PSYC314 - Chapter 5

What is Mindfulness?

- "insight" regarding the essence of one's experiences, unencumbered by cognitive or emotional distortions - Reduces stress in healthy people and patients with chronic medical conditions - Involves non-judgemental attention to experiences in the present

What is Emotion-Focused Coping?

- Aimed at controlling the emotional response to the stressful situation - Can regulate emotions through behavioural & cognitive approaches

How do people differ in suggestibility to hypnosis?

- Appears to change with age - Particularly strong in children 7-14, and declines in adolescence to a level that remains stable throughout adulthood - People who are reasonably suggestive can often induce a hypnotic state in themselves → Self-hypnosis

How does coping change across the lifespan?

- As children grow they increasingly rely on cognitive strategies for coping and then emotion-focused strategies - Middle-aged individuals in a study used more problem-focused coping, where elderly people used more emotion-focused coping - May result in different issues people cope with at different life stages - Regardless of stressor, elderly people appraised their problems as less changeable than middle-aged individuals

What is hypnosis?

- Considered to be an altered state of consciousness that is induced by special techniques of suggestion - Leads to varying degrees of responsiveness to directions for change sin perception, memory and behaviour

What is Stress-Inoculation Training?

- Designed to teach people skills for alleviating stress - Useful for those who anticipate a stressful event (ex. Surgery) - Involves three phases

How can massage be used to reduce stress?

- Different forms vary in degree of pressure applied - Can reduce anxiety & depression - Increases oxytocin - Decreases blood pressure, stress hormone levels, reduces hypertension, some pain & asthma symptoms, and may bolster immune function - Deep Tissue Massage - Uses enough pressure to penetrate deeply into muscles and joints

What is Proactive Coping?

- Efforts taken that prevent or minimize stress - Typically use problem-focused methods - striving/setting goals, actively seeking social support

How can hypnosis be used to reduce stress?

- Hypnosis helpful in stress management but not necessarily more effective than other relaxation techniques - Studies show can improve immune function

What are the benefits of exercising relative to stress & health?

- Increased intellectual functioning, personal control, decreased anxiety, depression hostility and tension - Enhances recovery from stress

What Gender & Socio-Cultural Differences are there in Coping Methods?

- Men more likely to report using problem-focused strategies - Women more likely to report emotion-focused strategies - When genders are in similar occupations and have same education - few if any gender differences are found - Suggests societal sex roles affect coping patterns - Social experiences of disadvantages people may lead them to believe they have little control over events in their lives - Discrimination can impair one's ability to cope

What is Transcendental Medication?

- Method in the practice of yoga created to improve physical & mental health and reduce stress - Individuals instructed to practise it twice a day, sit upright but comfortable relaxes with eyes closed and mentally repeating a word or sound (mantra) to prevent distracting thoughts from occurring- Reduces stress - Helps develop a clear and mindful awareness

How can stress management be used to modify the negative influence of Type A behaviour?

- Multidimensional program that included progressive muscle relaxation, cognitive restructuring and stress-inoculation training - Hostility component of Type A behaviour decreased markedly in multidimensional program but not in exercise groups - Other research shows that stress-inoculation and relaxation can help people control their anger - Subjects learn about the role of arousal and cognitive processes in feelings of anger - Decreases diastolic and mild hypertension - Results revealed Type A/cardiac group showed much larger decreases in Type A behaviour: - Pharmacological approaches can also reduce hostility and Type A behaviour but not be best treatment for those with high levels of anger or Type A behaviour - May be appropriate for those at coronary risk who don't respond to behavioural and cognitive interventions

How can a person improve their personal control?

- Need to bolster their self-efficacy & reduce their passiveness & helplessness - Parents, teachers and caregivers can show a child their love and respect, provide a stimulating environment, encourage and praise child's accomplishments, and set reasonable standards of conduct and performance

How can modelling be used to reduce stress?

- Observation & Social learning - Person relaxes while watching a model calmly perform a series of activities arranged as a stimulus hierarchy - Can be presented symbolically or in vivo - Effective

What is Progressive Muscle Relaxation?

- Patients focus their attention on specific muscle groups while alternately tightening and relaxing these muscles - Works best in a quiet, non-distracting setting with the person lying down or sitting on comfortable furniture - Highly effective

What types of people are more likely to use problem-focused coping?

- People with higher incomes & educational levels report greater use of problem-focused coping - Individuals used less problem-focused coping when stress involved death in the family - Couples used more problem-focused coping (women used more emotion-focused than men)

What is Hypothesis Testing?

- Person treats an erroneous beliefs as a hypothesis and test it by looking for evidence for and against it in everyday life - Effective in treating depression and promising for anxieties

What are the benefits of Proactive Coping?

- Predicted higher life satisfaction and improved physical functioning over time - Lead to more positive emotions & reduce depressive symptoms

What is a Diuretic? What are other forms of treating hypertension?

- Prescription drug used to help treat hypertension - Given in conjunction with advice to control body weight, exercise regularly, reduce cholesterol, sodium, caffeine and alcohol intake - Hypertensive patients "try to relax" - Stress management methods more effective when combined with multidimensional programs- If intervention uses a single technique, meditation seems to be more effective than other methods

What outcomes have been associated with the the promising coping methods?

- Psychological & health benefits for each of these coping methods - High levels of emotional expression associated with improved self-perceive health, vigour, fewer medical visits for cancer-related problems, decreased distress - High levels of emotional processing linked with increased distress: may be linked with rumination

What is systematic desensitization useful for?

