stress and health
Stress= physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses to events that are appraised as threatening or challenging
Stressors= events that cause a stress reaction
Distress= the effect of unpleasant and undesirable stressors
Eustress= the effect of positive events
Catastrophe= an unpredictable, large-scale event
major life changes
College Undergraduate Stress Scale (CUSS) = measures the amount of stress resulting from major life events in a college student’s lifeVersion of the SRRS that includes stressful events more likely to be experienced by college students
Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) = measures the amount of stress resulting from major life events in a person’s life
hassles=Little frustrations, delays, irritations, minor disagreements, and similar small aggravations
Lazarus & Folkman, 1984
hassle scale
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) = the three stages of body’s physiological adaptation to stress
psychological stressors
Immune system = cells, organs, and chemicals of the body that respond to attacks from diseases, infections, and injuries
Pressure: produced by urgent demands or expectations for a person’s behavior
Uncontrollability: degree of control that the person has over a particular event or situation
Frustration: produced by the blocking of a desired goal or fulfillment of a perceived need
Conflict: being pulled toward or drawn to two or more desires or goals, only one of which may be attained
External frustrations: goal cannot be attained because of external obstacles
Internal frustrations: goal cannot be attained because of internal/personal characteristics
Persistence: continuation of efforts to get around whatever is causing the frustration
Aggression: actions meant to harm or destroy
Escape/withdrawal: leaving the presence of a stressor
Approach-approach conflict = a person must choose between two desirable goals
Avoidance-avoidance conflict = a person must choose between two undesirable goals
Approach-avoidance conflict = a person must choose or not choose a goal that has both positive and negative aspects
Multiple approach-avoidance conflict= a person must choose from among two or more goals, with each goal possessing both desirable and undesirable aspects
stages=Alarm: initial activation of sympathetic nervous system, Resistance: continued activation of sympathetic nervous system, Exhaustion: body’s resources gone
Psychoneuroimmunology= the study of the effects of psychological factors on the immune system
Stress & Disease
Coronary heart disease (CHD) = the buildup of a waxy substance called plaque in the arteries of the heart
Type 2 Diabetes = disease in which the body either becomes resistant to the effects of insulin or can no longer secrete enough insulin to maintain normal glucose levels
Cancer= a collection of diseases that can affect any part of the body, in which cancer cells divide without stopping
Cognitive Appraisal
Cognitive appraisal approach: how people think about a stressor determines, at least in part, how stressful that stressor will become
Secondary appraisal: involves estimating the resources available to the person for coping with the stressor
Primary appraisal: involves estimating the severity of a stressor and classifying it as either a threat or a challenge
Jamieson et al., 2012
Personality Factors
Type A personality-Ambitious, time conscious, and extremely hardworking,Easily annoyed,Tends to have high levels of hostility and anger
Type C personality-Pleasant but repressed person,Tries to keep the peace,Tends to internalize anger and anxiety,Finds expressing emotions difficult, Higher cancer rate
Type B personality-Relaxed and laid-back,Less driven and competitive than type A, Slow to anger
Hardy personality-Seems to thrive on stress but lacks the anger and hostility of the type A personality,Deep sense of commitment to values,Sense of control over their lives,View problems as challenges to be met and answered
Explanatory Styles
Optimists: expect positive outcomes
Pessimists: expect negative outcomes
Coping strategies = actions that people can take to master, tolerate, reduce, or minimize the effects of stressors
Problem-focused coping: one tries to eliminate the source of a stress or reduce its impact through direct actions
Emotion-focused coping: one changes the impact of a stressor by changing the emotional reaction to the stressor