Week 11

Question 1

What is stress?

Answer 1

Stress is caused by an environmental stimulus or event, ‘the stressor’.

Question 2

What makes an event stressful?

Answer 2

• are negative or uncontrollable
• are ambiguous
• contribute to overload
• occur in central life domains

Question 3

Five categories of stressor?

Answer 3

• acute time limited e.g. taking test
• stressor consequences e.g. losing job
• chronic intermittent (e.g. meeting weekly deadlines)
• chronic (e.g. poor living conditions)
• can distinguish between physical threats and ego threats.

Question 4

What health-related behaviours can stress impact?

Answer 4

Diet, smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, adherence etc.

Question 5

What is the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)

Answer 5

• a classic stress assessment instrument.
• helping us understand how different situations affect our feelings and our perceived stress.

Question 6

The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS: Holmes and Rahe, 1967)

Answer 6

• researchers chose 43 potential life events.
• asked 394 pps to rate them according to the amount of social readjustment they required.
• a total value for stressful life events can be worked out by adding up the scores for each event experienced over a 12 month period.

Question 7

Limitations of the SRRS

Answer 7

• ignores recurrent events.
• different life events may have different significance to different people.
• some events could be symptoms of being ill rather than causes.
• some of the events are rather vague.

Question 8

What can social support do?

Answer 8

• enhance resilience to stress.
• help protect against developing trauma-related psychopathology.
• decrease the functional consequences of trauma-induced disorders, e.g. PTSD.
• reduce medical morbidity and morality.

Question 9

Different types of social support?

Answer 9

• social integration - number of people available.
• relationship quality - nature of marital relationship.
• percieved social support - how satisfied individuals are with the support available.
• emotional support.
• informational support
• instrumental support.

Question 10

Social support links with health benefits?

Answer 10

• reduced mortality
• reduced blood pressure
• better immune function
• better sleep

Question 11

What is the direct effects hypothesis?

Answer 11

Social interactions provide positive experiences and facilitate meaningful roles positive affect and self-esteem.

Question 12

What does the direct effects hypothesis say it influences?

Answer 12

• physiological systems (e.g. immune function).
• psychological processes (e.g. perceived control).
• health-related behaviours (e.g. exersise).

Question 13

What is the buffering hypothesis?

Answer 13

• social support is only related to well-being for those who are under stress.
• the existence of others facilitates effective coping.

Question 14

Direct effects hypothesis?

Answer 14

Social interactions provide positive experiences and faciliate meaningful roles.

Question 15

The social cure

Answer 15

group membership = higher chance of survival.