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Psychology Eduquas > Stress > Flashcards

Stress Flashcards

1
Q

What are the characteristics of stress?

A
  • Stress as a physical and psychological response
  • Different Types of Stress
  • Effects of Stress
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2
Q

What are the different types of stress?

A

Acute and Chronic

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3
Q

Explain the different types of stress

A
  • Acute Stress – the response to an immediate threat, e.g. an exam or deadline
  • Chronic Stress – happens over a long period of time, e.g. relationship problems. Person sees no escape and be difficult to treat as individual may get used to it
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4
Q

What are the psychological and physical effects of stress?

A

Physical response:
- research in rats – general physical response to stress, involves the activation of the nervous system – release cortisol and adrenaline – makes us more aware
- Adrenaline – prepares body for fight or flight / Cortisol – releases glucose for energy
Stress as a psychological response:
- How we respond to stress depends on how we perceive it
- Transactional model of stress – stress seen as an interaction between a person and the environment
- When a stressor is interacted with the person they decides whether they are able to cope.
Primary appraisal - is the threat harmful?
Secondary appraisal – do we have the resources to deal with the stressor?

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5
Q

What are the effect of stress?

A

Physical:
- Short-term effects: increased blood pressure / sweaty palms / headaches / stomach problems.
- long-term effects: leading to illness.
- Stress damages the immune system and can lead to illnesses like CHD.
Psychological:
- Feel isolated / low self-esteem
- Stress not a mental illness - can cause mental health problems. e.g. anxiety
- Struggle to cope with management of stress
Lifestyle:
- Effects made worse by changes in lifestyle
e.g. smoking or drinking as a coping mechanism
- Develop nervous habits – nail biting
- Develop sleep problems
Yerkes-Dodson:
- Eustress – positive stress – can provide motivation for situation. e.g. stress and arousal can increase performance in sports.
- Distress – bad stress – too much can have a negative effect on performance.

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6
Q

What are the individual difference explanations for stress?

A

Hardiness and Type A and B personality

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7
Q

What are the main components to a hardy personality?

A
  • Control - in control of their own lives
  • Commitment - have a sense of purpose / want to stay involved even when it goes wrong / curious about others
  • Challenge - see stressful situation as an opportunity to grow and develop as a person / don’t see life as easy and need to be able to overcome these situations
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8
Q

How do hardy characteristics buffer against stress?

A
  • used as a pathway to deal with stress
  • coping strategies are used to good effect when stressor is present
  • hardy personality = less physical response
  • less illness from stress = reduced cortisol
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9
Q

What sections are used to evaluate hardiness?

A

Gender differences and Neuroticism

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10
Q

Evaluate Hardiness using gender differences

A

Kobasa - different for females
- different responses to stress
- control + commitment –> for males
- stress different for different ages
- relationship with health outcomes

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11
Q

What is the evaluation on neuroticism?

A

Hardiness+ negative affectivity
Focused on the negatives in life
Over-exaggeration of illness
low hardiness may not be more ill - just complain more
Is there always high hardiness and low neuroticism?

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12
Q

What are the sections of explanation of Type A and B personalities?

A

Differences is personality
Link between Type A with stress-related illness
Western Collaborative Study

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13
Q

What is the Western Collaborative Study?

A
  • longitudinal study
  • 3,000 men
  • Using interviews - questions trying to provoke type A behaviour
  • Type A more likely to interrupt a hesitant question
  • Men that showed more type A traits more likely to have health problems - heart attack/disease
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14
Q

Evaluate the Type A & B personality explanation of stress

A

1) Gender + Culture Bias
- imposed Etic - assumption of own culture as normal - always compare to own
- Type A traits always compared to male, but females may have different traits
- Traits compared to west - type A concept may not apply to certain cultures
2) Role of hostility
- Traits in Type A may be more important to others to cause illness
- Elements that don’t increase ask of illness
- Some elements may be more helpful in response to stress
e.g. flight or flight

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15
Q

Explain the Social psychological explanation of life events

A
  • Life events: events that cause significant change in your life - can cause large amounts of stress
    1) Measuring Life events
  • Holme - patients became ill after suffering large amounts of life changes
  • Created list of life events using 400 people to rank
  • SRRS - death of spouse, marriage, breaking law
  • Value calculated by participants ticking off how many changes that they experienced
  • Higher score means more stress
  • A score of 150+ increase illness by 30%
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16
Q

Evaluate the explanation of life events for stress

A

1) Correlation + Causation
- all research is correlational - doesn’t prove cause
- may be other factors that mediate life events + illness
e.g. a woman during pregnancy with high social support have less complications than women with low social support
- Support through situations may be an intervening variable
2) Issues in Recall
- Validity relies on accuracy of recall over time
- Recollections may not be accurate
Raphael - asked women after a 10 months period of time - only 1/4 of events were recalled
- A more detailed interview method should be used rather than the SRRS as social desirability may effect

17
Q

What methods of modification are used for stress?

