Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
87 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
stress |
a negative emotional experience accompanied by predictable biochemical, physiological, cognitive and behavioural changes, that are directed either towards altering the stressful event or accommodating to its effects. = consequence of person's appraisal process results from appraisal process, assessing potential responses & responding. |
|
|
stressors |
= stressful events |
|
|
Effects of Stress |
1) direct physiological effects 2) health habit efforts 3) health behaviour effects |
|
|
1) direct physiological effects of stress |
elevated lipids, BP & hormonal activity decreased immunity |
|
|
2) health habit efforts (due to stress) |
increased drug use decreased nutrition & sleep |
|
|
3) health behaviour effects of stress |
decreased compliance decreases likelihood of seeking care increased delay in seeking care obscured symptom profile |
|
|
appraisal process |
= the assessment of whether personal resources are sufficient to meets demands of the environment. |
|
|
stress = determined by |
person-environment fit see appraisal process |
|
|
Walter Cannon |
"Fight-or-flight response" when organism perceives threat, body -> aroused & motivated via sympathetic NS & endocrine system. This mobilizes animal to attack or flee today: fight = aggressive response to stress, flight = withdrawal oriented |
|
|
Hans Selye |
"General Adaptation Syndrome" Selye = father of stress research Exposed rats to different stressors and found similar response for all of them: -enlarged adrenal cortex -shrinked thymus & lymph glands -ulceration of stomach & duodenum "General Adaptation Syndrome" = - when confronted with stressor: mobilize body for action - responses = nonspecific - over time: system can get damaged 3 phases: 1) alarm 2) resistance 3) exhaustion |
|
|
Cannon explored _______ responses to stress Selye explored _______ responses to stress |
Cannon explored adrenomedullary responses to stress i.e. catecholamine secretion Selye explored adrenocortical responses |
|
|
3 phases of Selye's "General Adaptation Syndrome" |
1) alarm: acute responses, mobilize body for action (low resistance) 2) resistance: cope with threat i.e. confrontation (high resistance) 3) exhaustion: failure to overcome threat, depletion of physiological resources (low resistance) --> third phase: may lead to damage that lays groundwork for disease |
|
|
illnesses & prolongued stress |
cardiovascular disease arthritis hypertension immune-deficiencies |
|
|
Criticisms of Selyes "General Adaptation Syndrome" |
1) limited role for psychological factors (i.e. appraisal) -> all his research was with animals 2) not all stressors produce the same endocrinological responses. Also, how ppl respond to stress is different 3) Selye assessed stress only as an outcome, but we can feel stress while a stressful event is going on, as well as in anticipation of one! |
|
|
Taylor et al.'s "tend-and-befriend" theory |
herding/huddling behaviour in animal kingdom in response to stress In addition to fight-or-flight, humans respond to stress with social & nurturing behaviour --> esp. true for women? --> tending to offspring befriending (affiliating with others and seeking social contact) during stress may depend on biological mechanisms: - the stress hormone oxytocin (esp. for females, because its effects are strongly influenced by estrogen) - the potential contribution of oxytocin = to act as impetus for affiliation (oxytocin increases affiliative behaviours of all kinds + increases calmness) -opioids may also influence affiliative responses to stress |
|
|
Contributions of Taylor et al.'s "tend-and-befriend" theory |
offers biobehavioural approach to stress but ALSO adds: social behaviour |
|
|
who was a chief proponent of the psychological view of stress? |
R. Lazarus |
|
|
Lazarus |
"Primary Appraisal Process" when individuals confront a new or changing environment, they engage in "primary appraisal" to determine the meaning of the event. Events may be perceived as positive, neutral or negative in their consequences negative (or potentially negative) = further appraised for harm, threat or challenge. 1) Harm = assessment of the damage that has already been done 2) Threat = assessment of possible future damage 3) Challenge = potential to overcome and profit from the event |
|
|
Classic study of stress by Speisman, Lazarus et al. |
uni students watched gruesome film group 1): anthropological lecture group 2): excitement over pain lecture group 3): focus on pain & trauma group 4): nothing + no sound track = control First 2 groups experienced much less stress than group 3) |
|
|
Secondary appraisal |
