Chapter 3- Stress--its Meaning, Impact and Sources

what did Seyle believe about GAS?

that it is nonspecific with regard to the type of stressor -the physiological reactions with GAS describes will occur regardless of the stressor type

harm-loss

the amount of damage that has already occurred as when someone is incapacitated and in paid following a serious injury

what can influence reactivity?

-genertic factors -chronic stress --> heightened reactivity

in primary appraisal how are events we find stressful further appraised?

-harm-loss -threat -challenge

three stages of general adaptation syndrome

1. alarm reaction 2. stage of resistance 3. stage of exhaustion

how do cognitive appraisal processes play a role in people's physioloigcal reaction to stressors?

-cortisol levels in children's urine on test day depended on their intellectual ability (above-average increased)

chronic stress

occurs often or lasts a long time -ie rumination or dwelling

four factors that are important in the overall amount of bodily stress

1. amount of exposure 2. magnitude of reactivity 3. rate of recovery 4. resource restoration

illness and stress

-creates physical and psychological demands on the person and the degree of stress these demands produce depend on the seriousness of the illness and the age of the individual -current difficulties and future concerns

environmental stress

-crowding -noisy environments -natural disasters -exposure to hazardous chemicals -relative wealth vs poverty of a neighbourhood -access to healthcare -rural area vs city -discrimination and mistreatment

stress as a response

-focuses on people's reactions to stressors -seen when people use the word "stress" to refer to their state of tension -the psychological and physiological response to a stressor is called strain

stress as a stimulus

-focuses on the environment -stressors: physically or psychologically challenging events

What are dimensions of stress

- frequency -intensity -duration

Demands

-"demands" of a situation refer to the amount of our resources the stressor appears to require

PTSD

-a psychiatric condition based on experiencing a sever stressor that created intense fear/horror

family illness, disability and death

-adaptation of family with child with serious chronic illness can cause PTSD, difficult decisions, expensive, relationships suffer -adult illness/disability is another source of family stress -> greater emotional difficulties in children, strain on finances, roles change -age is an important factor

sources of stress in the family

-adding a new family member -marital conflict and divorce -illness and death in the family

what does exposure to high levels of stress in childhood do?

-can alter a person's reactivity to stress later in life leading to a larger and more-slowly recovering stress responses and a greater risk of serious illness in adulthood -may reflect epigenetic effects -may increase the expression of genetic factors that heighten the body's overall level of stress

what else may affect physiological arousal?

-can be stressful in itself -affected by gender, body weight, activity prior to or during measurement and consumption of various substances

cab work stress "spill over" to the home?

-can create stress at home

how is cognition affected by stress?

-high levels of stress affect people's memories and attention -preoccupation with worries about failure can interfere with memory and attention that are required for good performance on the exam -can distract our attention -noise as a stressor -thinking making stress chronic -executive functioning helping to pause and plan during stressful circumstances

characteristics of PTSD

-highly aroused -relieving event often -being unresponsive to other people for a period lasting > 1 month

stage of resistance

-if the stressor continues -initial reactions of the sympathetic nervous system become less pronounced and important and HPA activation predominates -body tries to adapt to the stressor -physiological arousal remains higher than normal and the body replenishes the hormones the adrenal glad released -individual may show few outward signs of stress -ability to resist new stressors may become impaired -vulnerable to diseases of adaptation (ie ulcers, high BP, asthma and faulty immune function)

Sources of stress within the person

-illness -appraisal of opposing motivational forces when conflict exists -from motives or goals `

stress: marital stress and divorce?

-important consequences for health -increases in BP, stress hormones, and impairments in restorative processes -divorce as a stressful transition

Transactions

-in our transactions with the environment we assess demands, resources and discrepancies between them -may be affected by prior experience and aspects of the current situation

stress as a process

-includes stressors and strains but also examines the relationship between the person and environment -TRANSACTIONS: continuous interactions and adjustments with the person and environment each affecting and being -stress is not just a stimulus or a response but rather a process in which the person is an active agent who can influence the impact of a stressor through behavioural, cognitive and emotional strategies

effort with distress

-increase of catecholamine and cortisol -state of daily hassles in working life

how do aboriginal people comapred to the rest of Canadians encounter stress?

-much more likely to encounter it -poverty, unemployment, homocide -shorter life expectancy and higher mortality rates -severe loss of culture

how can an addition to the family cause stress?

-parental stress due to child tempermants -pre-term births -stress on mother, father and other children -pre-natal stress

how was trauma passed on to children in FN families?

