Stress, Stress Reactivity, and Physical Activity Flashcards
Physiological Response to Stress
Increased HR
Increased blood flow
Butterflys
Cognitive Response to Stress
What are we thinking about in this situation?
Can lead to specific behaviours.
Panicked/overwhelmed or calm thought process.
Emotional Response to Stress
Fear, worried, scared, etc.
Consequence of our thoughts.
-connected to our thoughts and what we think of certain situations.
Behavioural Response to Stress
Connected to the way we think.
Can we keep our thoughts and brain behind our actions.
Want to respond rather than react to stressful situations.
Stress Response
All responses are hard-wired into our brains.
Can I escape?
-no
-yes = flee
Can I overpower it?
-no
-yes = fight
Can I make it lose interest?
-no = faint/fawn
-yes = freeze
Overview of the Stress Response
The stress response is associated with different neurophysiological, cognitive, and emotional responses.
Initial endocrine response that includes epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol.
-ie. increased heart rate and breathing rate, vasoconstriction, increase body temperature.
Stress Response: Psychophysiology (slide 24)
1) Stimulus perceived as threatening.
2) Signal is sent to amygdala.
3) Unconscious stress perception can also be sent to the amygdala at the same time.
4) amygdala signals cortical releasing hormone to the brain stem = increase SNS activity
6) Adrenal medulla is influence to increase epinephrine + adrenals increase glucocorticoids.
7) Glucocorticoids goes to locus coeruleus = release norepinephrine = SA node and increases cortical releasing hormone.
8) Pituitary gland releases adrenal corticotrophin and increases the release of cortisol.
Window of Tolerance
Where we like to operate when not in stressful situations.
But when we experience persistent stress or trauma leads to this window of tolerance shrinking.
This can be due to hyperarousal (amp up) or hypoarousal (shut down).
-past trauma = hypo-arousal
-worried about future = hyperarousal.
can use therapy, PA, etc. to help open the window of tolerance more.
What is stress?
An experience resulting from perceiving a person-situation relationship as taxing or exceeding the person’s resources.
Everyone’s tolerance to stressful events is different.
-stress reactivity can influence how often we go through stress responses (ie. experience stress).
Stressors
The external events, forces, and situations that have the potential to be interpreted as stressful.
Often considered negative = distress
-ie. break up or exam
But stressors can also be positive = eustress
-ie. graduating or getting hired
Types of Stressors in Sport and Exercise
Chronic vs acute
Expected vs unexpected
Competitive vs non-competitive
Cultural and adaptive stressors
Chronic vs Acute Stressors
Chronic = financial instability, long-term injury/illness
Acute = pop quiz, car accident, mental error, sudden injury.
Expected vs Unexpected Stessors
Expected = exam, competition/big game
Unexpected = earthquake/weather
Competitive vs non-competitive stressors
Competitive = overtime period
Non-competitive = travelling for your sport, team meetings
Some non-competitive stressors classified as organizational stressors:
-factors intrinsic to sport
-roles in the sport organization
-sport relationships and interpersonal demands
-athletic career and performance development issues
-organizational structure and climate of the sport.
Cultural and adaptive stressors and challenges in sport and exercise…
Having to leave home, family, and community.
Feeling one’s cultural identity is misunderstood, unacknowledged, or subjected to insensitivity.
Discrimination and racism.
Effects of PA on Stress and Reactivity
Generally people feel…
-less stress following acute bouts of exercise
-less stress when they are regularly engaging in PA vs sedentary behaviour.
PA itself doesn’t help address primary and secondary appraisal.
-but that’s where can come in as behaviour change specialists
Can look at…
-the social environments we create
-encourage attention-centering techniques
-enhance domain-specific self-perceptions and draw parallels
-how can we enhance motivation or help people value PA?
Find levers within people’s control and teach them to use them.
The PA Paradox
PA that improves physiological performance limits variability in reactivity and improve recovery.
Ie. cardiovascular function, hypothalamus pituitary amygdala (HPA) axis, and immune function.
Alignment with Cross-Stressor Adaptation Hypothesis (what this theory is based around).
Appraisals
How we perceive the stimuli/situation in our internal and external environment.
Lazarus (1999) proposed the two component process:
-primary appraisal = an evaluation of what is at stake for a person in a situation.
-secondary appraisal = what resources can I use, what level of control do I have, what is the value and probability I’m assigning to a favourable outcome?
