CH3

Question 1

What is Stress

Answer 1

Stress - psychological and physiological experience that occurs when an individual encounters something of significance that demands their attention and/or efforts to cope

Question 2

What is a stressor? What are the two types of stress?

Answer 2

Stressor - stimulus (internal or external) that prompts the stress response. Both internal and external stressors contribute to each other and combine to cause stress.
- Internal Stressors - stimulus from within a person’s body that prompts the stress response.
- External Stressors - stimulus from outside of a person’s body that prompts the stress response.

Question 3

What is a psychological stress response?

Answer 3

Psychological Stress Response - Relates to how we think or feel about a stressor. This can be highly subjective and are able to change and shift over time.

Question 4

What is distress?

Answer 4

• Distress – a form of stress characterised by a negative psychological state.
  o Involves negative emotions like feelings of worry and upset.
  o Usually occurs when stressor is a negative circumstance.
  o Can enhance performance however high levels of distress can become overwhelming and reduce performance.

Question 5

What is eustress?

Answer 5

Eustress – a form of stress characterised by a positive psychological state.
-Involves positive emotions and feelings of inspiration and motivation.
-Usually occurs when the stressor provides a positive opportunity.
-Usually enhances performance.

Question 6

What is acute stress?

Answer 6

Acute stress - form of stress characterised by intense psychological and physiological symptoms that are brief in duration.

Question 7

Define the flight-or-fight-or-freeze response.

Answer 7

The flight-or-fight-or-freeze response - involuntary and automatic response to a threat that takes the form of either escaping it, confronting it, or freezing in the face of it.

Question 8

In the flight-or-fight-or-freeze response, what is involved in the flight?

Answer 8

Flight:
-Organism flees from stressor.
-Escaping is perceived to be the safest option.
-Depends on the activation of the sympathetic nervous system which prompts the release of adrenaline from the adrenal glands to allow for a quick escape.
-Heart rate and breathing rate increase.

Question 9

In the flight-or-fight-or-freeze response, what is involved in the fight?

Answer 9

Fight:
-Organism confronts the stressor.
-The sympathetic nervous system energises the body so that it is able to fight.
-Adrenaline is also released through the adrenal glands.
-Heart rate and breathing rate increases.

Question 10

In the flight-or-fight-or-freeze response, what is involved in the freeze?

Answer 10

Freeze:
-Organism’s body becomes immobile and in shock.
-Tends to happen when stressor is perceived to be too threatening that the body is unable to respond right away.
-Brain processes the stressor during the freezing.
-Lack of enough energy or time to fight or flee often leads to freezing.
-Activates parasympathetic nervous system for a brief amount of time leading to the dropping of blood pressure.
-The sympathetic nervous system can also be activated almost simultaneously.

Question 11

what is chronic stress?

Answer 11

Chronic stress - form of stress that endures for several months or longer.

Question 12

What is cortisol? Pros of cortisol release. Con of cortisol release. What is cortisol involved in and what is it released by? What does cortisol to serve the adaptive function of?

Answer 12

Cortisol - hormone that is released in times of stress to aid the body in initiating and maintaining heightened arousal.
- Released by the adrenal glands and is involved in both acute and chronic stress.
- Cortisol is released slowly to help the body deal with stress for longer as adrenaline can damage the body, however cortisol suppresses immune system which can lead to disease.
o Serves the adaptive functions of:
 Increases blood sugar levels and release of glucose.
 Improves metabolism.
 Energising the body.
 Reducing Inflammation.

Question 13

List three key details of the HPA axis.

Answer 13

The HPA axis:
- Prolonged release of adrenaline sends a signal.
- Amygdala picks up the signal that there is a threat which triggers the axis to release cortisol.
- Cortisol is usually vital for health however when involved in stress it is meant to help but can end up doing damage over time.

Question 14

What is the General Adaption Syndrome (GAS)

Answer 14

General Adaption Syndrome (GAS) - biological model
involving three stages of physiological reactions that a person
experiences in response to a persistent stressor. Developed by Hans Selye 1936. Can follow
acronym SCARE.

Question 15

What is the biological model for stress?

Answer 15

General Adaption Syndrome (GAS)

Answer 17

• Shock – the first substage of the alarm reaction stage involving decreased bodily arousal for a brief period of time following the initial exposure to a stressor.
   The body experiences a temporary state of shock and acts like it is injured.
   Blood Pressure and Body Temperature drop.
   Resistance to stress is below normal.
• Counter Shock – the second substage of the alarm reaction stage in which sympathetic nervous system responses occur that mobilise the body to respond to the stressor.
   Sympathetic nervous system is activated.
   Flight-Fight-Freeze response is activated.
   Adrenalin is released.
   Resistance to stress is above normal.

Answer 18

Resistance - the second stage of the General Adaptation Syndrome involving maintaining high levels of bodily arousal in response to a persistent stressor.

Answer 19

o Increases:
 Cortisol levels to contribute to a heighted physiological state.
 Susceptibility to illness increases.
 Resistance to initial stressor as majority of energy is directed towards it.
o Decreases:
 Intensity of sympathetic nervous system responses to stabilise internal environment.
 Resistance to other stressors as energy is used for initial stressor.
 Bodily resources as they deplete

Answer 20

Exhaustion - the third stage of the General Adaptation Syndrome involving the depletion of energy levels and bodily resources, resulting in an inability to cope with the original or additional stressors.

