Chapter 3: Stress -- Its Meaning, Impact & Sources

Sources of Stress: Within the Person

1. Illness - Stress levels affected by age & illness severity 2. Appraisal of opposing motivational forces - Brings a state of conflict 1) Approach/Approach 2) Avoidance/Avoidance 3) Approach/Avoidance - More stressful when more than 2 choices - Social desirability/Fear of rejection: increased stress

Sources of Stress: Addition to the Family

1. Newborn can cause stress to the whole family 2. Stress in moms while pregnant can affect baby's development

Acute Stress

Results from specific events (e.g., speech, almost getting hit by car)

Emotional Features of Stress Response: Depression

Sad, blue, unhappy (not clinical) = High comorbidity with anxiety

Approach/Approach

Salad or Cheeseburger? (pros to each choice) A conflict between 2 desired gratifications (e.g., choose between 2 attractive & practicable careers, may lead to some vacillation, but rarely to great distress.)

Stress Types: Good or Bad?

Selye did not take this in account 1. Distress 2. Eustress

Measuring Stress: Physiological Tests Pros

1. Direct 2. Observable 3. Quantifiable

Sources of Stress

1. Within the person 2. Family 3. Community/Society 4. Environment 5. The Interaction of Person & Situation

Sex/Gender Differences in Response

1. Women 2. Men - Differences linked to hormones: Oxytocin, for ex., promotes caregiving & underpins attachment.

Emotional Features of Stress Response: Fear & Anxiety

- *Stress* is caused by an existing *stress*-causing factor or stressor. - *Anxiety* is *stress* that continues after that stressor is gone. - Feelings of uneasiness & apprehension - Strain & tension

Measuring Stress: Physiological Tests

- Heart & respiratory rate; - Blood pressure; - Galvanic skin response; - Muscle contraction, - Cortisol levels...

Stress Response

- Pay attention to how your body responds to stressful situations. - When we are stressed, our bodies respond in specific ways. - Physical, cognitive (thinking), emotional (feeling), behavioral (acting) responses to stress.

Measuring Stress

- Stress is an abstract construct - Can't measure directly 1. Ways of measuring stress (indirectly) 2. Physiological measures & self-reported measures - Abstract - Unobservable: Stress - Concrete - Observable: Heart rate, breathing

Cognitive Features of Stress Response: Attention & Memory

- Stress occupies attention & other cognitive resources - Impaired encoding & retrieval of info (learning)

Measuring Stress: Self-Report

- Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) quantifies general level of stress in a person's life - Does not distinguish between positive & negative events - Frequent & minor stressors seem to be more associated with stress than rare & major ones

Cognitive Features of Stress Response: Memory For Stressful Events

- Stress can enhance our attention toward the stressor. - Experiment: participants see pictures of a boy going to hospital.. Some hear an emotional story (terrible accident); others hear neutral (going to watch activities) - Before the story, participants received an injection (placebo or drug that inhibits adrenalin). Results: 1. One week later, participants with the placebo (more aroused) remembered more of the story than participants who received the drug (less aroused) 2. No difference for recall of neutral story 3. Adrenalin enhances the memory of stressors we experience

Vicarious Stress (Study)

- The threat does not need to relate to us directly to elicit stress - Film of young boys from a primitive culture "in which the underside of the penis is cut deeply from the tip to the scrotum" - Participants viewed the film in one of 4 ways (no narrator, narrator emphasizes pain, narrator denies pain, narrator describes in detached scientific tone) - Stress: trauma narration > no narration > denial, scientific narration - Results show that people can experience stress vicariously, & that reactions depend on the process of primary appraisal.

General Adaptation Syndrome: Stages

1. Alarm 2. Resistance 3. Exhaustion

Allostatic Load: Factors Affecting Physiological Stress

1. Amount of stressors 2. Magnitude of reactivity 3. Rate of recovery 4. Resource restoration

Sources of Stress: Family

1. An addition (newborn) 2. Marital Strain & Divorce 3. Family Illness, Disability & Death

Ways of Defining Stress

1. Any *situations* that *threaten* or are *perceived to* threaten one's well-being (*stressors*) & that thereby tax one's coping abilities (*strain*). 2. Psychological & physical *response* of the body (*strain*) that occurs whenever we must adapt to changing conditions (*stressors*), whether those conditions be real or perceived.