-parents can transmit trauma to their children, making them more susceptivle to stress and more vulnerable to developing post-traumatic stress -loss of culture, socio-cultural disadvantages and discrimination play a role -greater risk of depression

commonly used approaches to measure stress

-physiological arousal -life events -daily hassles -exposure to stressors

biological aspects of stress

-physiological reactions -sympathetic and endocrine systems -reactivity -genetic factors

flight or flight response

-prepares the organize to attack the threat or to flee -sympathetic nervous system syimulates many organs and then the body is arounsed further by stimulation of the adrenal glands of the endocrine system -epinephrine is secreted

Stage of exhaustion

-prolonged stress weakens the immune system and depletes the body's energy reserved until resistance is very limited -this is where the stage of exhaustion begins -disease and damage to internal organs are likely and death may occur

signs of the flight or fight response

-rapid breathing -increased BP -pupils dilate -digestive and reproductive systems shut down

4 components of the definition of stress

-resources -demands -discrepancy -transactions

stress and motives/goals

-social motives: include the need to be connected to and valued by others and concerns about achievement and status -experiences of rejection, isolation, conflict with others, competition, failure and disrespect are central sources of stress -interacting with people who are perceived as higher in status, competing with others and making an active effort to influence other people also evoke physiological stress responses -goals that are frustrating or impossible to attain over time can also result in a great deal of stress

Resources

-stress taxes the person's biopsychological resources for coping with difficult events or circumstances

some stressors appear to elicit a stronger emotional response than others

-sudden vs graudal increase in temp -John Mason: stressors differed in their hormones released

appraisal of opposing motivational forces of stress

-the pushes and pulls of conflict produce opposing tendencies: approach and avoidance -conflicts can have several attractive and unattractive features -people find conflict stressful when choices involve many features, when opposing motivational forces have fairly equal strength and when the "wrong" choice can lead to very negative and permanent consequences

primary appraisal

-trying to asses the meaning of the situation for our wellbeing -is it good ("benign-positive"), irrelevant or stressful?

physiological arousal measurements

-use electric/mechanical equipment: BP, HR, RER, galvanic skin response (polygraph can do all) -biochemical analysis of blood, urine or saliva samples: test for corticosteroids (cortisol) and catecholamines (epinephrine, and norepinephrine) -recently brain imaging techniques

situational factors that may affect stress appraisal

-very strong demands that are imminent tend to be seen as stressful -life transitions -difficult timing (events happening earlier or later in life than usual/expected) -ambiguity (lack of clarity in a situation) -low desirability -low controllability (behavioural or cognitive)

Discrepancy

-when there is a poor fir or a mismatch between the demands of a situation and the resources of the person -demands may be taxing/exceeding resources or resources may be underutilized

gender and socio-cultural differences in stress

-women generally report experiencing more major and minor stressors than men do -being a member of a minority group or being poor appears to increase the stressors people experience (ie First Nations people) -income and educational factors are important factors in stress and health -men show more reactivity than women when psychologically stressed and longer to return to baseline -men and women find different stressors more stressful -men do "fight or flight" women tend to do "friend or and be friend" -Blacks show greater reactivity than whites and same with aboraginal

3 lines of evidence that suggest the GAS is not nonspecific

1. some stressors appear to elicit a stronger emotional response than others 2. the pattern of physioloigcal arousal depends on effort and distress 3. cognitive appraisal processes play a role in peoples physioloigcal reaction to stressors

what the three ways the components of stress can be examined?

1. stress as a stimulus 2. stress as a response 3. stress as a process

jobs and stress

1/4 report job as stressful

what does chronic stress leave people more susceptible to?

a common cold when exposed to infection rather than occasional stress

fear

a common emotinal reaction that includes psychological discomfort and physical arounsal when we feel threatened

effort without distress

a joyous state, characterized by active and successful coping, high job involvement and a high degree of personal control -increased catecholamine (cortisol supressed)

Cognitive Appraisal (Lazarus)

a mental process by which people assess 2 factors: 1. whether a demand threatens their physical or psychological well-being (primary appraisal) 2. the resources available for meeting the demand (secondary appraisal)

acute stress disorder

a more immediate and short-lived manifestation of PTSD symptoms (no more than a month)

approach/avoidance

a single goal or situation has attractive and unattractive features -can be stressful and difficult to resolve

anxiety

a vague feeling of uneasness or apprehension that often involves a relatively uncertain or unspecific threat

"fight" today?

an aggressive response to stress

conflict type: avoidance/avoidance

choice between 2 undesirable situations -usually try to escape the situation -difficult to resolve and stressful

conflict type: approach/approach

choice involves 2 appealing goals that are incompatable -usually resolved quickly but the more important the decision the greater stress

anger

common response to stress when the person perceives the situation as harmful or frustrating

what does allostatic load do?

