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Psychology > P3: Stress > Flashcards

P3: Stress Flashcards

1
Q

What is General Adaption Syndrome?

A

Seyle’s explanation of the body’s response to any stressors. The response goes through three stages.

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2
Q

What are the three stages of GAS?

A
  1. Alarm Reaction
  2. Resistance
  3. Exhaustion
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3
Q

What happens at the alarm reaction stage?

A

The immediate response- shock. Body’s resources are briefly decreased before quickly recovering. Physiological systems are activated in preperation for fight or flight.

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4
Q

What happens at the resistance stage of GAS?

A

The body attempts to adapt to the stressful environmental demands by resisting the stressor. Physiological activity is greater than normal, using a lot of energy. The individual appears to be coping but the body’s resources are being used at a potentially harmful rate.

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5
Q

What happens at the exhaustion stage of GAS?

A

Adaption to the chronic stressor is now failing. The body’s resources have become drained, resistance plummets. Individual begins to re-experience the symptoms of sympathetic arousal that appeared in the alarm stage. Adrenal glands may be damaged. Stress related illnesses are now likely.

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6
Q

Strengths of GAS:

A

Research from Seyle’s rats:
Subjected rats to extreme conditions. Found the same responses occurred regardless of the stressor. Response occurred after 6 to 48 hours. Tracked responses through resistance and exhaustion.

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7
Q

Weakness of GAS:

A

May not be a general response:
Mason replicated his procedure using monkeys. Measured levels of urinary cortisol. Outcomes depended on the stressor. Challenge the validity of GAS.

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8
Q

What is the response the acute stress?

A

Sympothamedullary pathway

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9
Q

What is the response to chronic stress?

A

Hypothalamic- Pituitary- Adrenal System

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10
Q

What is the Hypothalamic- Pituitary- Adrenal System?

A

It controls how the body responds to a chronic stressor. Triggers the pituitary gland to release the hormone ACTH which stimulates the release of cortisol.

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11
Q

What is the sympothamedullary pathway?

A

Controls how the body initially responds to an acute stressor. The sympathetic nervous system triggers the fight or flight response. This includes the hormone adrenaline and noadrenaline which communicate with target organs in the body such as the heart.

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12
Q

What is cortisol?

A

Stress hormone. Some of its functions help us to cope with a stressor. Eg. it is a gluocorticoid because it affects glucose metabolism.

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13
Q

Which takes longer SAM or HPA?

A

The HPA takes longer but can persist for several hours or longer.

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14
Q

What are the sources of stress?

A

Life changes and daily hassles

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15
Q

How did Holmes and Rahe measure life changes?

A

Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS):
Measured using LCU’s for each life change on the list.
The higher the value the more adjustment needed= more stressful.

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16
Q

What is a weakness of Holmes and Rahe’s SRRS scale?

A

Retrospective results.

Participants recalled life changes over the last 12 months.

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17
Q

What did Holmes and Rahe’s SRRS scale find?

A

Suggested that people scoring under 150 LCU’s were likely to experience reasonable health in the following year.
50% of people who scored between 150 and 300 LCU’s experienced illness the next year. Almost 80% who scored over 300 experienced illness.

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18
Q

What was Rahe’s prospective study on SRRS’s?

A

Studied US Navy personnel, ppts completed a version of the scale. This covered the 6 months before tour. A total LCU score was calculated for this retrospective period. Once on board every illness had to be reported. After returning an independent researcher reviewed the medical records and calculated an illness score.

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19
Q

What were the findings of Rahe’s prospective study into life changes?

A

Significant positive correlation (+.118) between the LCU scores for the 6 months and the scores for illnesses aboard. Life changes = a reasonable indicator for later illness.

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20
Q

Why are individual differences a weakness of Life changes?

A

Life changes do not affect everyone in the same way.

Lacks validity because it doesn’t consider inidivual differences.

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21
Q

How did Laarus explain daily hassles impact stress?