Answer 21

o The suppression of the immune system makes the person vulnerable to psychological and physiological illnesses.
o The experience of mild illnesses (i.e., cold etc.) does not necessarily mean the person is in the exhaustion stage.

Answer 22

• Strengths:
  o Recognises a predictable pattern of physiological responses associated with distinct stages and substages, which can be measured in individuals.
  o Recognises the relationship between chronic stress and illness.
  o Provides objective, empirical information about the biological processes involved in the stress response.

Answer 23

• Limitations:
  o Based on research that was conducted on rats, reducing the generalisability of the model to the human population.
  o Only focuses on the biological aspects of stress. It ignores the importance of psychological factors, including emotion and cognition, in the stress response.
  o Prescribes a uniform model that is the same for every individual in response to all stressors. Therefore, it fails to recognise the subjective nature of the stress response, meaning that different people respond to different stressors in unique ways.

Answer 24

Lazarus and Folkman’s Transactional Model of Stress and Coping

Answer 25

• The unique stress response results from the individual’s appraisal of the stressor and their belief in their ability to cope with it.
• Stress results from an imbalance between the demands of the stressor and an individual’s available coping resources.
• Stress is seen to be transactional as the stress response is a unique output depending on the input of the stressor and appraisals.

Answer 26

Primary Appraisal – the initial process of evaluating the nature of an incoming stressor, specifically the kind of stress it might cause. This is done in two substages.

Answer 27

Substage 1 – Individual decides whether the stimuli will actually cause stress.

Answer 28

Substage 2 – Individuals decides what kind of stress the stressor will cause.

Answer 29

o Benign-positive – an initial appraisal of a stimulus as neutral or good that does not cause stress for the individual.
o Irrelevant – an initial appraisal of a stimulus as a non-issue for the individual.
o Stressful – an initial appraisal of a stimulus as a source of worry or emotional significance for the individual.

Answer 30

If the stimuli are regarded as stressful then the transaction continues and can now be called a stressor otherwise the stimulus is disregarded.

Answer 31

o Harm/loss – a further appraisal of a stressor as having caused some damage to the individual.
o Threat – a further appraisal of a stressor as potentially causing damage to the individual in the future.
o Challenge – a further appraisal of a stressor as potentially providing a positive opportunity for growth or change for the individual.

Answer 32

Secondary Appraisal - the process of evaluating the resources required and available in order to cope with a stressor.

Answer 33

• Emotion-focused coping - the use of coping strategies that target the emotional components of a stressor, dealing with it indirectly rather than confronting its source. Can still be effective despite not directly addressing the source due to the situation.

Answer 34

• Problem-focused coping - the use of coping strategies that directly target the source of the stressor, aiming to reduce it in a practical way.

Answer 35

• Strengths:
  o Allows one to track the subjective stress response of an individual.
  o Allows for consideration of cognitive processes within the stress response, which the biological models do not consider.
  o Human subjects were used as a source of data during the creation of the model.
  o Helps to explain why the same stressor may have different effects on different people.
  o Coping stage (emotion and problem-focused strategies) provides suggestions for dealing with a stressor.
• Limitations:
  o Some argue that the stages of primary and secondary appraisal can occur simultaneously, and so ordering them chronologically may not always be reflective of the true stress response.
  o Individuals are not necessarily aware of why they feel certain kinds of stress, as suggested by primary appraisal.
  o Does not include biological processes of stress, when in practice stress is a combination of both biological and psychological factors.
  o Cannot easily be tested by research, as human subjects are not necessarily consciously aware at all stages of appraisal, and therefore there is a lack of empirical evidence to support the model.

Answer 36

ubjective - something which is based on or influenced by personal feelings or preferences.
- Appraisal - an assessment or evaluation of stimuli
- Coping - the process of dealing with a stressor.

Answer 37

Gut/Gastrointestinal Tract - the long flexible tube from mouth to anus that is the passageway involved in digestion. It is responsible for processing food, absorbing nutrients, and excreting waste.

Answer 38

Gut Microbiota - all of the microorganisms that live in the gut. A diverse gut microbiota typically results in better gut health.
Gut Microbiome - all of the genes of the microorganisms that live in the gut.
Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis – When the amount of bad bacteria present is more than good bacteria leading to an imbalance which results in poor gut health.
Gut Microbiota Symbiosis – When the amount of good and bad bacteria is balanced which results in good gut health.

Answer 39

Gut-Brain Axis - the bidirectional connection between the gut and the brain through the enteric and central nervous systems.

Answer 40

• Enteric nervous system (ENS) - network of nerves in the gut and is a subdivision of the autonomic nervous system.
  The ENS communicates with the CNS. The gut can affect the brain and vice versa.

Answer 41

Vagus Nerve - the longest cranial nerve that connects the gut and the brain, enabling them to communicate.

Answer 42

Context-Specific Effectiveness - when the coping strategy or mechanism used is appropriate for the unique demands of the stressor.
- The strategies will vary between individuals and circumstances faced by those individuals.

Answer 43

Coping Flexibility - an individual’s ability to adjust or change their coping strategies depending on the unique and changing demands of a stressor.
- Helps to ensure that the individual can achieve context-specific effectiveness.
- Leads to better levels of general wellbeing.

Answer 44

Factors that influence the type of strategy used:
- Context and Needs of the Individual
- Resilience – ability to bounce back following adversity.
- Self-efficacy – the belief in our own ability and that our actions can influence outcomes.