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