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Social Determinants of Health > Stress and Health > Flashcards

Stress and Health Flashcards

1
Q

What is the earliest model of stress and what does it state?

A
  • Cannon, 1915
  • States that stress is a natural fight or flight response from an evolutionary perspective.
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2
Q

What does the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) state?

A

States that stress comes in 3 processes: alarm (this stage happens no matter what), resistance (person coping with the stressor) and exhaustion (reached when a person is repeatedly exposed to a stressful situation).

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3
Q

What does the Holmes & Rahe stress model state?

A

States that stress related changes occur in response to life changes or events.

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4
Q

What is different about the Holmes & Rahe model compared to the other two models?

A

Tried to distinguish between different types of stress.

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5
Q

List a few limitations of stress models.

A
  • Fails to acknowledge individual or psychological factors
  • Response the same regardless of stressor
  • Individual perception is very important!
  • No consideration of positive/negative or acute/on going
  • Life experiences may interact with each other
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6
Q

How many steps are there in the transactional model of stress?

A

2

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7
Q

Give a criticism of the transactional model of stress.

A
  • Appraisal is not always necessary.
  • Some events are perceived as more stressful than others
  • Doesn’t take into account situational factors - cultural and moral differences
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8
Q

Define allostasis.

A

The process by which organisms respond to changes in the environment through adjustments in multiple biological systems to maintain homeostasis.

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9
Q

What occurs when there are repeated threats to allostasis?

A

Initiates an acute stress response throughout the body.

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10
Q

Name the two systems activated during stress that are involved with allostasis.

A
  • Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical (HPA) axis
  • Sympatho–adrenomedullary (SAM) axis
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11
Q

How does the HPS axis work?

A
  • Begins in the hypothalamus in the brain
  • Releases a corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) which affects the pituitary gland
  • Pituitary gland secretes a adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
  • Adrenal cortex releases cortisol
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12
Q

How does the hypothalamus regulate its secretions?

A

Negative feedback system.

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13
Q

What is the end product of the HPS axis?

A

Cortisol

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14
Q

Why is cortisol vital for life?

A
  • mobilisation of energy stores (gluconeogenesis)
  • increases blood flow to muscles
  • through collaboration with sympathetic system increases blood pressure
  • suppresses the inflammatory response
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15
Q

How does the SAM axis work?

A
  • Begins in the locus coeruleus in the brain
  • This releases noradrenaline
  • Noradrenaline activates the adrenal medulla
  • Adrenal medulla releases adrenaline
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16
Q

What are the immediate changes resulted from adrenaline and noradrenaline secretion?

A
  • Increased mental activity
  • Increased heart rate and blood pressure
  • Increased cardiac output and blood flow to muscles
  • Dilation of the bronchioles in the lungs (changes to breathing)
  • Increased sweat production
  • Pupil dilation
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17
Q

Which processes decrease in function when the stress response is activated?

A
  • Parts of the immune system are suppressed
  • Decreased perception of pain
  • Constriction of blood vessels, except to running and fighting muscles
  • Digestive system stops metabolising food normally
  • Reproductive systems stop working normally
18
Q

What is acute stress?

A

Temporary stress, e.g. tube delays, exams, arguments

19
Q

What are the impacts of acute stress?

A
  • Can be motivating, increases energy by mobilising the body, improve concentration etc.
    e.g. acute stress can improve immune response to vaccines
20
Q

What is chronic stress?

A

Long term stress with no obvious end-point, e.g. financial difficulties

21
Q

What are the impacts of chronic stress?

A

Can have negative health implications such as mental illness e.g. depression or chronic disease e.g. heart disease, diabetes

22
Q

What is the antecedent model?

A

Model that suggests an initially healthy population fall ill due to stress.

23
Q

What is the consequence model?

A

Model that suggests that those with an existing illness acquire stress because of it.

24
Q

What can psychological stress factors be divided into?

A

External stressors (exposure to stressful circumstances e.g. work stress), emotional disorders (e.g. depression) and personal traits (e.g. hostility).

25
Q

List examples of sources of stress that are involved with the consequence model.

A
  • Debilitating symptoms & treatment side effects
  • Fear of complications
  • Financial concerns
  • Concerns over effects on family & friends
26
Q

List four different ways of measuring stress.

A
  • Animal studies
  • Psychophysiological stress testing
  • Naturalistic monitoring
  • Large observational cohort studies
27
Q

Give an example of an animal stress study.

A

Socially stressed adult male monkeys developed more extensive coronary artery atherosclerosis than unstressed controls over 2 years follow-up.

28
Q

What is a limitation of measuring stress through animal studies?

A

When animals are stressed they don’t carry out damaging lifestyle factors such as eating fast food or smoking.

29
Q

How do we collect data for psychophysiological stress testing?

A
  • Taking blood samples
  • Cardiovascular measures, e.g. heart rate and blood pressure
  • Saliva samples to measure cortisol
30
Q

Give examples of stress-inducing tasks.

A
  • Public speaking
  • Mental arithmetic
  • Mirror traces
31
Q

What is naturalistic monitoring?

A

Getting individuals to measure biological responses outside of the lab.

32
Q

How do large observational cohort studies measure stress?

A
  • Large numbers of individuals observed for many years
  • Health, psychological & social measures at regular intervals for many years
  • Track the sample over time for disease and death
  • Nurse visits in some cohorts provide biological data
33
Q

Describe the direct pathway between stress and health.

A
  • Stress directly impacts physiology.
  • Chronic stress can cause maladaptive changes that have health implications
  • Repeated or sustained stimulation leads to allostatic load or ‘wear-and-tear’ resulting in dysregulation of physiological processes
34
Q

Describe the indirect pathway between stress and health.

A

Stress changes behaviour which in turn impacts physiology
e.g. smoking, eating behaviour, alcohol consumption

35
Q

What are alterations in daily cortisol secretion associated with?

A
  • Increased risk of pre-diabetes and overt diabetes
  • CVD mortality in initially healthy people
  • Poorer outcomes after by-pass surgery
  • Early breast, ovarian and lung cancer death & tumor progression
36
Q

List four moderators of stress.

A
  • Exercise
  • Different coping styles - emotional vs problem- focused coping
  • Early life experience
  • Social support
37
Q

How does exercise moderate stress?

A
  • Physical activity is beneficial for both physical and mental health
  • Physical activity is beneficial for stress reduction and has an anti-depressive effect
  • Stress is associated with reduced physical activity
38
Q

How does early life experience moderate stress?

A

Stress during early life can impact on the developing brain
- Stressor exposure (including prenatal maternal stress) can lead to heightened SAM axis responses in infants.
- The HPA axis continues to develop during childhood and so stress may alter sensitivity of the brain and have long lasting effects on responsitivity.

39
Q

List the four main styles of attachment in adults.

A
  • Secure
  • Anxious–preoccupied
  • Dismissive–avoidant
  • Fearful–avoidant
40
Q

How is social support linked with mortality?

A

Low levels of social support are associated with higher mortality

41
Q

How does social support moderate stress with an indirect pathway?

A

High stress/high social support = less smoking and drinking
High stress/low support = increased smoking and drinking.

Social Determinants of Health (16 decks)

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