Theme 2: Stress And Coping

Question 1

What is involved in this theme

Answer 1

Transactional coping
Coping theories
Stress reactivity
Attachment theory
Cognitive development

Question 2

Transactional coping theory

Answer 2

proposes that stress involves encounter between individual and their
environment and that a stress response depends on the appraisal of the stressor and the
ability to cope with it (appraisal isn’t necessarily a conscious process)

Question 3

Components of transactional coping

Answer 3

Psychological determinant
Primary appraisal
Secondary appraisal
Reappraisal
Different types of coping

Question 4

Psychological determinant

Answer 4

stressors are subjective and affected by prior experience
with stressors and stress response e.g. coping skills, personality characteristics,
attitudes, motivation, level of self esteem, general outlook, perception of control

Question 5

Primary appraisal

Answer 5

evaluates significance of a potential stressor resulting in a decision
that is either irrelevant, being positive or stressful e.g. harm/ loss assessment of
damaged already occurred, threat assessment of harm loss that hasn’t occurred yet but
may in future, challenge assessment of potential for personal growth or gain

Question 6

Secondary appraisal

Answer 6

evaluation of interna and external coping options and resources for
dealing with a stressor e.g. internal could be strength/ determination and external could
be money and support from friends or family

Question 7

Reappraisal

Answer 7

e-evaluation of a potential stressor in relation to coping resources

Question 8

What is coping

Answer 8

stress management the process of constantly changing cognitive and
behavioural efforts to manage the internal or external stressors that are appraised as
taxing or exceeding the resources of the person

Question 9

Different types of coping in the transactional coping model

Answer 9

Emotion focused
Problem focused

Question 10

emotion focused coping transactional

Answer 10

strategies to attend to emotional responses to a specific stressor e.g. denial, distancing, avoiding, minimising, acceptance, venting emotions, seeking emotional support from family and friends

Question 11

problem focused coping transactional

Answer 11

strategy to change or manage the cause or the source of a stressor, when the individual feels they have some control over the situation and can change the circumstance, reappraise the stressor by examining it from different perspective, obtain more information about the stressor, redefine the stressor, find alternative ways to deal with the stressor, learn changes to manage the stressor

Question 12

advantages of the transactional coping model

Answer 12

focuses on psychological determinants of the stress response, interaction between the individual and their environment, inclusion of the reappraisal model allows stressors and circumstances to change over time, proposes different management methods

Question 13

disadvantages of the transactional coping model

Answer 13

difficult to test through experimental research as is subjective, doubt it is necessary to appraise something as causing stress to have a stress response

Question 14

what are the different coping mechanisms

Answer 14

self soothing
distraction
opposite action
emotional awareness
mindfulness
crisis plan

Question 15

self soothing

Answer 15

comforting through your 5 senses

Question 16

distraction

Answer 16

take your mind off the problem e.g puzzles, books, crafts, movies

Question 17

opposite action

Answer 17

doing something the opposite of your impulse that’s consistent with a more positive emotion e.g. affirmations and inspiration, something fun or cheering

Question 18

emotional awareness

Answer 18

tools for identifying and expressing your feelings e.g .list or chart of emotions, journal

Question 19

mindfulness

Answer 19

tools for centering and grounding yourself in the movement e.g. meditation, relaxation, breathing exercises

Question 20

crisis plan

Answer 20

contact info of support and resources for when oping skills aren’t enough e.g. family, friends, therapist, psychiatrist, hotline, crisis team

Question 21

definition of stress reactivity

Answer 21

extent of an individuals physiologcial reaction in response to a stressor

Question 22

what is the measurement of stress

Answer 22

cortisol

Question 23

how does stress differ from anxiety

Answer 23

anxiety is a feeling of apprehension or fear
response to stress persist in the absence of the stressor

Question 24

typical stress response

Answer 24

1. Real/ perceived threat is encountered
2. Brain sends message to the amygdala (responsible for stress response)
3. Activates the hypothalamus
4. Activates the SNS
5. Activating the release of catecholamines e.g. epinephrine and norepinephrine
6. Hypothalamus releases CRH
7. Stimulates the pituitary gland
8. Causes release of ACTH
9. Stimulates release of cortisol
10. With the catecholamines cortisol initiates flight or fight to prep the body for handling the stressor

Question 25

high perceptions of control of stress

Answer 25

active coping
norepinephrine

Question 26

low perceptions of control of stress

Answer 26

more anxiety
passive coping/avoidance
epinephrine and cortisol

Question 27

cross-stressor adaptation hypothesis

Answer 27

repeated exposure to stressor will produce adaptive response to stressors in general, decreased magnitude of response to a familiar stressor