= the assessment of one's coping abilities & resources and whether they will be sufficient to meet the harm/threat/challenge see primary appraisal process of the event |
|
|
subjective experience of stress = |
balance between primary & secondary appraisal |
|
|
emotional responses to stress can be ___ |
insistent |
|
|
(stress) reactivity |
= the degree of change that occurs in autonomic, neuoendocrine, and immune responses as a result of stress = genetic predisposition (to respond physiologically to environmental threats or challenges individual differences may arise from genetics, prenatally or from early life |
|
|
______ has important implications for stress induced reactivity |
transient situational factors i.e. fat consumption leads to increase in cardiovascular reactivity |
|
|
consumption of high levels of _________ may lead to a(n) ________ stress response |
saturated fat exaggerated |
|
|
Cohen et al. study |
ppl with high cortisol responses in response to stressors in the lab AND who also had high level of negative life events were esp. vulnerable to upper respiratory infections ppl with low immune responses to stressors in the lab AND who were also under high stress were esp. vulnerable to upper respiratory infections ppl with high immune responses to stressors in the lab did NOT show differences in upper respiratory illness as a function of the stress they experienced --> perhaps because their immune systems were quick to respond |
|
|
differences in reactivity contribute especially to ______ and _____ |
hypertension & coronary artery disease |
|
|
physiological recovery processes |
inability to recover quickly from a stressful event may be a marker for the cumulative damage that stress has caused. --> research focused on cortisol response/recovery |
|
|
Allostatic Load |
building on Selye's ideas and Cannon's notion of homeostasis allostatic load => physiological systems within the body fluctuate to meet demands from stress, a state called allostasis. over time "allostatic load" builds up: = physiological costs of chronic exposure to fluctuating or heightened neural/neuroendocrine response that results from repeated/chronic stress -> may lead to illness + consider poor health habits of stressed ppl! allostatic load may be referred to as accelerated aging in response to stress build up pf allostatic load (= long term costs of chronic stress) can be assessed via: - decreases in cell mediated immunity - inability to shut off cortisol response to stress - lowered heart rate variability - elevated epinephrine levels - high waist-to-hip ratio - volume of hippocampus - memory problems (see hippocampus) - high plasma fibrinogen - elevated blood pressure |
|
|
volume of hippocampus & stress |
volume of hippocampus decreases with repeated stimulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPA) |
|
|
allostatic load may be referred to as |
accelerated aging in response to stress |
|
|
methods of assessing stress |
self reports of: BUT subject to social desirability etc. biases! -perceived stress -life change -emotional distress behavioural measures BUT subject to multiple interpretations -task performance under stress physiological measures of arousal -heart rate -blood pressure biochemical markers/indicators -elevated catecholamines BUT catecholamine secretion can be increased by other things! -alterations in diurnal cortisol rhythm -cortisol responses to stress BEST WAY = multiple measures |
|
|
characteristics that make stressors more likely to be appraised as stressful |
1) negative events = undesirable, may be because these events affect self-concept (reduced self-esteem, loss of sense of mastery/identity) 2) uncontrollable events feelings of control influence biochemical reactions: more sense of control, less cortisol ^ immunosuppressive effects 3) ambiguous events here person must invest time & energy trying to understand the stressor 4) overload |
|
|
Nabi et al's 18 yr long longitudinal study |
ppl who reported that stress negatively affected their health had over 2 times higher risk of heart attack compared to those who reported stress didn't have impact on health |
|
|
Cohen, Tyrrell & Smith (1993) |
healthy participants completed measures on a) stressful life events and b) perceived stress, and were then exposed to common cold virus results: both objectively measured "stressful live events" and subjective "perceived stress" predicted whether ppl would develop a common cold objectively defined stress also shows relation to adverse physical & mental changes |
|
|
when a stressful event becomes permanent, ppl can ______ to it or develop _______ |
when a stressful event becomes permanent, ppl can habituate to it or develop "chronic strain" most ppl show signs of BOTH long-term strain AND habituation to chronic stress even when mental adaptation has occured, physical changes in response to stress my persist |
