week 1 athena Flashcards
stimulus based or engineering approach (stress)
views stress as a demand on an individual from their environment, which produces a strain reaction, the greater the strain, the larger the reaction. this approach is is problematic individuals function automatically/unconsciously with no consideration of mediating psychological processes.
response based or medical-physiological approach (stress)
considers stress in terms of the physiological reaction to noxious events in a person’s environment, such as changes in blood pressure, heart rate and stress hormones.
the psychological interactional appraisal approach (stress)
defines stress as a particular relationship between a person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and endangering his or her well-being.
Hans Selye’s general adaptation syndrome
defines the basic physiological reactions to every stressor.
- alarm: stress hormones are released to prepare the body for action
- resistance: individual seems to superficially adapt to the stressor but has heightened susceptibility to disease.
- exhaustion: is the stress continues long enough the body defensive resources are used up, leading to illness.
generic measure of perceived stress
- perceived stress scale
- stress arousal checklist
- trier inventory of chronic stress
event measures
aims to capture participants responses to significant life events, single acutely stressful events and daily hassles.
cognitive appraisal measures
stress is appraised depending on harm and benefit. there are primary appraisals and secondary appraisals.
a) appraisal of life events
b) stressor appraisal scale
when we encounter a psychological or physical stressor our body has two-fold responses
- initiates an allostatic response that activates the stress response.
- when the stressor has passed, the allostatic response is terminated.
there are four situations associated with allostatic load
- repeated hits from multiple stressors
- lack of adaptation (unable to cope)
- prolonged response (exposed to the stress response over an extended period)
- inadequate response (causes the body to release unnecessary hormones)
the sum of rating for events that an individual experiences in the last year is known as?
life change unit (LCU) score. a score of over 150 implies a life crisis; ranging from mild (less than 199) to major (over 300).
stress diathesis
the idea that some people are genetically more susceptible to stressors.
daily diary studies allow researchers to capture…
1) real time moments of change, 2) reduce call bias, 3) mitigate some forms of confounding, 4) establish temporal precedence, 5) use sophisticated statistical techniques.
three main methods (daily diary studies)
- interval-contingent (regular intervals)
- event-contingent (each time a specific event happens)
- signal-contingent (random moments)
resource caravans
is the concept that resources cluster together in groups, so that if you have one major resource it is likely to be linked to others.
stress reactivity
reaction to stress
stress recovery
meaning how long it takes for the body to reach normal hormone levels again.
stress reactivity hypothesis
states that people with larger stress reactivity are more prone to health issues.
tobacco abuse
most preventable cause of death in the US. smoking causes immeasurable suffering and disability from chronic bronchitis and emphysema and other tobacco-induced diseases
alcohol abuse
is a numbing behaviour in response to stress, for which the effects vary. It can lead to a self-destructive negative spiral and medical distress
drug abuse
when drug abuse begins to affect work and individuals relationships, it becomes part of the same downward spiral that characterizes alcohol abuse.
accidents and aggresion
aggression can lead to suicide and homicide. The leading cause of death at work for women is homicide and women have four times the risk of violence than men do.
dietary extremes
people under stress may respond by overeating, which can cause obesity which is associated with heart disease, diabetes, respiratory problems and musculoskeletal complaints.