Cognitive Features of Stress Response

1. Attention & Memory 2. Perception of Events 3. Performance --Yerkes-Dodson Law

Sources of Stress: Marital Strain & Divorce

1. Can lead to increase in BP + stress hormones, & sleep difficulties 2. If chronic, associated with risk of health problems 3. Arguments can also impact children

Sources of Stress: Family Illness, Disability & Death

1. Caregiver Stress - Caretaker's role exemplified by relentless responsibility, vigilance & hassles - Stress level depends of age of sick person & severity of illness - Can reduce telomerre length (accelerate aging process & increase cancer risk) 2. Death - Losing a parent/child/spouse - When a child has a serious illness: less family freedom, money concern... - When an adult is sick: emotional difficulties for children

Behavioral Features of Stress Response

1. Changes in Health-Related Behaviors 2. Coping

Measuring Stress: Paper & Pencil Tests Pros

1. Direct 2. Easy to access 3. Inexpensive

Emotional Features of Stress Response

1. Fear & Anxiety 2. Depression 3. Anger

Physiological Features of Stress: Theories

1. Fight or Flight (Cannon) 2. General Adaptation Syndrome (Selye)

Sex/Gender Differences in Response: Men

1. Greater reactivity when stressed 2. Find different things stressful (competence challenged) 3. Longer to return to baseline - They do not make use of social network as much for stressful situations

Fight or Flight Theory: Physical Responses to Acute Stress

1. Increase in stress hormones being released into the blood stream (such as cortisol or adrenaline/epinephrine) 2. Increase in heart rate 3. Increase in blood pressure 4. Tense muscles 5. Headache 6. Rapid breathing (hyperventilation) 7. Shallow breathing, shortness of breath 8. Throat tightening up 9. Increased perspiration 10. Dilated pupils 11. Dry mouth (decreased saliva) 12. Feelings of nausea; "butterflies in stomach" 13. Increased metabolic rate *Additional physical responses may include: 14. Stomach producing acid 15. Liver manufacturing blood sugar for quick energy 16. Blood flow shifting to muscles, away from digestive system

Sources of Stress: Community/Society

1. Job & Primary Role Stress 2. Environment

Sources of Stress: Job & Primary Role

1. Job demands 2. Effort-reward imbalance 3. Responsibility for other people's lives 4. Amount of autonomy 5. Job loss & insecurity - Associated with CVD - Spill over effect

Cognitive Features of Stress Response: Yerkes-Dodson Law

1. Low arousal = weak performance 2. High arousal = weak performance (impaired due to strong anxiety) 3. Optimal (medium) arousal = optimal (strong) performance - As arousal increases, attention & interest increases

Sources of Stress: Environment

1. Natural disasters/war zone 2. Sociocultural bias - Ethnicity - Sexual orientation - Religious beliefs 3. Low SES

Sources of Stress: Environment & Low SES

1. Often associated with poor nutrition & smoking 2. Poor physical health - Chronic poverty & health: Children 18% more likely to be obese

Measuring Stress: Methods

1. Physiological Tests: Polygraph 2. Paper & Pencil Tests: Self-Report

Measuring Stress: Physiological Tests Cons

1. Physiological measures are not exclusive to stress 2. Can be expensive 3. Invasive - Polygraph? 4. False positive due to overall stress 5. Possible to deceive a polygraph test (E.g. Take benzodiazepine prior to test)

Fight or Flight: Sympathetic Stress Response

1. Pupils expand 2. Fast & shallow breaths 3. Heart pumps faster 4. Gut inactive

Fight or Flight: Parasympathetic Calm Response

1. Pupils shrink 2. Slow, deep breaths 3. Heart slows 4. Gut active

Allostatic Load: Types

1. Repeated frequency of stress responses to multiple novel stressors; 2. Failure to habituate to repeated stressors of the same kind; 3. Prolonged response, even when there is no more stressor 4. Inadequate response to stressor

Sex/Gender Differences in Response: Women

1. Report greater number of major & minor stresses 2. Dual roles for those in the workforce 3. Tend & befriend - Seek social support in stressful situations = protection of offspring (tending) & seeking out the social group for mutual defense

Behavioral Features of Stress Response: Changes in Health-Related Behaviors

1. Sleep 2. Diet 3. Drugs 4. Social behavior (can help each other, or increased hostile/insensitive) 5. Increased risk taking 6. Decreased health care (don't notice sx)

Sources of Stress: The Interaction of Person & Situation

1. Stressfulness of SES might be combination of available resources & the ways individuals use them (i.e., Being poor AND living beyond one's means) 2. Stress also depends on particulars of person & situation - Hostile interactions + hostile personality = high levels of stress

Measuring Stress: Paper & Pencil Tests Cons

1. Subject to social desirability 2. Subjective

Top Major Causes of Stress (Around the World)

1. The amount of money they have to live on (29%) 2. Pressure they put on themselves (27%) 3. Not getting enough sleep (23%) *4.* Not having time for the things I want to do (22%) 5. The amount of work they have to get done in the day (19%)

Top Major Causes of Stress (Canada)

1. The amount of money they have to live on (37%) 2. Pressure they put on themselves (30%) 3. Not getting enough sleep (22%) *4.* Their health (21%) 5. The amount of work they have to get done in the day (19%)

General Adaptation Syndrome: The Alarm Stage

= 1st stage of the stress response - When an individual's homeostasis is disrupted - The hormonal & nervous system (F/F response) are activated - HPA axis also activated (to lesser extent)

