Week 5: Stress & Coping Flashcards
Explain generalised adaption syndrome
Found similar symptoms across all sorts of illness- may just be a response to being unwell
Unspecific reaction of the body to stressors in the environment
3 phases: alarm reaction, resistance phase, exhaustion phase
Body becomes fatigued coping with chronic stress
Explain the HPA stress response
The amygdala: detects things that are dangerous in the environment
Prefrontal cortex: regulates the stress response by making things seem less scary
Hypothalamus: wakes up the pituitary gland
Pituitary: hormones from here tell the adrenal gland to release cortisol
Cortisol: travels through the blood and tells other body parts to react to stress
What is the alarm reaction (generalised adaption syndrome)
Can cause downturn in bodily defences and BP, heart rate may initially decrease before rising to much higher than normal levels this arousal cannot be maintained for long periods of time
What is the stage of resistance (generalised adaption syndrome)
Body tries to adapt to a stressor arousal reduces but he still higher than normal this stage of mobilisation of bodily defences cannot last in definitely without the organism becoming vulnerable to illness
What is the stage of exhaustion (generalised adaptation syndrome)
Exhaustion if resistance stage last too long resulting in a depletion of bodily resources in energy the ability to Resist stress declined and an increased likelihood of diseases of adaption such as cardiovascular disease arthritis and asthma is proposed
What is acute stress
Short lived such as exam’s natural catastrophes and traumatic events
What is chronic stress
Occupational stress relationship stress persistent dresser and no easy way of reducing the stress
Explain stress and the dysregulation of the immune system
The central nervous system, Endocrine system and immune system are complex systems that interact with each other
Stressful life events and the negative emotions they generate can dysregulate the immune response by disturbing the sensitive interplay among these systems
Acute inflammation is an adaptive response to physical injury or infection
Chronic long-term stress can produce exaggerated and or prolonged inflammatory responses that is detrimental to health and has been linked with numerous diseases
What else has been linked to increases stress and pro-inflammatory responses to this stress?
Being in troubled relationships, having negative or competitive social interactions and feeling lonely.
Getting a good amount of sleep, eating well and exercising can mediate this.
What is the social readjustment rating scale (SRRS)?
Life events are scored according to estimated degree of adjustment they would each demand from the person experiencing them
What are the criticisms of the social readjustment rating scale?
The human is made a passive recipient of stress in these earlier models. They also ignored important individual variables (prior learning, environment, support networks, personality and life experiences)
Explain the transactional model of stress and coping
Stress is thought to be the product of a transaction between a person and his or her complex environment
Involves primary and secondary appraisal that lead to coping
Explain the primary appraisal process within stress as a transaction
The person decides if the situation is benign, stressful or irrelevant. If it is stressful, it is passed to secondary appraisal
‘How significant is this event?’
Explain the secondary appraisal process within stress as a transaction
It has passed to secondary appraisal, it has obviously been considered stressful. The person then needs to work out what they can do about it and how to respond
‘Do I have the resources to cope?’
Internal resources: strength, determination
External resources: social support, money
How did the transactional model of stress differ from earlier models
Coping was looked at in terms of thoughts and actions that people use in stressful situations - person is no longer seen as a passive recipient of stress
changed from earlier approaches where coping was defined in terms of personality style or defence mechanisms derived from the ego personality
What is coping?
The process of managing demands that are appraised as taxing/exceeding the persons resources
Anything a person does to reduce the impact of a perceived or actual stressor
Operates to alter or reduce negative emotions attached to the stressor or can directly target the stressor
May or may not succeed, it is concerned with trying to achieve adaption
What if coping skills balance with stresses?
No stress!
What predicts psychological adjustment and quality of life?
Coping and social support
Cohen and Lazarus described (5) main coping tasks. What are they?
- Reducing harmful external conditions
- adjusting to negative events
- Maintaining a positive self-image
- Decreasing emotional stress
- Maintaining a satisfactory relationship with the environment or with others
What are the two proposed classes of coping as proposed by the transactional model of stress
Problem-focussed and emotion-focussed coping
What is problem-focused coping?
Efforts or strategies to change the nature or aspects of a problem situation
What is emotion-focussed coping?
Aims to regulate emotions experienced because of the stressful event
E.g. Sharing feelings about a problem with a loved one
Explain: monitor vs. blunter (coping)
Monitors have a dispositional tendency to approach problems, seek out threat relevant information
Blunters tend to avoid or distract themselves
Is there a right way to cope?
NO!
Having a broad coping repertoire and active coping is adaptive in the long term as stressors never take on one form
Why is self-regulation important in coping?
Being able to reflect on appropriateness and effectiveness of coping allows modification and adjustment
Which coping strategies lead to increased psychological distress and poorer outcome?
Persistent avoidant, passive and helpless coping is maladaptive
Explain adaptive coping?
Coping has to be amenable to change.
Problem-focused and emotion-focused may be used together
When is problem-focussed coping more adaptive?
Tends to be more adaptive where there is something that can be done to alter or control the stressor event
When is emotion-focussed coping more adaptive?
Where control over the event or resources are low
What are some positive findings to come from illness?
Benefit finding
Post trauma growth
Satisfaction with life
Personality and illness?
Can be predictive of disease onset
May change as a result of illness
May promote unhealthy behaviours predictive of disease
May influence illness progression or outcomes because it influences coping
Coping with stress: explain optimism?
Significantly associated with coping - promotes active and persistent coping
Reduced symptom reporting, reduced negative mood or depression, increased wellbeing
What is social support?
The presence of others in whom one can confide in and can expect help and concern from
What are the different types of social support?
Informational: informs knowledge and coping
Instrumental: practical help and assistance
Emotional: aids cognitive and emotion focussed coping. The person feels listened to and understood, validated and cared for.
Explain availability vs. use of social support
Sometimes people do have others that are there for them but they dont call on them for whatever reason
How do individuals with high social support appraise stress?
More likely to appraise events as less stressful than individuals that do not perceive support
Social support acts as a buffer against stress
What is the direct effect hypothesis?
Social support is generally beneficial during non-stressful times as well as highly stressful times
Makes people less susceptible to stress in the first place
What is the buffering hypothesis?
The health benefits and mental health benefits of social support are chiefly evident during periods of high stress
When there is little stress, social support may have few health benefits
social support protects the person against negative effects of high stress
What happens if someone doesnt have any social support?
Higher depression and anxiety
Lack of adds another stressor
What are the overall effects of social support on illness?
Lowers the likelihood of illness, speeds recovery and reduces the risk of death
In relation to illness, what do high quality relationships provide?
They are associated with lower mortality rates
High social support and relationships are associated with adherence to medical regimens
How can social influences adversely affect health
If the peer group engages in health compromising behaviours
Why are the people who may need social support the most, often the least able to use it?
They are typically:
- Shy and introverted
- Depressed or anxious
- Mistrustful
What is dyadic coping?
When there are mutual influences on coping processes in close relationships
What kinds of social support are the most effective?
When they match the stressor
Too much social support?
can be intrusive
