Week 5-Stress

Question 1

Define stress

Answer 1

A cognitive perception of uncontrollability and/or unpredictability that is expressed in a physiological and behavioural response

Question 2

Define a stressor

Answer 2

An unpredictable and/or uncontrollable stimulus

Question 3

Define stress response

Answer 3

The array of physiological responses activated to help the body return to its normal state

Question 4

What stressors do animals and humans respond to?

Answer 4

A= external stressors e.g., danger (prey being chased by a predator)

H= threat and danger + internal psychological processes e.g., rumination

Question 5

Give examples of acute (short-term stressors)

Answer 5

-Stuck in traffic

-Argument with a partner

-Receiving a passive aggressive email

-Noisy environment

Question 6

Give examples of chronic (long-term) stressors

Answer 6

-Chronic health condition

-Living in relative poverty (relative to the people around you as opposed to absolute poverty everywhere)

-Family responsibilities

-Unsatisfied with career

Question 7

What is Lazarus’ (1966) definition of stress?

Answer 7

Stress is the relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised as personally significant and as taxing or exceeding resources for coping (i.e., 2 people can experience the same stressor and react differently so it’s about how we appraise it)

Question 8

Give examples of physical stress responses

Answer 8

-Back pain

-Breathing problems

-Fatigue

-Dizziness

-Gastrointestinal problems

-Headaches

-Palpitations

Question 9

Give examples of emotional and cognitive stress responses

Answer 9

-Apathy

-Anger and frustration

-Forgetfulness

-Depression

-Lowered self-esteem

-Concentration

-Withdrawal

Question 10

Give examples of behavioural stress responses

Answer 10

-Chain smoking

-Excessive drinking

-Restlessness

-Teeth grinding

-Rapid speaking

-Nail biting

-Over-eating

Question 11

What is Phase One of the stress response?

Answer 11

1.Stressor=distress signal to the hypothalamus

2.Sympathetic nervous system triggers fight-flight-freeze response

3.Adrenal glands pump epinephrine & norepinephrine

4.Heart beats faster to pump blood to vital organs (if stressor passes, then cortisol levels fall so the parasympathetic nervous system can re-regulate the body e.g., allow digestion processes to return) Epinephrine causes the release of glucose and fats to supply to muscles

Rapid metabolism=gets energy from food to muscle
Heart rate increase=to get oxygen to organs and muscles
Digestion, growth, tissue repair and immunity paused

Question 12

What is Phase Two of the stress response?

Answer 12

1.Hypothalamic Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis activated

2.Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) travels to the pituitary gland, triggering the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)

3.ACTH reaches the adrenal glands and prompts the continued release of cortisol (body is telling itself the stress is ongoing)

4.The body stays high on alert until the threat passes . Cortisol levels fall so the parasympathetic nervous system can re-regulate the body

Continued pause of the immune system = get sick
Reduced sex drive and likelihood of ovulation
Pain blunted as cognition is sharpened

Question 13

What’s general adaptation syndrome? (identified by Hans Selye)

Answer 13

1.Body reacts with a ‘fight-or-flight’ response

2.Body resists and compensates - tries to return to its normal state

3.Resources exhausted - body becomes susceptible to disease/death

Essentially the idea that our body defends us to a point then fatigues

Question 14

Define homeostasis

Answer 14

A self-regulating process whereby an organism tries to maintain stability while adjusting to conditions. If homeostasis is successful, life continues

Question 15

Define allostasis

Answer 15

The process of maintaining homeostasis through the adaptive change of the organism’s internal environment to meet perceived and anticipated demands.

Question 16

Define allostatic load

Answer 16

The price the body pays for being forced to adapt to stressors, and it represents either the presence of too much stress or the inefficient operation of the stress hormone response system. (McEwen 2000)

Question 17

What are some aspects of allostatic systems?

Answer 17

-Overworked

-Fails to shut off after stressful occasions

-Fails to respond adequately to challenge

-Other systems have to react

Question 18

What is an important aspect of allostasis and allostatic load?