General Adaptation Syndrome: The Resistance Stage

= 2nd stage of the stress response - When the body attempts to reestablish its internal balance or equilibrium / homeostasis. - Occurs with continued exposure to the stressor that elicited the response. - HPA axis fully activated (predominates) - More cortisol release - Body tries to adapt to stressor (Think of threat where you don't feel much stressed, but afterwards feel sick)

Fight or Flight...or Freeze

= 3rd possible physiological reaction - Blanking out (having your mind go completely blank) - Clamming up (not knowing what to say or being able to speak) - Physical shutdown or fainting

General Adaptation Syndrome: The Exhaustion Stage

= 3rd stage of the stress response - When the physical & psychological resources used to deal with the stress have been depleted. - Can weaken immune system over time - If prolonged, can causes illnesses & even death

Behavioral Features of Stress Response: Coping

= Any attempt to deal with the stressor or stress response = May be adaptive or maladaptive

Distress

= Negative - Anxiety, boredom, uncertainty - Negative health consequences (E.g., Failing a test in a class)

Allostatic Load

= Opposite of allostasis (aka homeostatis) = Caused by chronic stress = "Wear & tear" of the body --Hypertension (which can lead to heart disease) --Weaken immune system (more at risk of contracting viruses) - Inadequate release of glucocorticoids - more release of cytokines, which can cause inflammation (even depression!)

Emotional Features of Stress Response: Anger

= Particularly when the situation is harmful or frustrating

Eustress

= Positive - Motivates, focuses energy - Short-term - Feels exciting - Improves performance - Positive health consequences (E.g., Planning & preparing to go home for a holiday)

General Adaptation Syndrome (Hans Selye)

= The physiological processes & results of stress. - Observed that people suffering from a wide variety of somatic (physical) disorders all seemed to have same or similar symptoms: --decreased appetite, decreased muscular strength & endurance, & lowered levels of ambition or drive. - Symptoms occurred whenever: *the human organism needed to adapt to a changing internal or external environment.* - Initially named observations as: Syndrome of Just Being Sick

Stress

= a natural & manageable part of life. - 75% of people report experiencing stress of moderate or high intensity at some point or another in past month. - We react physically, mentally, and/or emotionally to various conditions, changes & demands of life. = rooted in the "fight or flight" response. - Constant demands of academic or personal life can lead to stress overload.

Rumination

Can turn acute stressors into chronic ones

Avoidance/Avoidance

E.g., Choosing between radiation & surgery as a cancer treatment (don't want either choice) A conflict between 2 dangers or threats is usually more disturbing.

Cognitive Appraisal (Lazarus & Folkman)

Potential Stressor --> Primary Appraisal -->No threat perceived (neutral or + appraisal)-->No stress! -->Perceived threat (- appraisal) --->Harm/loss - --->Threat - --->Challenge + --->Secondary Appraisal-->Resources/abilities; Can I cope? -->Stress Response --> + & - stress Harm/loss : Past (injury) Threat: Future - Primary appraisal: Magnitude & nature of the threat - Secondary appraisal: Resources available to deal with threat

Chronic Stress

Results from repeated exposures (more frequent and/or longer duration)

Fight or Flight Response

The "immediate response" to a stressor - Your body gets ready to fight or flee a danger (gets ready for action). - Arouses the body for action in the event of a threat - Increased heart rate, blood pressure, blood to heart & voluntary muscles, dilates airways

Textbook Definition of Stress

The condition in which person-environment *transactions* lead to a perceived *discrepancy* between the physical & psychological *demands* of a situation & the *resources* of the individual's biological, psychological, or social systems.

Approach/Avoidance

When there's 1 goal or event that has both positive & negative effects or characteristics that make the goal appealing & unappealing simultaneously. (E.g., marriage = a momentous decision with both positive & negative aspects.)

Quiz Q4) Which statement regarding stress and cognition is NOT true?

a) Cognitions can affect the experience of stress. *b) Thinking about the stressful incident constantly reduces the stress.* c) Stress can affect cognitions. d) Chronic stress can result from cognitive processes.

Quiz Q2) Which of the following statements about the general adaptation syndrome is correct?

a) It includes the role of psychosocial factors. *b) It assumes that all stressors produce the same physiological reactions.* c) It largely ignores biological responses to stress. d) It assumes that children do not go through the same stages as adults.

Quiz Q1) Selye called the series of physiological reactions the body makes under long‑lasting stress (the) _____ syndrome.

a) fight‑or‑flight b) secondary appraisal *c) general adaptation* d) alarm

Quiz Q3) Research on the influence of intelligence on the stress experienced by children taking achievement tests showed:

a) it has no effect. *b) more intelligent children were more stressed than less intelligent children.* c) less intelligent children were more stressed than more intelligent children. d) males were more stressed than females regardless of intelligence.