creates wear and tear on the body and impairs its ability to adapt to future stressors

what may be an important way of reducing the impact of stress on the wellbeing and health of first nation communities?

cultivating a stronger cultural identity

what two factors does the pattern of physiological arounsal depend on (Frankenhauser)?

effort and distress

what has research linked job stress to?

emotional distress, physiological strain and sleep loss -CVD

emotions and stress

emotions tend to accompany stress and people often use their emotional states to evaluate their stress -cognitive appraisal processes can influence both the stress and the emotional experience

alarm reaction

flight or fight resonse -mobilizes body's resources -sympathetic nervous system -epinephrine and norepinephrine -HPA axis activated -hypothalamus -> ACTH -> adrenal gland --> cortisol

when are stressors most likely to release large amounts of all 3 stress hormones?

if the individual's response includes a strong element of emotion

distress without effort

implies feeling helpless, losing control, giving up -generally accompanied by increased cortisol secretion but catecholamines may be elevated too

"friend and befriend"

increase their efforts to maintain their close social connections and ties

personal factors that may affect stress appraisal

intellectual, motivational and personality characteristics -self-esteem, motivation, belief system, perfectionism

phobias

intense and irrational fears that are directly associated with specific events and situtations

distress

involves anxiety, uncertainty, boredom and diatisfaction

physical component of stress

involves direct material or bodily challenge

psychological component of stress

involves how indiiduals perceive circumstances in their lies

effort

involves the person's interest, striving and determination

Are demands, resources and discrepancies always real?

no, they can be real or just believed to exist -stress often results from inaccurrate perceptions of discrepencies between environmental demands and the actual resources -stress is in the eye of the beholder

3 stress hormones

norepinephrine, epinephrine, cortisol

bodily stress: rate of recovery

once the encounter with a stressor is over, physiological responses return to normal quickly for some people, but stay elevated for a longer time for others -dwelling on a stressor after it is over or worrying about it recurring in the future can delay physiological recovery

why is the flight or fight reponse not as effective today?

other kinds of stressors that we regularly encounter are very different than traditional evolutionary -much of our stress today is social in nature

what are the two components of stress?

physical and psychological

general adaptation syndrome (GAS)

physiological reactions when stress is long-lasting

Secondary appraisal

refers to our assessment of the resources we have available for coping -the condition of stress that we experience often depends on the outcome of the appraisals we make

"flight" today?

social withdrawal from others

bodily stress: magnitude of reactivity

some individuals respond to stress physiologically more than other (ie. changes in blood pressure)

social behaviour and stress

stress changes people's behaviour toward one another -may seek comfort or become hostile and insensitive -when stress and anger join, negative social behaviours often increase -child abuse as a major social problem that poses a serious threat to children's physical and emotional health

what increases the secretion of hormones by the adrenal glands?

stressors of various types (cold temperatures, noise, pain, athletic competition, taking examinations, flying in an airplane and being in crowded situations

textbook definition of stress

the circumstance in which transactions lead a person to perceive a discrepancy between the physical and or psychological demands of a situation and the resources of his or her biological, psychological or social systems

what makes a job stressful?

the demands of the task: if the workload is too high, resources, jobs that underutilize worker's abilities, the evaluation of an employees performance -jobs that involve a responsibility for people's lives -the physical environment of the job -perceived insufficient control -poor interpersonal relationships -perceived inadequate recognition or advancement -job loss and insecurity

allostatic load

the effects of the body adapting repeatedly to stressors that accumulate over time (ie. cortisol and epinephrine, blood pressure and immune function)

threat

the expectation of future harm

intergenerational trauma

the first nations people experiences high degree of traumatic stress with loss of land, genocide and forced assimilation

challenge

the opportunity to achieve growth, mastery or profit -most people are happiest when they face challenging but satisfying activities

reactivity

the physiological portion of the response to a stressor or strain

bodily stress: resource restoration

the resources used in physiological strain are replenished by various activities and sleep may be the most important of them -sleep deprivation can be a source of stress and contributes to allostatic load directly

What factors lead to stressful appraisals?

those that relate to person and those that relate to the situation

depression criteria

when it is severe and prolonged, lasting at least 2 weeks. Characteristics: -sad mood almost every dat -listless, lost off energy, pleasure, concentration and interest -poor sleeping habits, poor appetite or increased appetite -throughts of suicide, hopelessness -low self-esteem, blaming self for troubles

stress spillover

when stress is carried home by the individual and results in further stress

stress crossover

when that stress has an effect on someone else in the home such as a child or spouse

vicarious stress transaction

when the stressor does not affect us directly

bodily stress: amount of exposure

when we encounter more frequent, intense or prolonged stressors we are likely to respond with greater total amount of physiological activation