|
|
most ppl are able to adapt to _____ or ______ stressors most ppl can adapt ______ to ______ stressful events |
moderate or predictable stressors most ppl can adapt moderately well to mildly stressful events |
|
|
which populations are particularly affected by environmental stressors? |
vulnerable populations i.e. children, elderly, poor POSSIBLE REASON -these groups already feel like have little control over environment and thus already exposed to more stress in general |
|
|
exposure to 1 chronic stressor can affect how we react to other stressors (study) Lepore et al (2010) |
children exposed to environmental noise had low increases in BP to numerous other stressors --> chronic exposure to 1 stressor affects how we react to other stressors --> chronic exposure results in more than just habituation (adaptation) to noise (see adaptation VS chronic strain debate) |
|
|
physiological (physical) adaption |
animal models suggest evidence for both habituation and chronic strain (in terms of physical symptoms in response to stress) human studies suggest similarly: with more intense stress, damage from chronic stress ca accumulate across multiple organs (see allostatic load model) Habituation = more likely for HPA axis responses to stress, than for sympathetic responses to stress exposure to long-term stressful event = related to poorer immune functioning (habituation may not occur when stressor is long-term) |
|
|
anticipating stress |
medical students wore pressure monitors on a) unstressful lecture day, b) day before exam and c) day of exam results: cardiovascular activity on b) was as high as on c)! |
|
|
better adjustment in 1st yr uni students was predicted by social support from ____ but not from _____ 1st yr uni students who initially had lower stress, reported _______ academic, personal and social _____ 10 weeks later |
social support from friends but not from family reported improved academic, personal and social adjustment 10 weeks later |
|
|
who is more likely to report high stress a) men vs women b) mature women vs young women c) mature men vs young men |
a) women b) mature women c) young men |
|
|
who is more likely to report that they needed to limit their commitments in response to stress, learn to relax, worry less, exercise more? --> men or women? who is more likley to report that their current stress levels were acceptable and that nothing needed to change? |
women men |
|
|
gender differences in perceived barriers to stress |
female report more (as barriers) -lack of time & self-discipline |
|
|
adverse after-effects of stress |
i.e. decreases in performance and attention span also: physiological arousal, distractibility, other negative side effects effects of stress persist long after the stressful event itself is no longer present --> PTSD Glass & Singer: exposed students to random, intermittent bursts of noise while working on a task. After: more tasks. Students exposed to the noise did more poorly on these tasks. |
|
|
percentage of torontonians who reported SARS symptoms while being quarantined percentage of adolescents exposed to interparental violence met PTSD criteria |
30% 30% |
|
|
PTSD |
PTSD: -typically experienced extreme stressor (often war, but also assault, abuse, rape, natural disaster - being witness is enough) -psychic numbing (i.e. withdrawal) -reliving aspects of trauma -excessive vigilance -sleep problems -guilt-impaired memory/concentration -avoidance of the experience -exaggerated startle response to loud noise physical symptoms: -chest pain -gastrointestinal problems -immune system impairments --> may lead to permanent changes in the brain! Via amygdala & HPA axis --> PTSD sufferers have substantial variability in cortisol patterns (more ups and downs) --> PTSD sufferers have higher levels of norepinephrine, epinephrine, testosterone, thyroxin --> PTSD sufferers have elevated T cell counts |
|
|
studies have reported alterations in ________ following a natural disaster |
studies have reported alterations in natural killer cell cytotoxicity following a natural disaster |
|
|
PTSD treatments |
CBT multi-component approach |
|
|
acute stress paradigm |
when ppl are induced to perform stressful tasks they show BOTH short-term psychological distress and strong indications of sympathetic activity and neuroendocrine responses important for research on individual differences in stress responses: i.e. ppl high in hostility show higher BP response when exposed to stressor |
|
|
methods of assessing stress and its effects |
1) In the lab: acute stress paradigm 2) Inducing disease 3) Stressful life events 4) Daily stress |
|
|
