Topic 4 Chapter 8 1 What causes stress How is stress defined What are the two ways that researchers view and study stress Know what life change units are relative stress level rankings and conclusions in Table 8 2 a Stress can be caused by illness money issues academics family problems and work b Stress is defined as the physiologic response in the body fight or flight and also response to life events work namely a demand on organism for physiological cognitive or behavioral adaptation c 2 ways that researchers view study stress i Social Readjustment Rating Scale SRRS a scale that assigns stress values to life events based on judgments of a large group of normal adults 1 Pros 2 Cons ii Stress checklist 1 Pros 2 Cons a Stressors that produce more life change units b Rating on it are correlated with variety of cause more stress physical illnesses a Contain stressors that do not apply to people of different ages and ethnic backgrounds a Rely on retrospective reports b Treat both events as stressors c Fail to distinguish short lived and chronic stressors d Treat the same event as causing the same amount of stress for everyone d Life change units are essentially a unit that measure how much numerically one s life changes due to a certain life stressful event e Relative stress level rankings f Conclusions in Table 8 2 large percentages of people rate the same life event as causing large moderate little or no change in their lives this illustrates a key problem with assigning a set level of stress to any given life event and more generally of defining stress in terms of a stimulus alone 2 How does something become a stressor a Repetition conditioned learning b Conditioned stressors acquired nature modeling reasoning symbolic instruction classical and operant conditioning stimulus generalization fear response c Unconditioned stressors genetic nature wired naturally to fear ingrained in us i e responding to a dangerous situation fear combat assault impeded respiration 3 Is stress always a maladaptive response Why or why not How do we define stress a No b Because it can be adaptive too not as sudden like fight or flight maladaptive itself the human environment may have evolved more rapidly than our physiological reactions to it c Define maladaptive vs normal i Maladaptive when demands are in reality excessive or perceived appraised to be excessive ii Normal demand on organism for psychological cognitive or behavioral adaptation 4 How might females respond to stress differently than males a The parasympathetic activation is a little stronger i Release oxytocin from pituitary cuddle hormone the stress hormone released more in women than men b Stress in females stimulates a protect and need to care for offspring form alliances make friends c Tend and befriend response i Activates parasympathetic NS calming response 5 How do we respond to stress physiologically What are the consequences of immediate and prolonged exposure to stress a Physiological responses increased heart rate stomach churning tensing up increased blood glucose levels increased blood pressure dilated pupils inhibition of digestion pancreatic activity b Consequences i Adaptive Goal directed immediate 1 Released energy 2 Stressor resolved 3 increased awareness 4 Return to equilibrium 5 Adaptive escape avoidance behaviors 6 Adaptive approach behaviors ii Maladaptive action or inaction prolonged 1 Bound energy 2 Not resolving stressor 3 Continued tension 4 depression exhaustion 5 Maladaptive escape avoidance trying to escape stressor avoid stress so much 6 Maladaptive approach behavior 7 Poor cognitive and motor performance 8 Health problems 6 What are the two ways that people cope with stress a Problem focused do something directly to rid of stressor namely use energy from the stress response to deal with the stress b Emotion focused do something to alter internal distress how you feel about it namely trying to make yourself feel better 7 Discuss the 6 individual factors that can influence how stressful an event may be stressor a Predictability allows people to begin to cope before onset of a b Control illusion of it can help to alleviate stress but when we lose control or don t have any it can increase stress c Outlets for frustration reduces it essentially physical activity reduces physiological reactions to stress even when the effort does not include problem focused coping d Repression when people bottle up their issues stress increases and they show more psychophysiological reactions when people talk about their issues stress is reduced e Optimism even when you can t control something stressful you still are positive and look at it as a challenge rather than an obstacle f Religion active religious coping religious beliefs can help sufferers of stress gain control with God leads to improved health well being 8 How can stress indirectly contribute to illness What are factors influencing the indirect relationship between stress and illness How does illness influence stress a Stress indirectly contributes to illness by undermining positive health behaviors and increasing negative health behaviors b Factors influencing indirect relationship between stress and illness i Medical advice ii iii Social support encourages Illness behavior c Illness influences stress by 9 How does the DSM 5 classify stress What are some limitations of this diagnosis a b Limitations It classifies stress as how it is related to physical illness i Too literal in grouping problems together based on their appearance ii Not the best way to classify psychological problems 10 How can longitudinal approaches be used to study stress 11 What are the ways to manage stress that your authors provide in the box a Getting Help a Analyze it i Write about the situations that stress you out your responses and your attempts at coping 1 Start a journal 2 Write someone a letter 3 Jot down a few notes b Complete stress rating forms c Coping i Relaxtion specifically The Relaxation Response book by Benson ii Exercise iii Working with a mental health professional i Look up info online about your illness ii Communicate online with others who have same disease d Research TOPIC 4 CHAPTER 8 KEY TERMS longitudinal study type of research design in which subjects are studied over a period of time cross sectional study a research design in which subjects are studied only at one point in time health behavior any action that promotes good health resilience the ability to cope
View Full Document
Unlocking...