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41088
Stress
Description
Psychology Mind Map on Stress, created by Katie Mortley on 08/04/2013.
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psychology
psychology
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Katie Mortley
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Created by
Katie Mortley
over 11 years ago
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Resource summary
Stress
Acute Stress
Stress is experienced when a persons perceived environmental, social and physical demands exceed their ability to cope.
ANS: Subdivided into SNS and Parasympathetic branch
Sympathomedullary Pathway: Influence of SNS and adrenal medulla prepares body for fight/flight
Acute stress activates the ANS
ANS=SNS + Parasympathetic branch
SAM + SNS= sympathomedullary pathway
SNS= fight/flight parasympathetic branch = relaxation
SNS sends messages to organs, release of noradrenaline
increased heart rate, pupil size + mobilise fat + glucogen= engery
SAM alerts body to release adrenaline
SAM regulated by SNS + adrenal medulla, above kidneys
Adrenal gland has 2 zones, adrenal medulla +cortex
Adrenaline boosts oxygen + glucose + suppresses non-urgent bodily functions
Chronic Stress
Chronic stress is caused by chronic stressors. A chronic stressor is somethings that is ongoing therefore the body doesn't heed to react as quickly.
The PAS is also known as the HPA Axis
HPA Axis controls cortisol, the stress hormone
When a chronic stressor is perceived the hypothalamus activates
the PVN in the hypothalamus causes CRF to be released
CRF travels to pituitary gland through blood and releases ACTH
ACTH travels through blood stream to adrenal glands at the top of the kidneys
Adrenal cortex release cortisol which is responsible for stress effects
Low pain, burst of energy High blood pressure, impaired cognitive performance
20 minutes to take effect, sharp rise in coritsol
feedback system regulates hormones
Stress and Illness
Definitions
Antigen: Bacteria, viruses, toxins and parasites
Leucocyte: White blood cell, able to engulf and destroy antigens
Lymphocite: Type of white blood cell
NK Cell: 'Natural killer' cell, able to attack antigens and tumours
Punch Biopsy: A small wound inflicted by a researcher to investigate the healing process
How the immune system defends against antigens
barrier created to stop antigens entering e.g mucus in airways
detecting + eliminating antigens if they do enter before they reproduce
eliminating antigens once it started to reproduce
Role of Cortisol
The cells of the immune system are sensitive to cortisol
Fluctuations in cortisol may lead to altered immune functioning
Over Vigilance: the immune system mistakenly attacks cells which are not antigens creating illness
Under Vigilance: letting the infections enter without being dealt with effectively
Evaluation
health is slow to change, therefore difficult to show effect of specific stressors
long term effects would need longitudinal research which is expensive and time consuming
cant establish a causal relationship as health is affected by many factors e.g genetic influences and lifestyle
Research Evidence
Acute Stressors
Kiecolt-Glaser et al (1984):
A- importance of examinations on medical students
M- blood samples 1 month before + during exam period
R- NK cells activity was reduced in second sample
C- Suggest short term stressors reduce immune functioning
Marucha et al (1998)
punch biopsies in mouths of students in summer holidays, and 3 days before their exams
the wound inflicted nearer the exams took 40% longer to heal
Chronic Stressors
Kiecolt-Glaser et al(1987)
Compared women separated from their partners, with matched married couples
poorer immune functioning was found in women who had recently separated
Kiecolt-Glaser et al (2005)
found that blister wounds on the arms of married couples healed slower after a confliting rather than supportive discussion
Malarkey et al (1994)
90 newly weds studied of 24 hours
Discuss and resolve martial issues, which led to changes in adrenaline and noradrenaline
led to poorer immune functioning
Evans et al (1994)
Students gave talks to other students (mild, but acute stress
found increase in mucas in airways, but decrease before + during exam periods stretching several weeks
Suggests stress may increase efficiency in short-term acute stress but down regulate for chronic stress
Stress and Life Changes
The events which necessitate major transitions in a certain aspect of a persons life
Holmes and Rahe (1967)
developed SRRS to measure life changes
400 people rated 43 life changes on level of readjustment, marriage being a baseline of 50
scores were totalled and averaged
Testing SRRS: Normal participants 2700 men aboard US navy cruiser
completed before tour of duty noting all life events they had experienced within the past 6 months
Illness score was calculated based on illness during tour
Rahe et al: found positive correlation between LCU + illness
not a strong correlation but robust and consistent
supports Holmes + Rahe (1967) that life changes is linked to illness
implies life changes leads to stress
Evalutation
x Rahe (1974): Found test-retest reliability depends on length of time between test and retest
+ research in general was found reasonably reliable
+ Hardt et al (2006): asked about childhood experiences with a time lag of 2.2 years and found moderate-good reliability
Reliant on Correlational Data
ill people more likely to report life changes?
Brown (1974): Anxious people are more likely to report negative life events and be prone to illness
Positive + Negative Events
event itself/quality of event that causes stress?
