ch 15

Question 1

Stressors

Answer 1

stimuli or events that place strong demands on us

Question 2

Microstressors

Answer 2

daily hassles and everyday annoyances

Question 3

Catastrophic events

Answer 3

often occur unexpectedly and typically affect large numbers of people (e.g. natural disaster)

Question 4

Stress

Answer 4

pattern of cognitive appraisals, physiological responses, and behavioural tendencies that occurs is response to a perceived imbalance between situational demands and the resources needed to cope with them

• Can weaken the immune system`

Question 5

Life event scales

Answer 5

quantify amount of life stress that a person has experienced over a given period

Question 6

4 aspects of appraisal process

Answer 6

1) Appraisal of demands of the situation (primary appraisal)
2) Appraisal of resources available to cope with it (secondary appraisal)
3) Judgements of what the consequences of the situation could be
4) Appraisal of the personal meaning; what outcome might imply about us

Question 7

General adaptation system (GAS)

Answer 7

1) Alarm reaction – sudden activation of sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and release of stress hormones by the endocrine system
2) Resistance – body’s resources continue to be mobilized so that person can function despite presence of stressor

3) Exhaustion – when stressor is too intense and persists for too long, body’s resources are dangerously depleted
o Body has increased vulnerability to disease

Question 8

Cortisol

Answer 8

• stress hormone that increases blood sugar, in part by acting on liver
• Hippocampus (learning and memory) is sensitive to cortisol; can lead to deterioration

Question 9

Rape trauma syndrome

Answer 9

for months or even years after the rape, victims may feel nervous and fear another attack by the rapist

Question 10

Neuroticism

Answer 10

– heightened tendency to experience negative emotions and get themselves into stressful situations through their maladaptive behaviours

Question 11

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Answer 11

severe anxiety disorder caused by exposure to traumatic life events
- Traumas caused by human perpetrators (e.g. rape, war) tend to cause more severe PTSD that natural disasters

Question 12

Residential school syndrome

Answer 12

symptoms experienced by children who were forced to attend residential schools
- Vulnerability factors – increase people’s susceptibility to stressful events (e.g. lack of support network)

Question 13

Vulnerability factors

Answer 13

– increase people’s susceptibility to stressful events (e.g. lack of support network)

Question 14

Protective factors

Answer 14

environmental or personal resources that help people cope more effectively with stressful
events (e.g. coping skills)
• Social support enhances immune system function, is overall really good for stress relief, decreases activity in left amygdala

Question 15

Naomi Eisenberg and colleagues

Answer 15

did experiment testing brain areas (PFC) and association with social support and stress

• Measured social support by signalling participants at random times in the day for 10 days
• When signalled → answered questions about nature of support received in most recent social interaction
• Measured brain activity in game of “cyberball”, game of online catch where the other players were CPU, but participant did not know
• One brain scan done while all 3 players played cooperatively (half throws went to human)
• Another game right after where human got 7 throws at beginning, the no more
• Found that low levels of past social support were associated with larger stress response and change in activity in PFC
• Past social support limits stress response and helps recover from the stress, and suggest involvement of PFC

Question 16

Inagaki and Eisenberger

Answer 16

experiment on effect of giving social support

• Told some to write letter to close friend about any advice they might need right now and some wrote letter explaining their route to work
• Then given 5 min to prepare a 5min speech to deliver in front of judges
• After speech, told to count backwards from 2083 by 13s
• Told their speech and math stuff would be graded
• Those who engaged in providing social support to close friend were less stressed by the situation

Question 17

Hardiness

Answer 17

stress-resistant personality pattern that involves the factors of the 3 C’s: commitment, challenge, control

Question 18

Coping self-efficacy

Answer 18

conviction that we can perform the behaviours necessary to cope successfully

Question 19

Pessimism

Answer 19

• Pessimists had about twice as many illnesses and visits to doctors as did optimists
• Pessimism also predicts poorer health

Question 20

Type A personality

Answer 20

live under great pressure and are demanding of themselves and others

• Rapid talking, moving, walking, and eating
• Exaggerated sense of time urgency and become very irritated at delays or failures to meet their deadlines
• High levels of competitiveness and ambition, as well as aggressiveness and hostility when things get in their way
• Double risk for coronary heart disease

Question 21

type B personality

Answer 21

more relaxed, agreeable, less sense of time urgency

Question 22

Problem-focused coping

Answer 22

confront and deal directly with the demands of the situation, or to change the situation so that it is no longer stressful (e.g. studying for a test)

• Research found problem-focused coping were associated with favourable adjustment to stressors
• Men more likely to use problem-focused coping as first strategy to confront stressor

Question 23

Emotion-focused coping

Answer 23

manage emotional responses that result from it

(e. g. avoidance – have a test? Go to a party, or acceptance – about to die? Accept it)
- Emotion-focused coping predicted depression and poor adjustment
- Women somewhat more likely to report using emotion-focused coping

Question 24

Seeking social support

Answer 24

turning to others for assistance and emotional support in times of stress

• Research found problem-focused coping were associated with favourable adjustment to stressors
• Women more likely to use social support → tend to have larger support networks and higher needs for affiliation