A

We first engage in primary appraisal when encountering a hassle. If we deem it threatening we then move onto secondary appraisal.

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22
Q

How are hassles and uplifts measured?

A

Kanner’s Hassles and Uplifts scale.

Assesses how many hassles a person has experienced in a certain time period and their severity.

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23
Q

What was Kanner’s research into whether daily hassles are a better indicator?

A

100 ppts completed the hassles scale every month for 9 mnths.
The scale uses a checklist to measure 117 hassles in terms of frequency and severity.
Ppts used a scale to measure life changes on 2 occassions ( a month before - thinking back 2 1/2 years - and during the 10th month).
Finally ppts completed the Hopkins symptom checklist, scale to measure psychological symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Found a significant positive correlation between hassle frequency and psychological symptoms at the start and end for men and women.

24
Q

What is a strength of daily hassles as an indicator?

A

Research support- Ivancevich.

Explains differences between individuals.

25
Q

What is a weakness of daily hassles?

A

Correlation is not causation.

26
Q

What is Karasek’s model to explain workplace stress?

A

Job demands- Control model
States that stressful demands of a job, eg work overload, can lead to poor health, dissatisfaction and absenteeism.
This can be modified by the employees control over their job.
Those who lack control become ill- job control acts as a buffer.

27
Q

What was Johansson’s research into work place stress?

A

A high-risk group of 14 wood ‘finishers’, with a highly repetitive job and high responsibility vs a low risk group of 10 cleaners. The wages of those on the production line depended on the finishers.
Stress related hormones were recorded on work/ rest days.
Stress reated illnesses and levels of absenteeism also recorded.

28
Q

What did Johansson’s study find about work place stress?

A

High risk group had higher levels of stress hormones in their urine. Also had higher levels on work days than rest days. Had more stress- related illnesses and days off.
Work stressors create long term physiological arousal.

29
Q

What was Mormot’s whitehall study?

A

To investigate the relationship between stress in the workplacfe and the incidence of corony heart disease.
7,372 civil servants in London agreed to answer a questionnaire on workload, job control and amount of social support.
Checked for signs for CHD.
Reassessed 5 years later/

30
Q

What did Mormot’s whitehall study find?

A

No link between high work load and stress related illess. Those who reported low levels of job control initially more likely to have developed CHD.

31
Q

What is a stregth of workplace stress as an indicator?

A

Culturally generalisable concept- workload is perceived as stressful in other cultures:
Cong Liu et al- Found a difference in perception of work related stressors (between Chinese and American employees) but not for workload- rated the 3rd most stressful workplace stressor in both cultures.

32
Q

What is a weakness of workplace stress?

A

Not all workplace concepts are recognised across all cultures.
Does not take into account the range of workplace stressors.
Having job control may be more stressful than not having it.

33
Q

What are the ways of measuring stress?

A

Social Readjustment Rating Scale- Holmes and Rahe
Hassles and Uplifts Scale- Kanner
Skin Conductance Response
Blood Pressure

34
Q

What are the different ways of managing and coping with stress?

A

Drug therapy- Benzodiazepines and beta blockers
Stress Inoculation Therapy
Biofeedback

35
Q

What is Stress Inoculation Therapy (SIT)?

A

Method of stress management which helps individuals by conceptualising the problem and identifying coping methods.

36
Q

What are the three stages of SIT?

A
  1. Conceptualisation
  2. Skills acquisition and rehearsal
  3. Real life application and follow through
37
Q

What are the strengths of SIT?

A

Effectiveness:
Saunders completed a meta-analysis of SIT patients.
Concluded that it is effective in reducing anxiety in performance situations.
Just as effective for those experiencing extreme anxiety than those with normal levels.
Suggests SIT works for a wide range of people.

38
Q

Weaknesses of SIT?

A

Demanding therapy- commitments of time and effort.

Overcomplicated- lots of different techniques.

39
Q

What is biofeedback?

