once a month for ten months and stress symptoms were measured as well
found hassles positively correlate with psychological symptoms of stress
negative correlation between uplifts and stress symptoms
the hassles scale was a better predictor of stress symptoms
evaluate daily hassles as a source of stress
pro: delongis
X evidence is based on self reports
describe johanssons study of workplace stress
natural experiment
compared two different groups of workers;
- one had high workload and low control
- one has low workload and high control
- measured the workers on illness and absence from personnel records, stress samples from urine to detect hormones
- those in high workload low control group experienced the most stress hormones and stress related illness.
criticise johanssons study with another
MARMOT-
study used questionnaire to measure workload and job control of civil servants
- were also examined for symptoms of CHD and dfollowed up 5yrs later
found NO CORRELATION
use marmots study to describe CHD in participants
those who had low degree of control at the start of the study were more likely to have CHD 5yrs later
what was Lazarus’ transactional model of workplace stress
found a wide range of individual differences in the way people react and cope with individual stressors
what did gyorkos find about cultural differences in workplace stress
in individualistic cultures- lack of control is stressful
in collectivist cultures- control was considered less desireable
categorise type A behaviour
competitive
time urgent
angry and hostile
categorise type B behaviour
easy going
relaxed
patient/ friendly
categorise type c behaviour
emotional suppression
compliant
try to please others
how does personality affect stress
personality mediates stress and the stress response, research has found that some types of stress have made us more predisposed to stress related illness
describe friedman and rosenman study into the individual differences in stress
however what did the follow up study show
investigated the link between personality type and CHD
- structured interview showed personality type
- 8 yrs later, 257 of participants had developed CHD and 70% of these were type A
22yrs later, 15% of the men had died of CHD, found that little evidence of a relationship between type A personality and mortality
describe morris research into type C personality
studied women attended a cancer clinic, were interviewed about how often they expressed affection and other type C behaviour
women whos breast lumps were cancerous were found more likely to be type C rather than those who werent cancerous
define hardiness
a personality style that provided defences against the negative effects of stress
who proposed the idea of hardiness
kobasa
what are the three main traits of hardiness
commitment- to family/ job etc
challenge- view change as an opportunity
control - have influence over the events in their life
how may hardiness affect health
hardy people are better able to deal with stress by working through their problems and turning them into positive ones
this is known as positive appraisal
what did kobasa find from her study
that managers who were high in stress and were hardy- experienced less stress related illness
-used questionnaires to asses this
what did lifton find regarding hardiness
those who dropped out in uni were low in hardiness
what two drug therapies are available for stress
benzodiazepines- inhibitory hormones GABA
beta blockers- drugs that target the sympathetic nervous system and block the effect of adrenaline on the heart (so heart rate does not increase etc)
what does research into drug therapies show
BALDWIN (BZs) found they are significantly more effective than the placebo in treating acute anxiety, also found some are more effective than others
LOCKWOOD (beta blockers) studied over 2000 musicians, found that those who reported taking beta blockers reported feeling better about their performance and critics consistently judged their performance to be better
criticise the use of drug therapies
Xside effects
X dependency addiction
X
define biofeedback
a method of stress management that involves a person learning to control aspects of autonomic nervous system through the use of operant conditioning
explain how biofeedback works
RELAXATION:
- client taught relaxation techniques- activates parasympathetic nervous system
-adrenaline and noradrenaline is no longer produced
FEEDBACK:
-client is attached to machines that gives them information into their ANS
-eg heartbeat sensor and sweat production sensor
-client practises relaxation whilst watching the scans
OPERANT CONDITIONING:
–relaxation leads to a reduction in heart rate, seen to be rewarding as client gets to see heart rate going down (positive reinforcement)
TRANSFER: client transfers these skills to the real world
evaluate biofeedback
supporting evidence: LEWIS, military personnel given biofeedback session, there was less arousal in post training combat when compared to a control group
X Sudden stress:
-can not apply to real life stress, as the skills learnt do not easily transfer
X individual differences
takes a lot of understanding, also need to be motivated to apply the skills
compare biofeedback with SIT
similar:
-both require a lot of motivation and commitment
differences:
-biofeedback- deals with perception of stressors
SIT deals with causes of stress
what is SIT
stress inoculation therapy
- a type of CBT which trains people to cope with anxiety and stressful situations better by learning to inoculate themselves against it
what approach is SIT
cognitive approach
-deals with cognitive and emotional aspects of stress
what are the stages of SIT
1) conceptualisation
there is the focus on cognitive appraisal of stressors, ie how we perceive our abilities to cope with stress
- the person learns to focus on the things that they can change rather than those they can’t
2) Skill acquisition
client learns some skills useful for coping with stress, eg positive self talk and coping statements
3) real life application
new skills are transferred to stressful situations
what did jaremkos study on SIT find
took 62 students who experienced high level of anxiety when speaking in public
gave them SIT
reported less anxiety when speaking in public after SIT
explain a limitation of SIT
individual differences
for SIT to be most effective, participants have to be motivated, training is long and requires a lot of self-reflection
name the three types of social support
1) emotional support- others demonstrate that they care for u
2) esteem support- others value u and strengthen ur self worth
3) Instrumental support - practical support
what are the two hypothesis for the role of social support
1) buffering hypothesis- social support acts as a buffer to protect people from bad effects of stressful events
2) main effects hypothesis- people in high social support are in better health than people with low social support
describe sosa’s study into social support
look into the effects of instrumental support in the experience of childbirth
in the experiment group the woman was accompanied by a helper during labour who provided care in terms of general care and positive talk
the experimental group had a labour time of 8.8 hours
control group 19.3 hrs
what did Bergman and syme find
what is the problem with their study
those who had more social support were less likely to die over the period of the study
correlational…
what did Taylor find when investigating cultural factors in social support
found that asians (collectivist cultures) are less likely to report using social support for coping with stress than European Americans, because they do not want to appear to be a burden and worry others
what is a gender difference in coping with stress
1) different physiological responses
men have been the centre of most experiments about fight or flight response
it has been suggested that women have a tend and befriend principle which reflects women nursing nature which oxytocin creates
what did Taylor find in regard to gender differences in coping with stress
in females only, high oxytocin means lower levels of cortisol.
oestrogen increases the effect of oxytocin
male hormones (androgens) reduces the effect of oxytocin
describe billings and moos investigation into the different coping methods in men and women
questionnaire about a recent crisis
found problem focused used more frequent than emotion focused
however, women did use emotion focused to a greater extent than problem focused compared to men
emotion focused used in certain types of stress, eg death
why may gender differences may be explained in terms of lifestyle difference
women are in traditionally male jobs, the stress levels here are higher, suggests stress may be a consequence of the activities they engage in
