Textbook 1 Flashcards
Processive Stressor
A stressor that involves information processing
- Understanding the threat requires multiple and complex cognitive processes
Psychogenic stressor
A purely physiological nature
Physical/neurogenic stressors
Stressors associated with a certain illness or pain
Systemic stressors
Does not involve any information processing, it entails an insult to our biological system
–> We might not be aware of them
Is there one stress center in the brain?
No, there appear to be multiple pathways that respond to different types of stressors
Psychosocial stressors have more of an effect on ___
Women
Job strain or competition stressors have more effect on ____
Men
Anticipation stressors are usually accompanied by
Anxiety
Ambiguous stressors are usually accompanied by
disorganized cogntions
Do stressors occur in isolation from one another?
No, you can have many stressors and different types of stressors at one time
Which type of stressor may affect our endocrine system and make us depressed-like
Systemic stressors
How could our lack of awareness of systematic stressors make us think we are depressed
Because the internal illness produces depression-like behaviours, but if we do not know we are sick then we assume we are just depressed
Can we compare whether one stressor is more severe than another?
Not really because each stressor has its own unique characteristics
In what ways is having control over the occurrence and termination of a stressor beneficial?
It has been proven to help people both physiologically and physically
It is not the ability to control the stressor itself that helps but rather__
the ability to control the stressor’s termination
How does failure affect performance?
Students who perform an unsolvable task will perform just as poorly as depressed individuals on a subsequent task
The impacts of stressors on psychological and physical well being is influenced by:
Predictability
Uncertainty
Ambiguity
Predictability vs Uncertainty
Predictability = knowing an event will happen but not when Uncertainty = not knowing whether an event will happen or not
How do people deal with uncertainty?
Some people take a laid back view but other people do not deal with it well and it can be potentially pathogenic
Ambiguous
When the stimulus context does not provide sufficient or inconsistent information so you cannot determine whether and when an event will occur
Which events are more unpleasant: predictable or unpredictable and why?
Unpredictable, because we cannot prepare, and we might be on edge all the time until it happens
What does a high intolerance for uncertainty predict?
Anxiety and information seeking behaviours
What are the 2 appraisal processes of uncertainty and what does it mean?
When people encounter a negative situation (inference) they try to look for hope despite the odds (illusion)
–> Expect the worst but hope for the best
Black Swan Theory
Major events happen so infrequently and are mainly unpredictable, but they have a strong impact so people start to believe that we should have been able to predict it had we only had the right data
How do chronic and predictable stressors affect us>
We are often able to adapt and even take charge of the situation
Homotypic stressors
Stressors that are chronic but don’t change
Heterotypic stressors
Stressors that are chronic, intermittent, unpredictable, ambiguous and vary across days
Are heterotypic or homotypic stressors harder to adapt to?
Heteropytic because they vary so much
“Type 2” allostatic overload
Is the result of social conflict or other forms of social disturbances
What are some reasons why stress scales do not work?
- Do not consider situation/context
- Some stressors also have positive valence
- Are asked after events have occurs (retrospective bias)
How to deal with minor stressor
- Don’t have a melt down
2. Put things in perspective
What is mindfullness?
To appraise the present situation properly, without worrying about secondary issues and not being negative automatically
What is the best real time way to collect data on stress
Have participants keep a diary
Vulnerability
How susceptible a person is to a psychological or physical health issues
Resilience
Factors that limit or prevent these events from having adverse effects, or the ability to recover
What illnesses result from stress for a particular person?
The “weak link” is where people will usually show illness when there is a stressor
Characteristics that influence resilience
Self efficacy, internal locus of control, optimism, hardiness, hope, self empowerment, and acceptance of illness
What are 2 things that can make it hard to study the genetics of a disease?
- The illness has to be properly diagnosed
2. The same illness can be many different symptoms
Pleiotropy
When a single gene can have more than a single phenotype outcome
How can we observe the role of genes in animals
We can delete or insert a gene and see what effects that has on the animal
Endophenotypical analyses (Individualized treatment)
Trying to find genes related to symptoms of a specific illness, and using that information to inform treatment choices
Personality trait most tied with stress reactivity
Neuroticism
Do only young people become neurologically affected by stressful events?