- Reducing fear & anxiety - Reverses fear learning (counterconditioning) - Starts with relaxation exercises then hierarchy - Uses a stimulus hierarchy Confrontations can either be a) In Vivo b) Non-Real (Imaginal vs. symbolic)

Why do some believe children may be better candidates for biofeedback than adults?

- Seem to acquire biofeedback control faster and show better overall improvement than adults - Motivated to change bodily responses - see it as a game - Less skeptical about their ability to succeed - However those below age 8 have shorter attention spans

What is Empathetic Responding?

- Taking the other person's perspective - Largely effective strategy for couples coping with everyday stress

What is coping?

- The process by which people try to manage the perceived discrepancy between the demands and resources they appraise in a stressful situation - Is a dynamic series of appraisals and reappraisals that adjust to shifts in person-environment relationships

What are the benefits associated with mindfulness?

- Those who score highly on mindfulness measures experience less stress & better emotional adjustment - Monks can dramatically alter their metabolism and electrical activity - Medication practiced regularly can decrease blood pressure and increase immune function

When do people tend to use emotion-focused coping?

- When they believe they can do little change to the stressful conditions - Also used when individuals believe their resources aren't adequate to meet stressor demands Ex. Death of a loved one

What is Problem Solving Training?

- Where clients learn a strategy for identifying, discovering, or inventing effective or adaptive ways to address everyday problems - Learn to watch for problems that can arise, define a problem clearly and concretely, generate solutions and decide on the best one - Reduces anxiety & other negative emotions

What are the main two functions of coping?

1. Can alter the problem causing the stress 2. Can regulate the emotional response to the problem

What are promising coping methods?

1. Engaging positive emotions - Used to balance feelings of distress 2. Finding benefits & meaning - Use beliefs, values & goals to give experience a positive significance - Associated with less depression & greater well-being - Not related to anxiety 3. Engaging in Emotional Approach - Actively processing & expressing feelings 4. Accommodating to a Stressor - Adapt/adjust to presence of the stressor and continue with life

What issues are there concerning people's patterns in using different coping methods?

1. People tend to be consistent in way they cope with a particular type of stress 2. People seldom use just one method to cope with a stressor 3. Methods people use in coping with short-term stressors may be different from those they use under long-term stress 4. Although the methods people use to cope with stress develop from the transactions they have in their lives, genetic influence is suggested to influence coping styles

Time management consists of what three elements?

1. Setting goals that are attainable 2. Making daily to-do lists to prioritize goals 3. Setting a schedule for the day in order to allocate estimated time periods to each item in the list

What is Problem-Focused Coping?

Aimed at reducing the demands of a stressful situation or expanding the resources to deal with it

What is cognitive therapy?

Attempts to help clients see they are not responsible for all the problems the encounter, the negative events they experience are usually not catastrophes, and maladaptive beliefs are not logically valid

What is Relationship-Focused Coping?

Involves emotion or problem-focused coping intended to manage or maintain social relationships during stress (trying to bolster each other's emotional needs)

What are the three phases of stress-inoculation training?

Involves three phases where person: i) Learns about nature of stress and how people react to it ii) Acquires behavioural & cognitive skills iii) Practises coping skills with imagines/real stressors

What is Dyadic Coping?

Partners work together, recognizing their interdependence in dealing with a shared stressor

What are the benefits of Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Patients show: a) Less cardiovascular reactivity to stressors & b) Strong immune function

What is cognitive restructuring?

Process by which stress-provoking thoughts ore beliefs are replaced with more constructive or realistic ones that reduce the person's appraisal of threat or harm

What is stress management?

Refers to a program of behavioural and cognitive techniques that is designed to reduce psychological and physical reactions to stress

When is problem-focused coping often used?

Used when they believe their resources of the demands of the situation are changeable

What is the Demand-Withdrawl Pattern?

When one partner engages and the other disengages in the confrontation at the same time

What are the Maladaptive beliefs defined by Ellis?

a) "Can't-stand-itis" (Ex. I can't stand not doing well on this test) b) "Musterbating" (Ex. People must like me, or I'm worthless)

What are the Maladaptive Beliefs defined by beck?

a) Arbitrary Inference - Drawing a specific confusion from insufficient, ambiguous or contrary evidence b) Magnification - Greatly exaggerating the meaning or impact of an event

What types of medication are used to help cope with stress?

a) Benzodiazepines - Decreases neural transmission in the CNS Ex. Valium, Xanax b) Beta-Blockers - Reduce anxiety & blood pressure - Block the activity stimulated by epinephrine & norepinephrine - Cause less drowsiness than benzodiazepines Ex. Inderal

What are the different uses of cognitive therapy?

a) Hypothesis Testing b) Problem-Sovling Training c) Stress-Inoculation Training

What are the two main components of mindfulness?

a) Person focus on immediate experience b) Provides a way to experience events with an orientation of curiosity, openness, acceptance (regardless of their desirability)

How can a person prepare for stressful events in order to reduce the harmful effects on themselves - specially pre-operative stress?

a) Personal Control b) Behavioural Control - patient's learn how to reduce comfort c) Cognitive Control - patients learn ways to focus their thoughts on beneficial aspects of the surgery d) Informational Control - Patients receive info about the procedures/sensations they will experience

What variables are related to social network size?

a) Social prestige b) Income c) Education