Individual Differences
relates to idea of quality rather than event
e.g unexpected death of a spouse is going to be more stressful
Daily Hassles
Lazarus (1990): these major events in the SRRS are actually fairly infrequent
for most people its not the major life events which causes stress, but the everyday occurences
Daily Hassles
minor day to day stressors which may frustrate or annoy a person
e.g losing things, traffic, appearance, finances, deadlines
alone these are unlikely to cause stress but when several occur regularly this may lead to stress
Uplifts: Small positive experiences which may offset some of the hassles
e.g receiving praise, unexpected tax rebate, complements
Daily hassles and uplifts can be measured on the HSVP (The Hassles adn Uplifts Scale) created by Delongis et al (1982)
Supporting Evidence
Bouteyre et al: relation between hassles + mental health in transition from school to uni
Students completed HSVP and Beck Depression inventory
Showed depressive symptoms - Positive correlation
Gervais: nurses kept diaries for a month recording hassles and uplifts
asked to rate their performance at work
hassles were found to significantly contribute to increased job strain + decreased performance
Accumulation effect
research suggests daily hassles are more significant source of stress for most people than major life events
accumulation of hassles = persistent irritation and frustration, which creates anxiety and depression
Amplification effect
major life events make you more vunerable to hassles
presence of major life change may deplete resources needed to cope with minor stressors
therefore daily hassles cause stress as a result of stress from life events
Evaluation
Methodological problems
Retrospective recall: participants forget teh stress of an event if rating it later in life
Diary Method: Validity problems, unsure if all events were recorded
Could be affected by social desirability or demand characteristics
cause and effect: may be other factors that cause stress for example personality
no causal relationship
Workplace Stress
Job Strain Model
Marmot et al investigated JSM which states the workplace causes stress, therefore illness; due to high workload and low job control
they suggested high grade civil servants would experience high workload and low grade civil servants would experience low job control
This suggests they would both experience stress but for different reasons
Marmot et al found no link between high workload and stress related illness
Johansson found those responsible for sawing rather than maintenance work felt a sense of responsibilty for the whole company
This stress was measured by self report (of feelings and caffeine use) and also regular urine samples
results showed those responsible for sawing has higher levels of stress and adrenaline than those responsible for maintenance
Marmot et al assessed 7372 civil servants in London for signs of cardiovascular disease and checked 5 years later
he found people in highest grades of civil service has developed fewest cardiovascular problems
those highest grades expressed feelings of control over their work and reported good levels of social support
Personality and Stress
Friedman and Rosenman created the type A personality
Highly achievement motivated
impatience + time urgency
competitiveness + achievement striving
Hostility + aggression
believed these 3 factors would lead to raised blood pressure and stress hormones and inparticular conorary heart disease (CHD)
Type B: opposite to type A; patient, relaxed and easy going therefore less vunerable to stress related illness
Supporting evidence for Type A
Western Collaborative Group Study, participants examined for signs of CHD + assessed for personality type
relationship was seen between stress + illness e.g cardiovascular probles and increased likelihood towards risk factors e.g smoking
Evaluation
Ragland + Brand: Follow up research found approx 15% of the men died of CHD
confirms importance of risk factors and CHD but not the link between Type A and morality
Myrtek: analysis of 35 studies
found hostility to be linked to CHD but no other factors of type A
undermines link between type A and stress related illness
Hardy Personality and Stress
Definitions
Hardy Personality: Characteristics which appear to provide defence against the negative effects of stress
The 3 Cs
Control: in control of their lives rather than controlled by external factors
Commitment: involved with world around them, strong sense of purpose
Challenge: see challenges as problems to overcome rather than threats or stressors. Enjoy change as oppurtunity for development
Supporting
Maddi et al:
Studied employees that was dramatically reducing workforce
2/3 suffered stress related health problems over the year, 1/3 thrived
1/3 showed more evidence of hardiness attributes
Lifton et al:
measured hardiness of student to see if hardiness was related to likelihood of completing degree
among dropouts, little showed low scores on the 3 Cs
Students who scored highly on the 3 Cs were more likely to complete their degree
Limitations
Hardiness + Negative Affectivity
3 Cs not characteristics but way of thinking about success and failure?
some people dwell on failure, report more distress +dissatisfaction + focus on negative characteristics
referred to as high negative affectivity
negative affectivity and hardy personality are negatively correlated
Suggests those 'hardy' are low in negative affectivity
Psychological Methods
cognitive approach: Challenging negative thought
Behavioural Approach: rewarding desirable behaviours
STEP 1-Conceptualisation Phase
Therapist and cliient establish relationship and identify stress sources
STEP 2-Skills acquisition phase
Coping skills taught and practised initially in clinic then rehearsed in real life (positive thinking, relaxation
STEP 3-Application Phase
Encouraged to use coping skills in real life and therapist monitors client
Evalutation
+ focuses on challenging what stressors are and teaches techniques
+ can be applied to many individuals
found to be more effective than other forms of stress managment
Sheeky + Horan
+ examined effects of SIT on anxiety, stress and academic performance in law students
+ found those with SIT sessions had lower anxiety and higher academic performance
x SIT takes time, commitment and money, due to 1-1 therapy over a long period of time
Stress Inoculation Training (SIT)
Michebaum developed this to deal with stress
Suggests an individual should develop a form of coping before stress arises
Physiological Methods
Physical aspects of behaviour and these managements focus on physical ways in which the body responds
Benzodiazepnes (BZs)
slow activity of CNS and enhances natural action of GABA
GABA is natural form of anxiety relief, it locks onto receptors on surface of neuron, increasing how of Cl irons into neuron
Cl ions slow down CNS activity making someone feel more relaxed
BZs bind to GABA sites and allow even more Cl ions to flow into neuron
Evaluation
+ Kahn (1986): followed 250 patients over 8 weeks and found BZs were significantly superior to placebos
+ Hildago (2001): meta analysis found BZs more effective at reducing anxiety than other antidepressants
x Patients can show withdrawal symptoms
x Ashton (1997): BZs should not be used and 4 weeks
x Negative side effects such as paradexical symptoms (aggressiveness and cognitive effects)
Beta Blockers (BBs)
reduce activity of adrenaline and noradrenaline by binding to receptors on heart cells and other organs stimulated during growth
block receptors making it harder to stimulate cells
puts less pressure on body and person feels calmer and less anxious
Enter text here
Evalutation
+ used in real life settings to reduce anxiety and more effective (snooker players)
x Some research has linked BBs with increased risk of developmental diabetes
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