A
  • Beta Blockers
  • Stress Inoculation Training
18
Q

Describe Beta Blockers

A

HOW THEY WORK
- Have reverse effect on the sympathetic nervous system
Decrease HR, BP, shaking and sweatiness
- Block receptor sites – for adrenaline and noradrenaline
- Reduces physical reaction when adrenaline tries to bind to muscle – HR and Breathing Rate do not increase – Calm response, reduce anxiety
- Useful in acute stress situations – giving a public speech / competing in a sporting event
Therefore reduces anxiety and arousal
TYPES OF BETA BLOCKERS
- Non-selective – block adrenaline and noradrenaline in other areas of the body other than at the heart – block all receptors and will effect the heart, liver and kidney
- Selective – effect mostly just the heart – only B1 receptors
OFF-LABEL USE
- Mainly prescribed for high blood pressure
- Are used for anxiety (not intended use)
Drug not undergone clinical trial - safety
- Benefits outweigh the risks

19
Q

Evaluate the effectiveness of Beta Blockers for stress

A

1) Performance Benefits & Self-reported levels of stress:
- Reduce performance anxiety in musicians - musicians given the drug or a placebo before performing
- Musicians given drug showed significant levels in reduced heart rates and were able to play complex parts more accurately – less reported stage fright – compared to placebo
- May be differences on the stress being self-reported – depending on beta-blocker used
Maths test – drug had expected physical effects – differences in reported stress levels in the group - subjective
2) Benefits for other aspects of Stress
- Stress can cause people fall into habits (e.g. addiction)
- 3 groups – stress + beta blocker, no stress + beta blocker, stressed + placebo
- Stress + beta blocker group = goal directed just like non-stressed people
- Beta blocker prevented stress and reduced the habit behaviour
- Shows potential usefulness of beta blockers when dealing with stress

20
Q

What are the social and ethical implications of Beta Blockers for stress?

A
  • Side effects (ethical)
  • Possible Over-prescription (social)
21
Q

Describe the ethical implications of using Beta Blockers for stress

A
  • Usually mild and temporary
    e.g. dizziness, nausea, blurred vision
  • Cause sleep issues and breathing difficulties for asthmatics – overall effects are minimal
  • Suddenly stopping taking them = heart palpitations and increase in blood pressure
    Body needs to overcome drugs effects – slow down sympathetic response
  • People may become dependent on the drug – and may not be able to cope without
22
Q

Describe the social implications of Beta Blockers for stress

A
  • There has been an increase in prescribed beta blockers
  • There may have been increased number of heart problems
  • Health professionals saying they are over-used for stress
  • Anxiety is a bigger problem and there are limited treatments – therapy is expensive and beta blockers are a more cost effective option – but may not deal with root cause of the stress
23
Q

Describe Stress Inoculation Training (SIT)

A
  • SIT – gives the individuals the experience of minor stressors that make them more prepared
  • Helps develop coping mechanisms and confidence for the future
  • Stressor needs to be strong enough to arouse the defences - but not causing negative effects
    IMPORTANCE OF PERCEPTION
  • 2 main areas – identifies the area of importance of how a person perceives the stressor + how they cope with the stressor
  • Gives people tools to deal with stressor in a different way – deal with is more effectively
  • Helps people to overcome and be more aware of behaviours that hinder the individual
    Helps make a narrative when faced in the situation
    THE PROCESS
  • Very flexible
  • Customised to the individual – depend on stressor and tailored existing coping abilities
  • Carried out for about 10 sessions – may be follow-up sessions
  • Has been used in many settings – medical patients, people with anxiety
    1) Conceptualisation – relationship established between client and trainer
    Increase clients awareness of nature of stress – and their coping strategies
    Break down problem into more manageable concepts
    2) Skills acquisition – acquire coping skills
    Taught strategies in clinical setting + generalised to different life settings
    3) Application – practising applying skills – increasingly demanding situations
    Use strategies – imagery, modelling and role play – prevent relapse of stress
    Rehearsing situation in which their stress may appear
    Follow-up sessions are used to make sure that people are using the techniques properly
24
Q

Evaluate the effectiveness of SIT for stress

A

EFFECTIVENESS
- Effective in reducing stress across many settings
- Studies in workplace – effective in enhancing performance under stress and reduces anxiety
- Effective regardless of the trainer and setting
- Led to improvements for high and low anxiety groups
- SIT on law students – students that received SIT showed lower levels of stress over time
WHICH PART IS EFFECTIVE?
- SIT issue – difficult to see which part of the components are effective
- If key part determined would save time for patients as only that section would be needed
- Study carrying out separate elements – random allocation of groups
Some given just SIT and some given extra training alongside SIT – there were no differences between groups in terms of anxiety levels
- Application is the most important part

25
Q

What are the social and ethical implications of SIT for stress?

A
  • Risk of harm (ethical)
  • Impact on the economy
26
Q

Describe the ethical implications of SIT on stress

A
  • Processes of SIT may cause some distress – rehearsing stressful situations
  • May cause psychological harm
  • Benefits may be more long-lasting compared to drug therapy – benefits may outweigh the costs
    Small amount of stress may be worth it for bigger gains
27
Q

Describe the Social Implications of SIT on stress.

A
  • Big impact on the economy and people may take days off work sick
  • Effects of stress cost health services money
  • Stress techniques have a long-term benefit
    People with CHD + stress techniques vs control vs a group with exercise
    Group with stress techniques experienced less health problems
  • May not purely be SIT but still giving techniques to deal with stress

Psychology Eduquas (7 decks)

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