No, stressful events at any age can result in profound brain changes and mental health disorders can emerge as a result
How does stress of a pregnant mother affect the fetus?
Corticotropin releasing hormone enters the uterus and can effect the prenatal brain
When are teratogens the most harmful to the fetus?
In the first trimester
Why can it be difficult to determine how postnatal children are affected by stressors
Because we do not know if they process stressors the same way adults do
Which part of the brain is larger in children brought up in nurturing homes vs non-nurturing homes
Hippocampus
it is 10% bigger
Toxic vs tolerable stressors
Tolerable stressors are able to coped with with the right social support
Toxic stressors are more likely to lead to pathology
How is stress response different in older individuals
Stress hormones are elevated under basal conditions, and it takes them longer to return to baseline after a stressors
Why are older individuals potentially more sensitive to stress?
- There is already more wear and tear on their body systems
- They lack social support
Why are older people more gullible?
A dysfunctioning in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (which is necessary for disbelief)
Other than memories, how do prior stressful experiences affect our ability to cope presently? What is this called?
The characteristics of the neurons themselves have changed so the response to later stimulation is enhanced
–> Sensitization
Does sensitization always happen in the same way?
No, there are many mechanisms of sensitization
After sensitization, how big do the stressors need to be to activate it?
The first stressor is likely to have been big but subsequent stressors can be very small and produce large effects
Sensitization & perception
After a large stressor, it may alter how we perceive the world (potentially for the worse)
Stress generation
Occasions on which individuals, because of their circumstances, may bring stress onto themselves
How we perceive or cognitively appraise stressors has a lot to do with ____ which might contribute to whether or not we develop _____
Our coping strategies
Pathologies
Can appraisal –> coping go both ways?
Yes, coping can lead to appraisals and appraisals can lead to coping
What are appraisals largely based on?
People’s abilities, beliefs, previous experiences, and resources
Threat vs Challenge
Threat = negative emotions Challenge = positive emotions
Primary Appraisal
Impact of situation, is there a threat
Secondary Appraisal
Do I have the resources to deal with i t
Types of control in secondary appraisals
Which is most helpful?
Behavioural
Cognitive –> Most helpful
Decisional
Informational
System 1 and System 2 for thinking
System 1 = Fast/Automatic, uses immediately available information and heuristics
System 2= Slow, deeper processing
Risky Shift
People have a tendency to do riskier things in a group rather than alone
What is a benefit of overestimating the amount of control we have over chance events?
When we perceive events as controllable, we are generally better able to deal with stressors through problem focused coping
Positive psychology to deal with stressors
A method that uses positive thinking (not letting yourself go into a negative spiral) in relation to a stressor can help you cope
–> Positive Appraisal
Top-down vs Bottom-up
Top-down = experience dependent Bottom-up = prewired
Emotions tell us what about our situations?
Situation type, whether defensive action needs to be taken, and what these actions should comprise
Cortisol and immune response elicited by stressors depend on ___
The specific emotions elicited (high activation with shame)
3 main coping strategies
- Problem Focused
- Emotion Focused
- Avoidant
Problem-Focused coping strategies
- Problem Solving
- Cognitive Restructuring
Avoidant Strategies
- Active distraction
- Cognitive distraction
- Denial/emotional containment
- Humour
- Drug use
Emotion Focused coping strategies
- Emotional Expression
- Other-blame
- Self-blame
- Rumination
- Wishful thinking
- Passive resignation
Religion coping strategies
- Internal religiosity (belief in God)
- External religiosity (congregation support)
Social Support coping strategies
- Social Support seeking
What individuals are the best at coping?
People who appraise the situation correctly and are flexible in their coping strategies and the combination of strategies used
Poor coping usually involves what two strategies?
Rumination with other emotion focused strategies
Brain regions that activate during problem solving when stressed and not stressed
Not stressed = hippocampus (memory)
Stressed = striatum (unconscious learning)
–> stress makes us less able to use purposeful, conscious approaches
Living through a traumatic even may give rise to which 2 processes?