Question 25

Robles and Kiecolt-Glaser

Answer 25

did experiment testing spouse’s physocal support (hand-holding) on self-report and neural responses * 16 highly satisfied married couples were brought in * Woman lay in a scanner and were connected to shock electrodes at her ankle * She had a panel that showed either of the two visual displays: a red X (threat cue) – 20% chance of receiving painful electric shock after 10 sec OR a blue O (safety cue) – would not be shocked * Random order of 12 threat and 12 safety – this is 1 block; experiment had 3 blocks * One block holding husband’s hand, one holding stranger’s hand, one holding no hand – all in random order * At end of each block, woman rated how unpleasant the situation was and how much fear arousal she was experiencing * When spouses holding hands → found situation less unpleasant compared to holding stranger’s hand or no hand * Brain’s emotional response significantly lower during safety trials than during threat trials * fMRI of brain showed social support, especially from spouse, reduces brain’s response to threat

Question 26

Midnfulness

Answer 26

- paying attention in a particular way | - on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally

Question 27

Mindfulness has 3 interrelated components

Answer 27

1) Be fully and deliberately aware of your environment, emotions, thoughts, and actions 2) Focus your attention on current moment rather than ruminating on past or anticipating future 3) Experiencing each moment as is without judgement or bias based on expectations, wishes, or fears

Question 28

Self-medication

Answer 28

use of an unprescribed drug to alleviate stress, anxiety, or other symptoms

Question 29

Self-injury

Answer 29

deliberately harming oneself without suicidal intention; often associated with history of emotional or sexual abuse

Question 30

Denise Sloan and Brian Marx

Answer 30

studied college students who experenced traumatic life trauma * Some told to write about traumatic event, others told to do an unrelated task * Those who wrote about their trauma showed lower stress and depression scores, and missed less classes during that month * Writing or talking about event provides exposure to cues that accompanied trauma and the exposure allows extinction to occur

Question 31

People and coping methods

Answer 31

- North Americans and Europeans tend to use problem-focused coping more than Asian and Hispanics - Asians and Hispanics tend to use emotion-focused coping and social support - Asians also tend to avoid the stressful situation, particularly interpersonal stressors → reflects their culture’s emphasis on interpersonal harmony

Question 32

Health psychology

Answer 32

studies psychological and behavioural factors in the prevention and treatment of illness and in maintenance of health

Question 33

Health-enhancing behaviours

Answer 33

serve to maintain or increase health (e.g. exercise, healthy diet, safe sex)

Question 34

Health-compromising behaviours

Answer 34

promote development of illness (e.g. smoking, fatty diets, sedentary lifestyle)

Question 35

Transtheoretical method

Answer 35

6 major stages in change process; does not assume people go through stages in a smooth sequence 1) Precontemplation – no desire to change behaviour; do not recognize there is a problem or their behaviour’s negative consequences 2) Contemplation – perceives problem but not yet decided to take action; aware of their risks, not ready to quit 3) Preparation – decided they want to change behaviour, but have not started changing; started making small changes or identifying conditions that affect the behaviour they want to change 4) Action – actively begin to modify behaviour and environment; this stage requires most commitment of effort and energy; might have to go through this cycle many times 5) Maintenance – avoided relapse and controlled target behaviour for 6 months 6) Termination – change in behaviour is so ingrained and under personal control that original problem will never return

Question 36

Stage-matched interventions

Answer 36

psychologists designed these to move person towards the action, maintenance, and termination stages * Precontemplators → need consciousness-raising info to convince them there is a problem * Contemplators → need an emotional experience that increases motivaation to change or cuases them to re-evaluate themselves in relation to behaviour

Question 37

Aerobic exercise

Answer 37

sustained activity (e.g. jogging, biking, swimming) that elevates heart rate and increases body’s need for oxygen

Question 38

Yo-yo dieting

Answer 38

- form of weight monitoring that results in big up-and-down weight fluctuations - increases risk of dying from cardiovascular disease

Question 39

Motivational interviewing

Answer 39

leads people to own conclusions by asking questions that focus on discrepancies between current state of affairs and individual’s idea self-image, desired behaviours, and desired outcomes

Question 40

Aversion therapy

Answer 40

undesired behaviour associated with aversive stimulus (e.g. shock, bad taste) to create negative emotional response

Question 41

Self-monitoring procedures

Answer 41

help person identify consequences of actions

Question 42

Relapse

Answer 42

return to undesirable behaviour pattern

Question 43

Lapse

Answer 43

one-time “slip”

Question 44

Abstinence violation effect

Answer 44

- reaction that can coccur when substance misusers fail to remain abstinent and view the lapse as proof that they will never be strong enough to resist temptation - May result in total relapse

Question 45

Harm reduction

Answer 45

– prevention strategy designed to no eliminate a behaviour when it occurs

Question 46

How to be happy

Answer 46

* Spend time with other people, and work to develop close relationships * Look for ways to be helpful to others and reach out to the less fortunate * Seek meaning and challenge in work * Set meaningful personal goals for yourself, and make progress toward them * Make time for enjoyable activities * Nurture physical well-being * Be open to new experiences * Cultivate optimism, and count your blessings