Answer 18

Anticipation aka worry and/or anxiety (anticipation separates us from other animals)

Question 19

What biological systems are involved in the allostatic load?

Answer 19

-Cardiovascular system, metabolic machinery, immune system and CNS (large range of activity affected by allostasis)

-Most useful when they can be rapidly mobilised and turn off suddenly (when not needed)

-Inability to activate is also a problem as it doesn’t offer protection afforded by the system

-Wear and tear on the body and brain resulting from chronic over activity or inactivity of physiological systems that are normally involved in adaptation to environmental challenge.

Question 20

What are the problems associated with chronic activity or inactivity in biological systems?

Answer 20

-Cardiovascular=hypertension, potential for stroke, MI

-Metabolic=obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis

-Immune=Inflammatory autoimmune disorders + immunosupression

-Brain,CNS=neuronal atrophy, death of nerve cells

Question 21

What are biological systems’ acute responses to challenge?

Answer 21

-Cardiovascular=maintaining erect posture (avoiding “black-out”) physical exertion

-Metabolic=Activating and maintaining energy reserves, including energy supply to the brain

-Immune=response to pathogens + surveillance to tumours

-Brain,CNS=Learning, memory neuroendocrine and autonomic regulation

Question 22

What is a normal allostatic response?

Answer 22

-A response is initiated by a stressor, sustained for an appropriate interval, and then turned off.

-Top left=repeated hits of stress (normal response to same stressors you’d want to go down over time)

-If stressor stays at the same level even over time then no adaptation has happened (ok to not go down if different stressors)

-Prolonged response could be a result of chronic stress

Question 23

What’s the brains central role in allostasis?

Answer 23

1.Environmental stressors, major life events, trauma and abuse=PERCEIVED STRESS (threat,no threat; helplessness; vigilance)

2.Individual differences (genes, development, experience); Physiologic responses; Behavioural responses (fight or flight, personal behaviour-diet, smoking, drinking, exercise

3.Allostasis–>adaptation=allostatic load

Question 24

Give examples of the health effects of stress

Answer 24

-Survivors of concentration camps (long-term stress) had poorer health than others further down the line

-Subway train drivers are more likely to suffer illness after tragedy (Theorell et al.,)

-Air traffic controllers - especially busy airports greater incidence of high blood pressure (Cobb et al.,)

Question 25

Why do we get sick on a basic level?

Answer 25

-Most basic level - inefficient losing chunks of potential energy

-Muscles can waste away (rare) Muscle full of protein - constant breakdown of protein (to provide energy) never allows muscle to repair

-Tonnes of fat and glucose perpetually circulating in your bloodstream

Question 26

What’s the effect of high heart rate on the cardiovascular system?

Answer 26

-Damages your cardiovascular system over time

-Tube (arteries)-fluid moving through tube

-Fluid moves with force (high blood pressure)

-Fluid turbulence pounding on walls or blood vessels and affects blood flow

-Pitting, scarring, tearing - inflammation. Glucose, cholesterol and fat want to glam onto pockets of scar tissue

Question 27

How can ulcers be psychosomatic?

Answer 27

-Psychological causal role (gastric ulcers first classified as psychosomatic)

-Helicopter pylori alone is insufficient to produce ulcers (Plummer et al. 2014; Testerman & Morris, 2014)

-Antibiotics and psychological treatments are the best treatments combined as it improves gastric ulcers (so stress must play a role)

-Stomach wall more damaged from helicopter pylori in the presence of stress

-These ulcers are most common in people living in stress situations + evidence in laboratory rats

Question 28

What’s psychoneuroimmunology?

