stress and coping Flashcards
What is stress?
physiological response to environmental events that are subjectively appraised as taxing or exceeding one’s ability to adapt
Subjective appraisal:
assessment of environmental events as benign vs challenging, harmful, or threatening (ie: primary appraisal); perceived “match” between demands and abilities vs vulnerabilities (secondary appraisal)
Example: the subjective appraisal
the subjective appraisal of employment loss for a 14-year old student who lives at home vs. a 50-year old single parents
14 year old may not care as much
Primary appraisal for 50 year old would perceive as a very severe threat and secondary appraisal would consider if it would be easy to find another job
Elders Life Stress Inventory
assesses stressful life events among middle aged and older adults
The distinction between 2 types of stressors:
1)egocentric stressor: personal, about oneself
Ie:deterioration of memory
2)nonegocentric stressor: linked to social networks
Ie: health of a family member
From middle aged to older adulthood, the impact of stressors decline
Frequency of events excluding items specific to health, as we move from middle aged to older adulthood, the experience of stressors (egocentric and non egocentric) decline
Egocentric stressors and egocentric stress have stronger association with poor physical health than non egocentric stressors
coping processes:
conscious strategies that are used intentionally; often situationally determined, non-hierarchical, and not associated with pathology:
Coping processes are conceptualized as:
The product of biological, cognitive, emotional, behavioral, social, and sociocultural factors (ie normative experiences across life span as we age; cohort specific factors (factors specific to a particular generation))
Dynamic(constantly changing)
adaptive(we learn from them)
Selective optimization with compensation (SOC) model
Focuses on individual adaptation
Maintains that, throughout development, individuals experience gains and losses; with age, the balance of gains to losses becomes less positive (ie: losses increase)
SOC model
Selection:directing attention to domains in which effective functioning is likely to remain relatively high
No driving while its raining
Optimization: investing resources into the acquisition and refinement of knowledge and skills that are relevant to selected domains
Taking classes to improve driving skills
Compensation: identifying and adopting new strategies to counteract losses in selected domains
Getting glasses that support enhanced seeing while driving
Cronkite and Moos (1995)
cognitive approach coping(positive reappraisal), cognitive avoidance coping(acceptance/resignation), behavioral approach coping(problem solving), behavioral avoidance coping (seeking alternative rewards)
Aldwin (2007)
problem-focused coping (problem solving), emotion-focused coping (ie avoidance), social-focused coping (seeking instrumental support: older adult asking daughter to pick up their groceries), meaning focused coping (cognitive reframing:reframing a negative experience to positive), religious coping (prayer)
Examples of measures:
1)self report questionnaires (ie coping responses inventory, ways of coping questionnaire, coping inventory for stressful situations)
2).Daily diaries
3).Experience sampling methods/ecological momentary assessments
Nevertheless, the following findings are common across studies:
1)irrespective of age, approach coping (ie active coping) tends to be associated with greater benefits than avoidance coping
2)irrespective of age, the benefits of approach coping are determined by the malleability of the stressor, if the stressor is not malleable, avoidance coping may be associated with better outcomes
3)irrespective of aging, coping flexibility and goodness of fit are stronger predictors of well-being than the use of a particular “type” of coping
Researchers have developed interventions to facilitate approach coping among older adults
Example: Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)
CBT
CBT enhances well-being among older adults with anxiety, chronic pain, complicated grief, depression, health problems, and insomnia
Given the greater occurrence of stressors that are not malleable in older adulthood, researchers have developed acceptance-based interventions to facilitate avoidance coping among older adults:
Example: Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
ACT is designed NOT TO reduce the frequency or severity of aversive internal experiences but rather reduces the struggle to control or eliminate aversive internal experience and increase engagement in meaningful life activities
ACT is the opposite of CBT, ACT values accepting the aversive internal experience
Losada et al contrasted CBT and ACT among older adults caring for family member with dementia
ACT was at least as effective and sometimes more effective than CBT
According to socioemotional selectivity theory, emphasis on emotionally meaningful goals among older adults lead to a culling of social networks in old age:
Close and emotionally meaningful social relationships are maintained, novel, Emotionally superficial, and toxic social relationships are abandoned
Instead we focus our efforts on relationships that are rewarding
Age does not determine socioemotional selectivity theory and preferences, it is how much time left we perceive
If you encounter a young adult with a terminal illness, that younger adults will engage in behaviors consistent with socioemotional selectivity theory
that older adults engage in
They will limit social relationships to people that provide emotions gratification
Attachment styles reflect model of self vs model of other (unconscious associations with our internal working model)
Model of self(attachment anxiety): we see ourselves as lovable or unlovable
Model of other(attachment avoidance): we see others as trustworthy or untrustworthy
4 adult attachment styles:
1)secure: positive model of self and positive model of others
Others are trustworthy and i am lovable
2)preoccupied: negative model of self, positive model of others
They are not lovable but others are trustworthy
3)dismissing: positive model of self, negative model of others
they view themselves as lovable but others as untrustworthy
4)fearful: negative model of self and others
they don’t find themselves loveable and others are untrustworthy
The most stable pairing is
secure and secure
Another stable pairing is a person who is preoccupied and a person that is dismissing
We tend to cling onto attachment styles that are stable