Health Psychology Stress & Stressors (Part IV)

Measuring Stress

  • Self-Report Inventories

    • Life events inventories

    • Daily hassles scales

    • Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA):

    • Self-reports made closer in time to the events being investigated

    • Signal-contingent recording (ambulatory diary record): captures stressors as they occur

  • Physiological Measures

    • Changes in physiological measures as a response to:

    • Stress-induced activation

    • Emotion-induced activation of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system

    • Hormonal association: levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine during or immediately after stress

    • Limitations of physiological measures in assessing stress:

    • Potential variability in physiological responses.

  • Cardiovascular Reactivity (CVR)

    • Individual’s characteristic reaction to stress

    • Measured changes in:

    • Heart rate

    • Blood pressure

    • Hormonal levels

    • Vascular responses: peripheral resistance

    • Reactivity Hypothesis:

      • Individuals showing large changes in blood pressure and vascular resistance to stress have an increased risk of developing heart disease.

      • Identifies individuals termed as hyperreactors.

  • Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA)

    • Variability in heart rate in synchrony with breathing (vagal tone)

    • High RSA is linked to better emotional well-being

    • Low RSA is correlated with poor health outcomes including:

    • Cardiovascular disease

    • Obesity

    • Diabetes

How Does Stress Make You Sick?

  • Ader and Cohen (1985): Demonstrated that the immune system could be conditioned

    • Natural stimulus paired with an unconditioned stimulus leads to nausea reaction.

    • Another unconditioned stimulus resulting in death.

  • Pert's Findings:

    • Identified brain receptors for immune molecules.

    • Indicates how the brain can influence immune system activity.

  • Solomon's Contribution:

    • Published a landmark article on psychoneuroimmunology (PNI):

    • Explores links among emotions, immunity, and disease.

    • Emphasizes the interaction of:

      • Psychological (psycho)

      • Neuroendocrine (neuro)

      • Immunological processes in the context of stress and illness.

  • Research Themes in Psychoneuroimmunology:

    • Short-term stressors can:

    • Trigger up-regulation of immune response.

    • Long-term, chronic stressors can:

    • Have damaging effects by suppressing immunity.

Pathways from Stress to Disease

  • Direct Effect Hypothesis:

    • States that immunosuppression is part of the body's natural response to stress.

    • Involves the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) system.

    • Involves T cells and B cells (types of lymphocytes).

    • Highlights the cortisol awakening response.

    • Stress and Blood Clotting:

    • Activation of SAM and HPA influences blood clotting processes.

    • Overcommitment, overload, and job-related stress linked to hypercoagulable states.

  • Indirect Effect Hypothesis:

    • Suggests that immunosuppression occurs as an aftereffect of the stress response.

    • States that stress may lead to maladaptive behaviors that disrupt immune functioning.

  • Duration of Stress:

    • The ability to recover after a stressful experience is critical in determining the total burden on an individual.

    • Allostatic Load:

    • Refers to the cumulative long-term effects of the body's physiological responses to stress.

    • Classifies stressors as:

    • Acute stressors

    • Chronic stressors