life changes= events in a persons life that require significant adjustment in various aspects of a
persons life. therefore a significant source of stress as it disrupts normal routine of everyday
life.
why does it cause stress= disrupts normal routine so we have to think of how to do things on 'auto
pilot' which means to use much more mental energy- called psychic energy (holmes and rahe).
constantly using energy to think leaves us exhausted and less able to cope with our lives. stress is
caused by our perceived ability to cope with the demands of a situation so therefore it will create stress
as the bigger the change, the more adjustment needed so more energy.
Holmes and Rahe- theorised a link
between major life events and illnesses.
developed a questionnaire called the social
readjustment scale as a way to measure life
changes.
43 life events were taken from 5000 patient life records. 400
participants scored the life events in terms of the readjustment
needed; e.g. marriage=50.
scores were then totalled and averaged to produce a life
change unit for each life event.
procedure- 2500 members of the US navy sampled. they
were given the SRRS to assess how many life events they
had experienced in the last 6 months and total scored
were recorded.
results: found a positive correlation
between the hypothesis that life changes
causes stress related illness.
conclusion- experiencing more life
changes increases chances of stress
related illnesses
evaluation of SRRS:
members of the navy do not represent the
population as they may have a different life
style so we cannot generalise
data is retrospective- validity of peoples
memories of past events
correlational analysis so it cannot predict a
causal relationship.
individual differences- what is stressful for one
person may not be as stressful for the other
person.
questionnaire may lack accuracy due to social
desirability- P's may not want to reveal everything.
daily hassles- minor events that arise
throughout the day which can cause
stress.
HASSLES: Bouteyre et al: investigate
relationship between daily hassles and mental
health of French students during transition
from school to uni.
procedure: first year psychology students
completed a hassles and uplift scale and
depression was recorded.
results: found a positive correlation between
students suffering from depression and scores
on the daily hassles scale
conclusion- transitions has frequent daily
hassles which is a risk factor for developing
depression
EVALUATION of daily hassles and uplifts
amplification affect- alternative explanation that due to major life
events, people may become more vulnerable to daily hassles as
they will find higher levels of distress in small irritations
accumulation affect- daily hassles cause more stress for
people than major life events. persistent irritations that
accumulate over the day can cause more stress
retrospective data- participants may not
remember the hassles they experience.
self report questionnaires means participants
may be influenced by social desirability.
research is correlational so it does not show a causal
relationship between the two factors- other variables
may have influenced the results.
explains how daily events affect health
and can accumulate and cause
significant source of stress.
daily uplifts: small positive experiences
that counteract the stress.
Gervais et al
asked nurses to keep a diary for a month recording
daily hassles and daily uplifts related to their job and
were asked to rate their performance over the same
period.
results- found that increase in daily hassles decreased
job performance whereas uplifts they experients
counteracted the stress.
work place and stress:
work place stressors are aspects of a work place environment which elicit a stress
response- therefore we experience as stressful. Demands of the work situation
competes with our ability to cope.
Johansson et al= to find out if high levels of responsibilities in work place impacted stress related illnesses.
procedure= 14 finishers in a Swedish sawmill were compared with 10 cleaners. Finishers work is isolated,
repetitiveness but highly skilled and their production determines the wages of all the sawmill workers
whereas cleaners had a less stressful and demanding role. urine samples were taken on work and the rest
days and records of illnesses.
findings= the finishers secreted more adrenaline on working days that
cleaners and also had more stress related illnesses than the cleaners.
conclusion= a combination of work stressors such as responsibility,
repetitiveness led to stress related illnesses- to reduce this stress
they should allow workers to have more control over their work.
evaluation=
strengths= is has provided information on how to reduce stress in
workplace and so more practical implications for companies to reduce
stress and likelihood of the workers developing illnesses.
strength= measured urine so it was scientific, objective and therefore reliable.
strength= natural study so high ecological validity.
however, low control of extraneous variables. sample is
culturally bias as it was in Sweden and lacks population
validity and gender bias.
personality factors, type A and B, Hardiness.
type A behaviour pattern is characterised by constant
time pressure, competiveness, and getting easily
frustrated.
type B personality is someone who is patient, relaxed, and easy going.
research on type A personality= Freidman and Rosenman who wanted to test
whether type A will lead to raise blood pressure and raised stress hormones.
which could lead to coronary heart disease.
procedure= 3000 Californian men were interviewed- those who had not
developed CHD but had type A personality.
after 8.5 years, twice as many Type A personality had developed CHD compared to type B.
this could be due to high levels of stress leading to higher cholstrol, to
smoke or family history of CHD.
evaluation= large sample however used only male participants so cannot
be generalised to females. it was culturally biased as it only used
Californians so findings cannot be representative. it was a longitudinal
study which means they were able to identify long term effects.
however, hardy personality provides defences against negative effects of stress. theres
control over their lives and challenges life changes as opportunities rather than threats.
kobasa found that American business executives had high stress levels but low
level of illness as they had hardy personality which encourages resilience.
psychological and biological methods
of stress management=
biological methods= drugs- aim to reduce the way brain and
body respond to work.
BZ'S= benzodiazepines- enhance actions of natural brain chemical, known as GABA (the body's natural form
of anxiety relief). GABA tells the neurons to slow down so brain exciters are reduced and the person feels
calmer.
beta blockers= when acute stress response occurs, it produces adrenaline which is
transported to the heart to increase heart pressure by stimulating beta receptors.
however beta blockers are used to block the receptor which prevents increase in heart
rate.
evaluation=
strengths= are effective and quick and easy to use
as it requires little effort from the user.
weaknesses= patients may become
addicted. there may be side effects including
memory impairment or aggression (bz/s)
treats the symptoms not the problem so as soon as they stop
taking drugs, symptoms are likely to reappear.
stress is caused by maladaptive and unwanted thoughts.
cognitive therapy aims to change these unwanted and beliefs and
reverse the learning process to produce more desirable
behaviours.
SIT- 1. conceptualisation phase= client is educated about the nature and impact of stress.
clients are encouraged to relive the stressful event and analyse different features of the
situation. 2. skill training= clients are taught specific skills and strategies for coping with
stressful situation. for example relaxation and social skills. 3. real life application= client
applies their training in real world situations.
evaluation= strengths: holcom found STI was better at reducing stress and anxiety
than drugs. doesn't just deal with current stressors but gives them opportunity to
deal with later problems. however, weaknesses: time consuming and requires high
motivation and is also expensive.