inducing disease method |
Cohen et al: exposed ppl to influenza virus stress led to more illness and more interleukin-6 (IL-6) |
|
|
interleukin-6 (IL-6) = |
a pro-inflammatory cytokine (may link stress to illness, via immune system) |
|
|
stressful life events measure |
focus on psychological experience of stress range from cataclysmic events (death of loved one) to more mundane problematic events (moving houses) |
|
|
Holmes & Rahe (1967) argued that |
when organism makes adjustment to its environment, the likelihood of stress is high developed "social readjustment rating scale" (SRRS) = inventory of stressful life events = events that force ppl to make the most changes in their lives (assigned point values to reflect amount of necessary change) ppl who experience a LOT of stressful life events = most vulnerable to illness not widely used anymore (see criticisms) |
|
|
SRRS was developed in _____, then rescaled in ____ and again in _____ |
SRRS was developed in 1965, then rescaled in 1975 and again in 1995 1995: renamed into "Recent Life Changes Questionnaire" (RLCQ) - "life change units" (LCU) were calculated to estimate "amount of impact" of stressful events |
|
|
problems with "stressful life events" measure (8) |
1) some items are vague 2) because of the preassigned values, individual differences in how events are experienced are not considered 3) inclusion of both negative and positive events, chosen and uncontrollable events (remember, negative and uncontrollable events predict illness!) 4) no assessment of whether these events have been resolved or not (if resolved, produce less negative effects) 5) may be confounded with "ongoing life strain" (= chronic stress that is part of everyday life) 6) some ppl may be more prone to report stress, or to experience it more intensely 7) ppl may forget about the event, distort their reports 8) time period between stress and illness is poorly understood |
|
|
daily stress |
daily minor problems reduce psychological well being in the short term and produce physical symptoms Lazarus: "hassles scale" = inventory of minor stressful life events daily hassles linked with poorer health, perhaps via poor nutrition routes of daily hassles: -cumulative impact of many small stressors -small stressors may influence relation between illness and major life events see criticism of major life events! (tendency to report hassles may be confound) |
|
|
chronic stressors and daily hassles are _____ types of stressors and have _____ effects on well-being |
chronic stressors and daily hassles are distinct types of stressors and have unique effects on well-being |
|
|
what is more important for development of illness? chronic stress or major life events? |
chronic stress |
|
|
sources of chronic stress |
1) PTSD = severely traumatic/stressful event i.e. 7/11 --> inflammation 2) early stressful life experiences chronic abuse, but also more modest family stress how? These kids may develop heightened sympathetic reactivity to stressors and increased cortisol responses also: the developing stress systems themselves may become dysregulated (implicated in many diseases) Luecken et al: over time, heightened reactivity has cumulative effect contributed to allostatic load (and thus to illness) = cognitive-affective model also prenatally! the more exposure to stress from ice storm the poorer cognit. (IQ) and language dev. at age 2 and 5 3) chronic stressful conditions i.e. low SES 4) bullying |
|
|
According to Cohen et al, environmental demands (stress) lead to 'perceived stress' via _________ 'perceived stress' is linked to increase risk for mental and physical illness via a) _______ and b) _______and _________ |
environmental demands (stress) leads to 'perceived stress' via appraisal perceived stress is linked to increase risk for mental and physical illness via a) negative emotions and b) physiological arousal and health behaviours |
|
|
bullying |
= acts intended to harm, that are repeated over time, and often occur with power-imbalance in a relationship can be physical, verbal, social acts can be direct or indirect (i.e. internet) men (not women) with history of frequent bullying had altered sympathetic responses to stress, and HPA axis also affected |
|
|
cyberbullying |
involves situations in cyberspace (computer, blogs, texting) used to cause social & emotional harm is repeated over time = preferred type of bullying among teenage girls social media = extra hurtful because everyone can the see the mean comments not more distressing than traditional bullying (severity, not type of bullying is important!) |
|
|
research about chronic stress & illness is difficult because: |