Question 28

high stress reactivity

Answer 28

• High stress reactivity: in adverse conditions will have a negative outcome, becomes a risk factor, in healthy contexts is linked to positive outcomes
• Children with high stress reactivity: more sensitive to their environment, experience more extreme result whether this is good or bad, orchids

Question 29

children with low stress reactivity

Answer 29

less sensitive to their environmental contexts
dandelions

Question 30

resilience

Answer 30

dynamic process
differences in reactivity will not guarantee resilience

Question 31

physical toughness model

Answer 31

more adaptvie catecholamine response= more positive perception= more positive appraisals of similar stressors in the future, explains how we better handle the immediate stressor and the recovery from the stressor

Question 32

how does the physiologcial toughness model work in the stress response

Answer 32

regular exposure to the stressor, increased capacity for catecholamines in the CNS, reduced resting catecholamines, faster elimination of catecholamines after the stressor is gone, less cortisol released

Question 33

definition of attachment

Answer 33

lasting psychological connectedness between human beings

Question 34

attachment in infants

Answer 34

important between child and caregiver, these bonds are based on child’s need for safety, security and protection, required in infancy and childhood

Question 35

important tenet

Answer 35

infancy needs to develop relationship with at least one primary caregiver for the child’s successful social and emotional development, particularly for learning how to effectively regulate their feelings

Question 36

what causes a child to increase attachment behaviours

Answer 36

anxiety
fear
illness
fatigue

Question 37

what are the different types of attachement

Answer 37

secure
anxious-ambivalent
anxious avoidant
disorganised

Question 38

secure attachment

Answer 38

explore freely whilst caregiver is present, engages with strangers, visibly upset when the caregiver leaves, happy to see the return of the caregiver, extent of exploration and distress are affected by child’s temperamental make-up and situational factors aswell as attachment status but attachment is largely influenced by primary caregiver’s sensitivity to their needs, parents who consistently respond to childs needs will create securely attached

Question 39

anxious-ambivalent attachment

Answer 39

explore little in strange situation, wary of strangers even when parent is present, child highly distressed when caregiver leaves and ambivalent when they return, response to unpredictably responsive caregiving, displays of anger or helplessness towards caregiver on reunion can be regarded as conditional strategy for maintaining the availability of caregiver by pre-emptively taking control of the interaction

Question 40

anxious avoidant attachment

Answer 40

avoid or ignore the caregiver, little emotion when they arrive or depart, not explore much regardless of who is there, mask for distress

Question 41

disorganised attachment

Answer 41

doesn’t appear to the observer to be coordinated in smooth way across episoders to achieve some proximity with caregiver, indicates disruption or flooding of attachment system by fear, contradictory behaviours, asymmetric misdirected jerky movements

Question 42

first phase attachment

Answer 42

first 8 weeks, infants will smile babble and cry to attract attention of potential caregivers, they will learn to discriminate between caregivers these behaviours are directed at anyone in the vicinity first 8 weeks, infants will smile babble and cry to attract attention of potential caregivers, they will learn to discriminate between caregivers these behaviours are directed at anyone in the vicinity

Question 43

second phase attachment

Answer 43

2-6 months, increasingly discriminates between familiar and unfamiliar adults, more responsive towards the caregiver, following and clinging are added to their range of behaviour

Question 44

cognitive development, 4 stages

Answer 44

piagets stages and all children will progress through the stages in htis order but will differ in the rates of development
sensorimotor
preoperational
concrete operational
formal operational

Question 45

sensorimotor

Answer 45

1. Sensorimotor: birth to 2 years
   Goal: object permanence, knowing an object still exists even if it is hidden, to form mental representation of the object
   Characteristics: learns about world through senses and actions, self-recognition, deferred imitation, representational play, relate to emergence of generally symbolic function

Question 46

preoperational

Answer 46

2. Preoperational: 2 to 7 years
   Goal: symbolic thought
   Characteristics: acquire ability to internally represent world through language and imagery, make one thing such as word or object stand for something other than itself, thinking is dominated by the way the world looks not how the world is, difficulty with class inclusion e.g. classifying object in 2 or more categories simultaneously, demonstrate animism

Question 47

concrete operational

Answer 47

3. Concrete operational: 7 to 11
   Goal: logical thought
   Characteristics: logical thinking about concrete events, understand things may change appearance but certain properties remain the same, children can mentally reverse things, less egocentric and think about feelings and thoughts of others

Question 48

formal operational

Answer 48

4. Formal operational stage: 12+
   Goal: scientific reasoning
   Characteristics: concrete operations carried out on things whereas formal operations carried out on ideas, deal with abstract ideas, follow form of argument without thinking in terms of specific examples, deal with hypothetical problems with many possible solutions