Answer 28

Emotion, immunity and disease (Soloman & Moss 1964) (neuro=neuroendocrine e.g., nervous and hormonal systems)

-Stress can increase susceptibility to infectious diseases which led to a new field (1970’s)

-Stress increases the secretion of glucocorticoids (these hormones directly suppress the immune system)

-Depends on the kind of stress (e.g., caring for elderly or unemployment)

Question 29

Give examples of how stress links to the immune system

Answer 29

-Weaker immune systems among caregivers (underwent chronic stress; Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 1987)

-Volume of antibodies = immune response after vaccine

-Lower levels of IgG antibodies after receiving pneumonia bacterial vaccine (Glaser, 2000)

Question 30

What did Glaser et al., find in the slowing of wound healing by psychological stress?

Answer 30

-Punched biopsy wounds in participants (“harmless procedure”)

-Long-term carers for those with Alzheimer’s disease

-Control group - same age and income

-Carers took longer to recover (larger difference in the first few weeks)

Question 31

What did Glaser et al., find in the hostile marital interactions, proinflammatory cytokine production and wound healing?

Answer 31

Couples’ blister wounds healed more slowly following marital conflicts than after social support interactions

Question 32

What did Cohen et al find in relation to stress and infectious disease?

Answer 32

-Given nasal drops containing cold viruses

-More likely to develop colds if reported stressful event and felt threatened and/or out of control

-Psychological stress was associated with a dose-response way with an increased risk of acute infectious respiratory illness

Question 33

What’s the process of cognitive appraisal and stress? (transactional)

Answer 33

Potential stressor - sound of car horn

Primary appraisal - Am I in danger? Why are they honking at me?

Irrelevant - they’re honking at someone else
Benign-positive - It’s my mate saying hi
Challenging - They’re warning me my car is drifting

Secondary appraisal - What can I do? Am I going to be able to avoid an accident?

Behavioural and cognitive coping responses - (Adjust steering to re-centre car)

Reappraisal - How am I doing? Is it under control? (leads back to irrelevant, benign positive or challenging assessment)

Question 34

What affects cognitive appraisal?

Answer 34

1.Mood

2.Personality

3.Motivation

4.Other factors

Question 35

What are Type A personalities?

Answer 35

-The perfectionist type

-Toxic hostility

-Type A behaviour pattern associated with increased prevalence of clinical coronary heart disease (Friedman et al.,)

Question 36

What’s the link between mood and the menstrual cycle?

Answer 36

-Mood has long been used as a stress index and has been demonstrated to have important influences on cognition (Peacock & Wong, 1990)

Pierson and colleagues (2021) analysed app data from 3.3 million women across countries. They found:

-Contrary to previous theories that premenstrual effects are culturally specific, they found them to be directionally consistent across countries
-The premenstrual decrease in happiness occurs across all 87 countries
-The premenstrual negative mood effect increases with age

Question 37

What did Fidler and West (2009) find in regard to lifestyle mediators? Smoking

Answer 37

-Enjoyment and stress relief were the most reported motives (51% and 47% respectively)

-Women reported stress relief and weight control more often than men, whereas men were more likely to report enjoyment and liking being a smoker

-Older smokers reported enjoying smoking and liking being a smoker more than younger smokers

Question 38

What did Osman et al. (2018) find in regard to lifestyle mediators? Smoking

Answer 38

-The intensity of cigarette smoking is correlated with job stress

-It is hypothesised that unfavourable work environments and adverse psychosocial work conditions may play important roles in increasing smoking intake

-This increase in smoking was associated with reduced sperm quality

Question 39

What did Rice and Van Arsdale (2010) find in regard to lifestyle mediators? Drinking

Answer 39

-Drinking was found to be a coping mechanism for stress

-This result was specific to maladaptive perfectionists (Type A personalities)

-Higher stress was associated with fewer alcohol-related problems among non-perfectionists

Question 40

What did Wardell et al. (2020) find in regard to lifestyle mediators? Drinking

Answer 40

-Looked at alcohol to cope during COVID-19

-Having at least one child under the age of 18, greater depression and lower social connectedness each predicted unique variance in past 30 day coping motives

-Income loss was associated with increased alcohol use (drinking leads to more risky behaviours)

