Stress and its Effects on Health

Aggression

Actions meant to harm or destroy

Coping strategies

Actions taken to master, tolerate, reduce, or minimize the effects of stressors

Type A personality

Ambitious, time conscious, hardworking, with high levels of hostility and anger

Positive effects of stress on the immune system

Beneficial effects of stress when it is not continual or chronic

Premature birth

Birth that occurs before the expected time

Immune system

Body's defense system against diseases, infections, and injuries

Inflammatory response

Body's response to stress that can have a negative impact on health

External frustrations

Conditions such as losses, rejections, failures, and delays

Approach-approach conflict

Conflict between two desirable options

Avoidance-avoidance conflict

Conflict between two undesirable options

Multiple approach-avoidance

Conflict involving multiple options with both positive and negative aspects

Approach-avoidance conflict

Conflict within a single option that has both positive and negative aspects

Persistence

Continuation of efforts to overcome frustration

Emotion-focused coping

Coping strategy that involves changing the emotional reaction to a stressor

Problem-focused coping

Coping strategy that involves direct actions to eliminate the source of stress

Hassles

Daily annoyances of everyday life

Uncontrollability

Degree of control a person has over an event or situation

Type D personality

Distressed, prone to chronic stress

Long term effects

Effects that persist over a prolonged period of time

Secondary appraisal

Estimating the resources available for coping with a stressor

Primary appraisal

Estimating the severity of a stressor and classifying it as a threat or challenge

Major life changes

Events that require adjustment and can cause stress

Pessimists

Expect negative outcomes

Optimists

Expect positive outcomes and have various benefits

Social factors

Factors that influence stress reactions, such as poverty and job stress

Alarm

First stage of GAS, activates the sympathetic nervous system

Concentrative meditation

Form of meditation that focuses the mind on a repetitive stimulus to clear disturbing thoughts and experience relaxation

Mindfulness meditation

Form of meditation that purposefully pays attention to the present moment without judgment

Internal frustrations

Frustrations that occur due to internal or personal characteristics

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)

Hormone that helps the immune system fight the effects of stress

Heart disease

Increased risk for coronary heart disease due to stress

Culture

Influence on stress reactions, such as acculturative stress

Lower than normal intelligence

Intellectual ability that is below average

Poverty

Lack of money resulting in stress and various negative consequences

Cognitive appraisal approach to stress

Lazarus's theory that how people think about a stressor determines its level of stress

Escape or withdrawal

Leaving the presence of a stressor

Allostasis

Maintaining stability through change to meet demands

College Undergraduate Stress Scale (CUSS)

Measurement of stress resulting from major life events in college students over a year

Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)

Measurement of stress resulting from major life events over a year

Meditation

Mental exercises to refocus attention and achieve a trancelike state of consciousness

Assimilation

Method of acculturation involving giving up original cultural identity and adopting the majority culture

Marginalization

Method of acculturation involving maintaining no ties with original or majority cultures

Integration

Method of acculturation involving maintaining original culture while forming positive relationships with the majority culture

Separation

Method of acculturation involving rejecting the majority culture's ways

Burnout

Negative changes in thoughts, emotions, and behavior due to prolonged stress or frustration

Social-support system

Network of individuals who offer support, comfort, or aid to a person in need

Explanatory styles

Optimists expect positive outcomes, pessimists expect negative outcomes

Sympathetic division

Part of the autonomic nervous system that reacts to stress

Parasympathetic division

Part of the autonomic nervous system that returns the body to a normal state after stress

Autonomic nervous system

Part of the nervous system responsible for automatic, involuntary activities

Type C personality

Pleasant, peace-keeper, difficulty expressing emotion, linked to cancer

Religion effect on coping

Positive impact of strong religious beliefs on coping with stressful events

Marriage as social support

Positive influence of marriage on health and immune system

Religious rites and rituals

Practices that can improve feelings of inadequacy and promote healthy living habits

Allostatic load

Prolonged exposure to elevated levels of stress mediators resulting in wear and tear on the body

Frustration-aggression hypothesis

Proposed connection between frustration and aggression

Conflict

Psychological experience of being pulled toward two or more desires or goals

Frustration

Psychological experience produced by the blocking of a desired goal

Pressure

Psychological experience produced by urgent demands or expectations

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Relationship between task performance and arousal

Type B personality

Relaxed, laid-back, less driven and competitive

Resistance

Second stage of GAS, early symptoms of alarm persist until stressor is gone or resources are depleted

Cognitive reappraisal approach

Shifting the negative effects of stress arousal to more positive effects through cognitive reappraisal

Personality

Stable ways in which people think, feel, and interact with others

Job Stress

Stress caused by workload, lack of control, poor conditions, etc.

Cancer

Stress increases malfunction of natural killer cells responsible for suppressing viruses and destroying tumor cells

Acculturative stress

Stress resulting from the need to change and adapt to a new culture

Health psychology

Study of how physical activities, psychological traits, and social relationships affect health

Psychoneuroimmunology

Study of the effects of psychological factors on the immune system

Behavioral psychology

Subfield of health psychology focused on behavior and its impact on health

Clinical health psychology

Subfield of health psychology focused on clinical practice

Displaced aggression

Taking out frustrations on a less threatening or more available target

Gender as social support

Tendency to tend and befriend in times of stress

Exhaustion

Third stage of GAS, resources have been depleted and can lead to disease or death

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Three stages of the body's physiological adaptation to stress

Hardy Personality

Thrives on stress, commitment to values, feels in control of their lives

Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes associated with excessive weight gain and increased risk of Alzheimer's disease

Poor health behaviors

Unhealthy habits or actions that negatively impact health

Catastrophe

Unpredictable, large-scale event that creates overwhelming feelings of threat

Time pressure

Urgency caused by limited time