Stress, Health & Illness Flashcards
What is stress?
A stimulus involving stressful events and the external environment
What are the three primary sources of stress?
Catastrophic events
Major life events
Daily hassles (demanding & enjoyable transactions)
How are major life events measured?
In Life Change Units (0-100), regardless of whether the event was desirable or not
What are examples of major stressful life events?
Losing/starting a job
Getting married/divorced
Death of a spouse/loved one
Holidays
What is the social readjustment rating scale?
A list of 43 common major stressful life events with measures of intensity and length of time necessary to accommodate the event
What does the Life Events Theory suggest?
- Naturally occurring life events have cumulative events on a person and the do not just have unitary consequences
- Specific types of stressful events can be weighted against each other
What is the relationship between LCU score and risk of ill health?
The higher the LCU score, the higher the risk of ill health
What are some of the limitations of the Life Events Theory?
- LCUs assigned regardless of desirability or event
- Age bias in experience of major life events
- Events don’t occur for some people
- Intertwined life events may cancel out a LCU
- Fails to address moderators of stress
- Fails to acknowledge individual appraisal
Stress is a result of an interaction between?
An individual’s characteristics and appraisals
What are primary appraisal processes?
- Person considers the quality/nature of the event
- Stressors that harm/loss
- Stressors that threaten harm
- Stressors that set a challenge
What are secondary appraisal processes?
- When a person assesses their resources/abilities to cope with the stressor
- Internal resources (strength, determination)
- External resources (social support, money)
What does the Transactional Model of Stress maintain?
Stress is experienced when someone perceives harm/threat as high, but coping ability as low OR when someone appraises their coping ability as high, causing their stress to be low
Why is it important to consider stress as a dynamic process?
Because it arises from a discrepancy between a person’s perceived demands and resources, and both can change over time
How did Lazarus modify his Cognitive Appraisal Theory of Stress?
- Moved threat/challenge and harm/loss appraisals from primary appraisal to emotion types
- Made secondary appraisals more complex
- Role of emotions/cognitions acknowledged as intertwined
- Emotional impressions of events are stored in memory, influence how we appraise future events
What were the 4 secondary appraisals proposed by Smith?
- Internal/external accountability (blame/guilt/credit)
- Problem-focused coping potential
- Emotion-focused coping potential
- Future expectancy concerning situational change
What factors influence appraisal?
- Imminence (due tomorrow)
- Unexpected timing (sudden death)
- Ambiguity (new job)
- Potential risk/harm (surgery)
- Undesirable events (job loss)
- Perceived lack of control
- High amount of life change (childbirth)
What are the 3 types of stress?
Stress and resource loss
Acute stress
Chronic stress
What is stress and resource loss?
When stress results from actual or threatened loss of resources, or a lack of gain after investing in resources
What is acute stress?
Distinguished by rare & catastrophic events
- Little/no preparation time
- Intense physical/psychosocial suffering
Common acute stressors
- E.g. exams
- Impair memory/attention
- Negative impact on QOL, can influence healthy/unhealthy behaviour
What is chronic stress?
- Loss of control
- Workplace stress
- Causes changes in eating, sleeping, strain on relationships
- Burnout
What are the job features identified as leading to stress?
Demand
Controlability
Predictability
Amiguity
What model is used for occupational stress and how does it measure stress?
Job Demand Control model, measures using specific questions
How does the General Adaptation Syndrome model consider the response to stress?
As an innate drive to maintain internal balance (homeostasis) in a three stage process
What are the 3 stages of the General Adaptation Syndrome stress response?
- Alarm reaction: Downturn in bodily defences & BP, increased HR
- Resistance: Body tries to adapt, arousal reduces but still high
- Exhaustion: Depletion of bodily resources/energy, increased risk of CVD
What are the two types of immune cells?
Lymphocytes (T cells, B cells, natural killer cells)
Phagocytes
What are the two ways of viewing the relationship between stress and illness?
Direct route: Chronic stress can produce physiological changes in endocrine/immune system function that may lead to illness
Indirect route:
- Behavioural responses to stress (e.g. smoking, eating) predispose people to disease
- Personality traits predispose people to disease
- People experiencing stress are more likely to seek health services (e.g. anxiety, fatigue)
What illnesses is stress linked to?
Common colds
Coronary heart disease
Cancer
Bowel disease