A

A technique which trains people to improve their health by controlling bodily responses. Client is connected to a machine which converts physiological activity into a visual or auditory signal. As physiological activity is monitored the signal is amplified and fed back immediately.

40
Q

What is the training process of biofeedback?

A
  1. Awareness- Educational
  2. Learn control- How to apply stress management + Operant conditioning
  3. Transfer to real life
41
Q

What are the strengths of biofeedback?

A

Effective- Davis used EMG biofeedback for women receiving treatment for breast cancer.
Levels of urinary cortisol and self-reported anxiety were significantly lower in the patients who had taken part. In the control group the cortisol increased.
Convenient- Easy to use due to developments in technology.

42
Q

What are the weaknesses of biofeedback?

A

Very demanding- doesn’t suit everyone.

43
Q

What drugs can be used to controln stress?

A

Benzodiazepines and Beta Blockers

44
Q

How do BZ’s work?

A

Lessen the anxiety associated with stress by reducing physiological arousal in the CNS.
They enhance the mechanism by which the body naturally combats anxiety.
Enhance activity of GABA (the neurotransmitter that inhibits activity of neurons in the brain). GABA combines with receptors in the post-synaptic neuron.
Makes it less likely that the postsynaptic neuron will fire- slows neural activity.
BZ’s enhance this by lowering CNS activity further.

45
Q

How do Beta Blockers work?

A

They slow the heart and reduce the strength of heart contractions to reduce blood pressure.
They block receptors in the heart that are stimulated by noradrenaline, which in turn decreases SNS activity.
Hormones (adrenaline and noradrenaline produced from the fight or flight response) combine with beta-adrenargic receptors located through the cardiovascular system.

46
Q

What studies prove the effectivness of BZ’s?

A

Randomised controlled trials.
1/2 take a placebo- double blind study- radomised allocation.
Review of studies by Baldwin concluded that BZ’s were significantly better than placebos in reducing acute anxiety.

47
Q

What study proves the effectiveness of BB’s?

A

Kelly concluded in his review that BB’s reduced everyday anxieties aassociated with exams and even the civil disturbances of living in 70’s Northern Ireland.
Can be useful for people with social anxiety.
Can be even more effective when used alongside BZ’s.

48
Q

What are the limitations of drug therapy?

A

They do nothing to remove the cause of stress.
They have side effects.
BZ’s: Drowsiness, weight gain, respiration problems.
BB’s: Reduce heart rate and blood pressure too much.

49
Q

How do men and women cope with stress differently?

A

Men: Problem focussed- reduce stress by tackling the root cause directly and rationally
Women: Emotion focussed- reduce stress indirectly by tackling anxiety

50
Q

What is the tend and befriend response?

A

An alternative to fight or flight- more suitable for women.
Driven by oxytocin.
Proven by Anna Luckow- women were more likely to react this way.

51
Q

What are the limitations of gender differences in coping with stress?

A

No clear distinction between coping methods.

Many studies involve retrospective recall.

52
Q

What are the types of social support?

A
  1. Instrumental Support- Physical type of support, doing something for another
  2. Emotional Support- Aims to lift someones mood, empathising
  3. Esteem Support- Increasing someone’s confidence
53
Q

What was Cohen’s study into social support?

A

Social support can be expressed through physical touch eg. hugs.
Measured the amount of hugs per day for 404 healthy ppts by calling every evening for 2 weeks.
Ppts completed a questionnaire to assess perceived social support.
Stress measured in terms of social conflicts.
Exposed ppts to a common cold and measured signs of illness.

54
Q

What did Cohen find?

A

Ppts who experienced the most interpersonal conflicts were likely to become ill.
Those who said they had received more social support had reduced risk of illness.

55
Q

What are the limitations of social support in coping with stress?

A

Social support benefits men and women differently.
Luckow- Women used emotional social support more than men.
Men used instrumental social support more.

Can have negative effects.

Psychology (12 decks)

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