Biopsychosocial Factors Impacting Stress and Illness

CHAPTER 4: Biopsychosocial Factors Interfering with Stress-Illness Relationship

Key Terminology
  • Moderator: A variable that changes the strength or direction of the relationship between two other variables.
  • Mediator: A variable that explains how and why two variables are related.
Social Support
  • Definition: Perceived comfort, care, esteem, or help received from others.
  • Types/Functions:
    • Emotional or Esteem Support: Empathy, caring, and encouragement which foster a sense of belonging and love during stress.
    • Tangible or Instrumental Support: Direct assistance such as monetary help or tasks aid.
    • Informational Support: Providing advice, feedback, or direction regarding situations.
    • Companionship: Availability of others to engage in social activities, providing a sense of belonging.
Social Support Contexts
  • Type and necessity of support varies by situation (e.g., emotional support for cancer patients versus tangible support for chronic illness).
  • Students report receiving more emotional/esteem and informational support in stressful situations.
  • Emotional support has protective effects against stress-related emotional consequences.
Who Receives Social Support?
  • Factors Influencing Support Received:
    • Receiver Qualities:
    • Sociability and willingness to ask for help.
    • Provider Qualities:
    • Resources and emotional state of providers affect their ability to offer support.
    • Social Network Characteristics:
    • Size and closeness of social networks influence support availability.
Gender and Sociocultural Differences
  • Women often receive less support from spouses and tend to rely on female friends for social support due to relational dynamics.
Social Support, Stress, and Health
  • Greater social support correlates with less stress and better health outcomes (lower psychological strain and blood pressure).
  • Berkman & Syme's research indicates that individuals with less support have higher mortality rates.
How Social Support Affects Health
  • Buffering Hypothesis: Helps individuals cope during high-stress situations, reducing perceived stress.
  • Direct Effects Hypothesis: Support benefits health regardless of stress levels by enhancing belongingness and promoting healthy behaviors.
Not Always Helpful
  • Perception matters; what is received may not match needs.
  • Instrumental Support: Useful for controllable stress; Emotional Support: Crucial during uncontrollable stress.
  • Negative impacts of social ties can occur (e.g., exposure to illness, harmful behaviors).
Sense of Personal Control
  • Definition: Belief in one’s ability to make effective decisions and actions leading to positive outcomes.
Types of Control
  1. Behavioral Control: Actions taken to reduce stress.
  2. Cognitive Control: Using mental strategies to cope with stress.
  3. Decisional Control: Making choices regarding actions.
  4. Informational Control: Acquiring knowledge about stress-inducing events.
Beliefs About Control
  • Locus of Control:
    • Internal: Events are controlled by oneself.
    • External: Control lies outside oneself.
  • Self-Efficacy: Confidence in one's abilities impacts stress levels and coping capacity.
Learned Helplessness
  • Developed under prolonged stress where actions seem ineffective, leading to feelings of helplessness.
  • Seligman’s theory suggests that perceived lack of control can precipitate depression.
Personal Control and Health
  • Influence of personal control on health includes:
    • Maintenance of health and illness adjustment.
    • Pessimism leads to poorer health outcomes and engagement in unhealthy behaviors.
Personality - Hardiness
  • Defined by:
    • Control: Belief in influence over events.
    • Commitment: Sense of purpose.
    • Challenge: Viewing growth and changes positively.
  • Hardiness is associated with fewer illnesses and better stress management.
Sense of Coherence, Mastery, Optimism, and Resilience
  • Sense of Coherence: Viewing the world as comprehendible and manageable.
  • Mastery: Belief in effectively handling life's challenges.
  • Optimism: Expectation of positive outcomes contributes to health benefits.
  • Resilience: Combination of self-esteem, personal control, and optimism fostering positive appraisals.
Type A Behavior Pattern
  • Characterized by competitiveness, time urgency, and hostility.
  • Associated with higher susceptibility to stress-related illnesses, particularly cardiovascular diseases.
Stress and Cardiovascular Health
  • Cardiovascular Reactivity: Changes in heart physiology due to stress are linked to various heart diseases, including CHD and hypertension.
  • Chronic stress increases risk factors related to cardiovascular disease, exacerbating health conditions.
Stress and Cancer
  • Weak correlations found between moderate stress and cancer development.
  • Higher stress levels often relate to lower immune response post-diagnosis, suggesting stress's indirect role through health behaviors.
Summary of Concepts
  • Understanding the interplay between social support, personal control, and stress is crucial for predicting health outcomes. High levels of social support can relieve stress, while personal control can enhance coping mechanisms against illness.