1) hard to demonstrate that a particular stressor contributes to illness 2) chronic stress is often assessed subjectively using self-reports 3) some measures (i.e. stressful life events) may be confounded with psych. distress & neuroticism |
|
|
research has found social class differences in _______ and ________ |
"death from all causes" and specific diseases (i.e. cancer & heart disease) |
|
|
adverse outcomes of chronic stress |
1) alterations in catecholamines & cortisol patterns 2) risk of coronary artery disease 3) inflammation |
|
|
volunteers injected with cold virus , those who experienced chronic stress = more likely to have ________________ and thus develop a cold |
more likely to have glucocorticoid receptor resistance and thus develop a cold this interfered with regulation of immune system --> heightened inflammatory response |
|
|
studies of occupational stress are important because |
1) helps identify most common stressors in life 2) more evidence for stress-illness relation 3) may be a preventable stressor 4) enourmouse costs |
|
|
stress in workplace - physical hazards |
i.e. physical hazards, even noise
changing patterns of work from agriculture/active jobs to sedentary jobs |
|
|
stress in workplace - overload |
work overload = chief factor in creating occupational stress = how many hrs someone works each week perception of work overload is more clearly linked to health outcomes chronic neuroendocrine & cardiovascular activation associated with over-commitment can lead to cardiovascular disease men working more than 61 hrs/week had twice the risk of heart attack compared to those working 40 hrs or less - sleeping 5hrs or less on 2 days a week increased this risk by 2 or 3 times! |
|
|
karoshi |
= "death from overwork" = Japanese |
|
|
stress in workplace - define role ambiguity and role conflict |
role ambiguity = when someone has few ideas of what is to be done and the expected standards role conflict = when someone receives conflicting information about tasks or expected standards from different ppl |
|
|
having poor relationship to one's supervisor = associated with increased risk for? |
heart disease |
|
|
what was key determinant in staying employed among nurses (stressful occupation)? |
satisfying relationships with one's coworkers and managers |
|
|
lack of control over work = associated with |
1) coronary artery disease 2) risk of death 3) heightened catecholamine secretion 4) job dissatisfaction, absenteeism |
|
|
Karasek's model of job strain |
= based on relation between worker & job environment high psych. demands with limited decision latitude (i.e. control) cause job strain, which may lead to coronary artery disease |
|
|
stress in workplace - effects |
impaired fibrolytic capacity, which may affect insulin resistance high cortisol levels, high BP decreased immune system functioning |
|
|
relation between employment status and stress was largely accounted for by? does unemployment alone explain link between job insecurity and health? |
appraisals of employment uncertainty no |
|
|
one of key determinants of health identified by Public Health Agency of Canada |
employment security |
|
|
outcomes of occupational stress other than illness |
poorer job performance & absenteeism --> can be costly |
|
|
work-life balance |
= balancing competing demands from work and family lives usually it is work that interferes with family work-life conflict = associated with more absenteeism and lower productivity particularly difficult for women (many roles!), esp. minority women and single moms |
|
|
those who experience "role overload" are ___ times _____ likely to suffer from infections, injuries, heart problems, back pain, mental health issues, and ___ times _____ likely to suffer from certain cancers |
those who experience "role overload' are 3 times more likely to suffer from infections, injuries, heart problems, back pain, mental health issues, and 5 times more likely to suffer from certain cancers |
|
|
role strain or role enhancement debate |
role enhancement = combining work and family roles can have benefits (when no financial strain) role strain = combining work and family roles may increase risk of depression --> inconsistent support for either hypothesis! beneficial effects of being a working mom (maternal employment) may be due to becoming over-absorbed in one role |
|
|
Sympatheticadrenomedullary(SAM) system |
Hypothalamusactivates sympathetic arousal This stimulatesthe adrenal medulla to secrete catecholamines (increased blood pressure, heart rate) catecholamines = epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine |
|
|
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical(HPA) axis |
Hypothalamusactivates CRF, which stimulates pituitary gland (ACTH), This stimulates adrenalcortex to release corticosteriods (cortisol, beta-endorphins) |
