Applied Psychology Quiz #4

What is stress?

Disruption of our homeostatic balance (stressors are factors that disrupt homeostasis)

Be able to define stressor and the two main types

Any physical, social, or psychological event or condition that causes the body to adjust to that situation

• eustress: positive stress that presents the opportunity for personal growth and satisfaction

• distress: negative stress that results in debilitative stress and strain

Be able to describe the cognitive appraisal model. What cognitive processes take place during primary and secondary appraisals?

The experience of stress differed significantly across individuals depending on how they interpreted the event and the outcome of a specific sequence of thinking patterns called appraisals

• primary: ascertain whether the event is positive, neutral, or negative, and if negative, whether it is harmful, threatening, or challenging

• secondary: determined whether we can deal with the event and how we can cope

What are some stressors for college students?

Roommate conflict, homesickness, friend conflict, time poverty

Be able to describe the general adaptation syndrome (what happens at each phase)?

An adaptive response where our bodies move from homeostasis to crisis

• alarm phase: the “flight or fight response'“ which causes you to be ready for physical activity (decreases the effectiveness of the immune system which makes you more susceptible to illness)

• resistance phase: if stress continues, the body adapts to the stressors it is being exposed to

• exhaustion phase: stress persists for a long time and the body’s resistance may be reduced or collapse quickly

What are some factors impacting one’s stress appraisal?

Personality traits, past experiences, social support, perceived control, and the nature of the stressor itself

How does stress relate to cortisol release? Impact the immune system? Know some of the physiological changes that occur as the result to being exposed to a stressor

• immune system functioning is impaired by exposure to stress

• cortisol suppresses immune system functioning

• compromised immune system is less able to resist infection and cancer development

Distinguish between chronic and acute stressors

• acute: sudden, typically short-lived, threatening event (e.g., robbery, giving a speech)

• chronic: ongoing environmental demand (e.g., marital conflict, work stress)

Long-term versus short-term stress symptoms?

• short: dry mouth, cool skin, cold hands and feet, increased sweating, rapid breathing

• long: insomnia, change in appetite, sexual disorders, frequent colds

Coping strategies - problem versus emotion focused - be able to define and provide examples of each

• problem

  • planful problem-solving: analyzing the situation to arrive at solutions and then taking direct action to correct the problem

  • confrontive coping: taking assertive action, often involving anger or risk taking to change the situation

• emotion:

  • seeking social support

  • distancing: cognitive effort to detach

  • escape-avoidance: wishful thinking or taking action to escape or avoid it

How do men and women differ in their general approach to coping with stress?

• men: generally employ problem-focused coping strategies

• women: more often employing emotion-focused strategies

Know what the health belief model is, its components, and how the components relate to one another in explaining and predicting individual changes in health-related behaviors

Beliefs about effectiveness, ease, and consequences of doing (or not doing) a certain behavior determined what we do

• components: perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived threat, perceived pros of action, perceived cons of action, action of likelihood

• predicts: preventative dental care, breast self-examination, weight management, AIDS risk-related behaviors, participation in health risk screening programs

Know the components of the transtheoretical model of behavior change

Precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, termination/relapse

What is the focus of health psychology?

Wellness and the prevention of illness

Know the primary segments of health psychology

Stress and coping, health behaviors, and issues in health care

Be able to state the two distinctions within the world health organization’s definition of health

“A complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity”

Be able to distinguish eustress from distress and give and example of each

• eustress: positive stress that presents the opportunity for personal growth and satisfaction (usually short term/lived)

  • moving into a new home

• distress: negative stress that results in debilitative stress and strain (usually longer than eustress)

  • death of a significant person

Be able to explain how chronic diseases are linked to health psychology

Psychological/social factors to the development of chronic diseases

• psychologists develop ways to change health compromising factors (diet, smoking) for patients and other family members

What are the primary factors that contribute to one’s health status

• 40% individual behaviors

• 30% genetics

• 15% social circumstances

• 10% medical care

• 5% environmental exposures

Be able to describe the challenging role of health psychology

It examines the relationship between psychological health and physical health/illness of the patient and the people surrounding the patient

Be able to describe a few of the specific research areas within health psychology

• assessing limits of purely providing education

• public health

• improving health care

• improving medical care

Be able to distinguish between the roles of health psychologists who focus on health promotion and those that focus on clinical heath

• health promotion: intervene at the social (government policy, community) or individual level to promote health and prevent illness and disease

• clinical health: intervene at the individual level to treat illness, slow or prevent disease progression, and reduce disability