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12 Cards in this Set
- Front
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Describe the details of the study that examined the effect of stress perception on health. Who did they test? What did they measure? How did they divide participants? What did they find? What does it mean? What were the limitations of the study? |
29000 individuals rated levels of stress over the past year, as well as how much they believed that stress influenced their health. Divided all the individuals who had reported high levels of stress into 3 groups (small, medium, and large) based on how much they believed stress influenced their health. Found that the risk of death was much higher in those who believed that stress had a large impact on their health. This means that our perceptions of stress on health may be more important than the actual amount of stress we face. Although they did control for illnesses, age, sex, PA, and many other factors, this study was not experimental; can not induce causation from this study.
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What is a hazard ratio? What does it mean if you have a value of 1, less than 1, or greater than 1 mean? |
The hazard ratio represents a relative death risk. A hazard ratio equal to 1 means that the relative risk of death in one group is the same as the control group. A hazard ratio greater than 1 indicates a greater relative death risk in the experimental group, while the opposite is true for a hazard ratio less than 1. |
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Applied: Who is at greater risk of dying prematurely? Both Jan and Sal have low stress. Jan believes this has a medium impact on her health whereas Sal believes it has a large impact on her health. |
Sal is at greater risk of dying prematurely. |
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Applied: Who is a greater risk of dying prematurely? Both Zee and Zarah have high stress. Zee believes this has a medium impact on her health whereas Zarah believes it has a large impact on her health. |
Zarah is at greater risk of dying prematurely. |
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Describe the details of the study that examined the effect of reappraising stress. Who did they test? What did they measure? What were the conditions? What did they find? What does it mean? What were the limitations of the study? |
Undergraduate students were divided into three groups: A reappraisal group, told to think positively about stress. An ignore group, told to ignore the stress. A control group, not told anything. They all went through the Trier Social Stress Test, and looked at vasoconstriction, cardiac efficiency, and cognitive function as stress indicators. The reappraisal group had the lowest vasoconstriction response, the best cardiac efficiency, and the lowest interference score (decline in cognitive function). This study shows that reappraising the stress response can change its physiological impact. |
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What impact does chronic psychological stress have on cardiovascular health? |
Can lead to hypertension, atherosclerosis, and a variety of different related cardiovascular diseases. |
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What is vasoconstriction? Is this good or bad for health? How did they measure it in the study? * What did they find? |
Vasoconstriction is when the blood vessel diameter shrinks and decreases blood flow to surrounding tissue. This is typically bad for the health when it is caused by stress. The study found that the reappraisal group had the lowest vasoconstriction response from the stress, meaning that they were least impacted by the stress |
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What is cardiac efficiency? Is this good or bad for health? How did they measure it in the study? What did they find? |
Cardiac efficiency is similar to the cardiac output; it measure how effective the heart is at pumping blood to the tissues (HR x SV). The study found that the reappraisal group had the greatest cardiac efficiency during the stress. |
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How did the study measure cognition? How did they calculate the interference score? What do higher values mean? |
Cognition was measured using the interference score. The interference score looks at how long it takes a subject to read negative words in a page of words; the higher the score, the lower the cognitive function. The study found that the reappraisal group had the best cognitive function (lowest interference score) during the stress. |
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Applied: Before taking Health Psychology, Martin ignored his stress response whenever it was activated. Now, after taking Health Psychology, Martin reappraises his stress response as helping to aid in his performance. How does Martin’s change in mindset impact his cardiovascular health and cognition? |
Improves cardiovascular health- less of a vasoconstriction response to stress. Improves cognitive function. |
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Before University, Webster viewed his stress response as helping him to focus during a test. Now, while in university, Webster tries to ignore his stress response. How does Webster’s change in mindset impact his cardiovascular health and cognition? |
Decline in cognitive function Greater vasoconstriction response to stress; this can compromise cardiovascular health over time. |
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What aspect of the stress response change with reappraisal and how does this impact the physiological and behavioural responses? |
When there is an increased physiological arousal in response to a stressor, with reappraisal, there is a decrease in the negative arousal appraisals. This can: - Reduce the negative effects of the stress response (e.g. vasoconstriction) - Reduce the bias for threat cues - Facilitate better performance in front of the stressor |
