Stress and Coping

stress

• response to events that are thought to be challenging

• cannot get rid of stress

• it can be a good and bad thing

life change

• brings changes that require considerable adaptation

• what causes us stress are major life events that require us to adjust in some way

• can be positive or negative

• contains the social readjustment rating scale

social readjustment rating scale (SRRS; Holmes and Rahe, 1967)

• stress is caused by life changes that we have to adjustment to

• includes both positive and negative events

• life change → illness

  • worse health tends to be later

• ex:

  • pregnancy

  • death of spouse

  • gain of new family memebr

daily hassles

• minor annoying events which require some degree of adjustment

• events that happen in life even little things can acculmaulate and cause stress over a long period of time

• this → poorer health

• ex:

  • drop oatmeal when late → have to clean it up → next day drop powdered sugar during ant season

perceived stress

• subjective interpretations of events or life circumstances as stressful

  • negatively correlated with health

• stress is how we think of something

• more this → worse health outcomes

• good this:

  • can cope and feel like you have control

• bad this

  • cant cope with it

  • feel like you have no control

fight-or-flight (walter cannon)

• when animals perceive threatening situations, respond with physiological reaction to prepare for fighting or running

  • stress response

    • increase in heart beat

    • blood flow increases

    • digestion and immune system slow

    • muscle tense

    • epineprine and cortisol are released

• bodies way of responding to threats

• idea that we need a mechanism for survival

• can be on basically all the time

  • worry about other things that are psychological stressor → bad for health

• you show up to class and you had an exam you didnt know about → your this comes on

• if you have this on all the time

  • cortisol:

    • high blood sugar

    • no immune system work slow → bad

general adaptation syndrome (Hans Selye)

• body responds to threatening stimuli by arousal of system of defenses

• when we have a prolonged stressor, got through three stages

  • alarm: body mobilizes to respond (pretty similar to flight or fight)

  • resistance: body adapts to stressor, but becomes weakened

  • exhaustion: physical resources are depleted in the process of trying to overcome or adjust to threat

    • body weak for being in prolonged psychological arousal (lower immune system and repoductive abilities)

      • vulnerability to illness

tend-and-befriend

• females’ responses to stress may be different than males’ (Taylor et al., 2000)

• tending - caring for offspring

• befriending - affliating in response to stress

  • females are more inclined to affiliate with people

    • reduces stress response

  • beneficial

    • want to connect with people

indirect effect model

• stress leads to unhealthy behaviors in attempt to cope with stress

• can increase poor health

• eat pint of ice cream everyday, lead to health consequences (can increase the chance)

• eating more

• stop exercising

• sleep less or more

• more drug

• more smoking

• more alcohol

direct effect model

• stress leads to physiological reactions that lead to disease

• physiological changes

• heart disease

• body changes

• do all the time for long time, more vulnerable to disease

Type A behavior pattern

• competitive, hostile, tense

• hurried

• work orientated

• hostility is bad part of this

• link between this behavior pattern and heart disease

  • more likely to have heart disease

type b behavior pattern

• relaxed, less competitive

• less achievement orientated

coping with stress

• efforts to remove or diminish threat

• problem-focused coping

• emotion-focused coping

• can do both

• some circumstances you just cant change

peoblem-focused coping

• actions taken to change a stressful situation or reduce its effects

  • tried to minimize stress

• friend lost job yesterday → starts applying for jobs today

• addresses stressor

emotion-focused coping

• attempts to reduce distress

• the feeling

  • crying

  • distracting

• not addressing stressor

control

• greater this → lower stress response, better health

• __ elemtns

• predict ability

• Rodin and Langer, 1976 plant study → studied perceived control

• Rodin and Langer, 1976 plant study

• nursing home → send differenct messenges on plant

  • 1: do nothing with the plant, we will pick movie for you on movie night (no choice = no control)

  • 2: you take care of the plant, you can pick the movie on movie night (choice given = control)

• twice as many people died in first group with no perceived control

perceived control

• beliefs about the ability to affect one’s outcomes

  • this → better health

• sense of what we do

optimism

• tendency to believe that one will generally experience good vs bad outcomes

  • expecting good outcomes

• generally associated with positive health outcomes

• more this → develop less colds

• heart surgery and have this → easier to recover

unrealistic optimism

• we are so ___ no need to do anything because we will be fine

• really food driver → dont need to wear seatbelt

defensive pessimism

• when we expect we will have bad outcomes so we do things that prevent it (guard against bad outcomes)

• could get in a car crash → wear seat belt

social resources

• social connections → better outcomes

  • presence of people in life, live longer

  • super important

• mechanisms include

  • cognitive appraisal

  • health behaviors

  • psychoneuroimmunological pathways

cognitive appraisal

• people in our lives can think about things in a less stressful way

• ex

  • handled difficult things in life before (think about it in a different way)

  • good way to think about this

  • i think of a way to do it in a more effective way

health behaviors

• can have improved health behaviors because they have friends and family

  • important to have social support

• i wont go to the gym myself but i ask my friend to meet me there, more accountable

• can improve

psychoneuroimmunological pathways

• experience something stressful and have friends, find the situation less stressful

• in a sitation that would normally elevate our blood pressure, if we have someone there with us, our blood pressure doesn’t go up as much

• least likely to die if you social connections

expressive writing

• expressing emotional experiences

  • lower stress, health benefits

• when we write feelings about it, tend to after, have bettern immune, less stress

• study done with people taking standard test (MCAT, ect.(

  • did expressive writing beforehand

    • did better

    • depression levels a little lower

physical activity

• reduces physical effects of stress

• considered to be the best

  • erase pshycologcal effects of stress

    • reduces anxiety, depression

• Hoffman et al. study of stress

  • the more minutes you spend working out in a week, the lower your depression

• good at treating depression and anxiety just as good as medication

mindfulness

• focus on and awarness of current thoughts

  • being in present with no judgment

  • accept and acknlowedge the present

• associated with positive health outcomes

  • better immune functioning

  • lower blood pressure

  • lower stress levels

• less pain

• changes the brain

  • lower pain centers

• really hard to do though

religiosity

• religious attendance, finding strength and comfort from one’s religious beliefs (dont have to go to service, even doing at home)

  • better health, lower risk of death

    • as long as it doesn't interfere with health (e.g. no blood transfusion)

• particularly when attending service

  • lower rates of cancer, death

gratitude and kindness

• expressing or noting gratitude → lower stress

• doing acts of kindness → lower stress

  • volunteering

  • holding the door open for people

  • picking up pen that someone has dropped

• better health outcomes

  • lower stress

• can even just think about it before bed (dont necessarily have to journal)

  • best to pick three different things everyday