Making sense of the event and finding some benefit from the experience == Post traumatic growth
How can the perception of social support help with stressors?
It cannot take the stress away but it can act as a buffer
Social support is more effective between which types of people?
People who share a same identity
What is needed for genuine forgiveness to occur?
That the behaviour of the protagonist can be trusted
Unsupportive support is worse than no support. What are some examples of unsupportive behaviour
- Minimizing
- Blame
- Bumbling (didn’t know what to say, forced optimism)
- Distancing
- Not getting support when it is expected
What population gets the most unsupport?
Elderly people
> Especially those with neurological problems
What is the ultimate form of unsupport that has been strongly linked with depression?
Social rejection
Which brain region gets activated with both social rejection and physical pain?
Anterior cingulate cortex
Hormones that are released directly into the bloodstream are called
endocrine hormones
Hormones secreted into a duct
Exocrine hormones
Hormone that stimulates its own cell
Autocrine hormone
Classes of hormones
Peptide
Lipid
How do we test hormone influences on behaviour in humans
- Find someone with a disorder
- inject them with a hormone
- Find people who are naturally high or low
When a stressor is encountered what two systems kick in and what hormones are released?
HPA axis –> cortisol
Sympathetic nervous system –> epinephrine and norepinephrine
The duration and magnitude of cortisol release is determined by what factors
- nature and severity of stressor
- gender
- age
The 4 primary actions of corticoids in relation to stressful experiences
Permissive (amplifying other hormones)
Stimulating (release of other hormones)
Preparative
Suppressive
Does the body over or under react in cortisol release in the face of a new stressor
Over react, it wants to be prepared but it can turn itself down if necessary
What are mineralocorticoids historically linked with?
Retention of sodium in the body
But they are also involved in the stress response
Instead of thinking of cortisol as an index of stress, it should be thought of as:
an adaptive response to particular types of challenges
In people who have experienced trauma, what happens to their cortisol levels when they are faced with an everyday stressor vs a stressor related to the trauma?
Everyday - a down regulated response
Meaningful - exaggerated response
Diurnal cortisol variations
Rise in the morning (40%)
Decline in afternoon
Lowest at midnight
What is accompanied by exaggerated levels of cortisol in the morning?
Current stressors
What happens to the diurnal levels of cortisol in people with PTSD or chronic stressors?
It flattens at a higher than baseline level
Why is it best to measure cortisol after a stressors?
Because you want to see how the system handles the stress
Fear definition
A directed emotion that is elicited in response to a stilumi that have been paired with an aversive stimulus
Anxiety definition
Elicited by diffuse stimuli or it can reflect free-floating emotion, or one that is felt in anticipation of a threatening event
What is the proposed difference between the CRH1 and CRH2 receptors in response to an anxiety stimulus
CRH1: emotional responses
CRH2: regulation of coping responses
What are the effects of leptin when released>
- Reduces food intake
- Increases energy expenditure
- reduces fat
- reward seeking behaviours
Which two hormones are associated with increased food consumption
Leptin
Neuropeptide Y
What are the main functions of prolactin>
- Lactation
- sexual behaviours
- eating related processes
- responses to emotional stressors
Prolactin is though to affect the stress of mothers in what way?
It is thought to potentially reduce HPA axis activity during the third trimester and during lactation so that the baby is not overly exposed to stress hormones
– Excess HPA activation with threat to babies, more resources available to protect offspring
How does estrogen affect stress?
Higher levels of estrogen acts to put the breaks on HPA axis functioning
What affect does stress have on sexual behaviour
Females are less likely to seek and accept sex
Males behaviour is also altered (but it takes more stress)
Stress and the reproductive cycle
Stress results in hormonal changes that makes the reproductive cycle longer and become irregular
What are key functions of oxytocin?
Prosocial behaviours : love, trust, reward, empathy
Trust is the big function
Oxytocin and vasopressin appear to be a key regulator of what?
Stress coping, anxiety and depression
Why might there be more of an effect of abuse in childhood than cancer in childhood on oxytocin later in life
Because abuse is a social stressor, and oxytocin is a social hormone