Question 41

What did Dhalgren et al. (2005) find in regard to lifestyle mediators? Sleep

Answer 41

-Paricipants in a high stress week (HS) vs a low stress week (LS)

-In the HS condition, participants reported a decrease in total sleep time which was mediated by cortisol levels

Question 42

What did Kloss et al. (2015) find in regard to lifestyle mediators? Sleep

Answer 42

-Stress and sleep dysregulation lead to circadian misalignment

-This misalignment can lead to infertility in women

Question 43

What did Cartwright et al. (2003) find in regard to lifestyle mediators? Eating habits

Answer 43

-Greater stress was associated with more fatty food intake, less fruit and vegetable intake, more snacking and a reduced likelihood of daily breakfast consumption

-These effects were independent of individual (gender, weight) and social (socioeconomic status, ethnicity factors)

-Stress may contribute to long-term disease risk by steering the diet in an unhealthier direction

Question 44

What did Fogle and Pettijohn (2013) find in regard to lifestyle mediators? Eating habits

Answer 44

Students with high perceived stress had worse health habits, including exercise.

Question 45

What’s the “feel good” factor?

Answer 45

Physical–> Physical self worth, self-esteem, mastering new tasks, personal control (sense), time away from -ve place, social interaction and support –> mood, happiness, feel good factor

Question 46

How does poverty, stress and disease intertwine?

Answer 46

-Income, occupation, housing conditions, education.

-Manual labour and a greater risk of work-related accidents.

-Two/three exhausting jobs.

-Chronic sleep deprivation?

-Walk to work [no choice], launderette, supermarket [heavy groceries].

-Can’t buy new mattress/hot water.

-Lack of control, lack of predictability. Career spent taking orders/temporary work [precariat].

-Unemployment – Will money stretch?

-No resources in reserve [no buffer – reactive. Loan shark].

-Marked lack of outlets [mediating factors; exercise, diet, holiday].

-Crime riddled neighbourhood with few amenities.

-Lack of social support [time to mix with others].

Question 47

How does poverty feel for children?

Answer 47

-Worried about parents, frustrated, unhappy, anxious

-Few opportunities, worthless, hopeless, social insecurity

-Aspirations, hopes and dreams, resilience

-Important, bullied and judged, teachers don’t understand, no school trip

-Insecure, overcrowded homes, no place for homework or play

-Excluded, constrained, conflicted, embarassed

Question 48

What are the benefits of social relations?

Answer 48

-Enhances survival and reproductive success providing protection from environmental threats (this reduces emotional threat)

Question 49

What is the diathesis-stress model?

Answer 49

Interacting factors jointly determine susceptibility to stress and illness:

-Predisposing factors (person’s vulnerability; genetics)
-Precipitating factors (environmental)

Question 50

What is the tend-and-befriend theory?

Answer 50

Women are more likely than men to display a social response during stressful situations

-Protecting offspring (tending)
-Seeking others for mutual defence (befriending)
-Men (fight-or-flight; hunting defending against danger)
-Women (foraging food and child care)

Question 51

What’s problem-based coping?

Answer 51

-Directly confronts the demands

-Problem diagnosis/solution generation e.g., changing goals, planning, seeking advice, more effective time management, changing the situation

Question 52

What’s emotions-based coping?

Answer 52

-Manage/regulate the emotional response

-Behavioural strategies e.g., venting anger, drinking, seeking emotional support, accepting responsibility

-Cognitive strategies e.g., re-appraisal, acceptance denial, distancing, reality distortion

Question 53

What is self-awareness coping?

Answer 53

-Becoming self-aware of your responses to stress can help with cognitive re-appraisal e.g., keeping a stress diary, meditation, mindfulness

Szabo & Hopkinson (2007):
-15 minutes news broadcast; next, 15 minutes of either:
-progressive relaxation exercise OR lecture (attention diverting distraction)

-After news broadcast: Higher state anxiety and total mood disturbance; positive affect lower
-Relaxation reduced levels to baseline. Lecture didn’t