Stress Coping Health Biopsychosocial Model n n Physical

Stress, Coping, & Health

Biopsychosocial Model n n Physical illness caused by interactions between biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors Biology operates in a psychosocial context

Health Psychology n Focuses on how psychosocial factors relate to promotion and maintenance of health, and the causation, prevention and treatment of illness

Stress n n n Any circumstances that threaten (real or perceived) one’s well-being, and subsequently tax one’s coping abilities Subjective in nature (e. g. , public speaking, flying, being supervised) Seriousness of impending surgery unrelated to subjective stress

Types of Stress 1 2 3 4 Frustration Conflict Change Pressure

Frustration • • Occurs in any situation where pursuit of a goal is thwarted Can’t get what you want traffic jams to unrequited love Unrealistic expectations and frustration

Conflict n n n Faced with two or more incompatible options, motivations or impulses Freud Kurt Lewin (1935) – approach-approach – avoidance-avoidance – approach-avoidance

Conflict n n Approach-approach choice between 2 attractive goals win-win situation least stressful

Conflict n n n Avoidance-avoidance choice between 2 undesirable goals lose-lose quit miserable job vs. unemployment highly stressful

Conflict n n Approach-avoidance Choice to pursue a single goal that has both attractive and undesirable qualities Promotion = pay raise + increased responsibility produces vacillation - back and forth behavior, indecision

Change n n n Any noticeable alterations in life circumstances that require readjustment not obviously negative events changes in relationships, work, finances, etc can be stressful, even when welcomed

Change n http: //www. cygni. org/scales/social_readj ustment_rating_scale. htm n People with higher SRRS more vulnerable to variety of physical ailments than lower scorers

Pressure n n Expectations or demands that one behave a certain way Pressure to succeed at work, to publish, to be cordial, etc Pressures to conform to expectations of self or others More strongly related to measures of mental health than SRRS and others

Responses to Stress n n n Emotional (annoyance, anger) Physiological (racing pulse) Behavioral (yelling, aggression, avoidance)

Emotional Responses n n n More likely unpleasant than pleasant Associated with negative mood Dependent on cognitive appraisal Event --> self-blame --> guilt, sadness Common reactions include: annoyance, anger, ragte, apprehension, anxiety, fear, dejection, sadness, grief, shame, envy, disgust, jealousy

Emotional Responses n n Emotional response is motivating (reinforcing, punishing) Extreme emotional arousal can interfere with coping and performance Yerkes-Dodson Law (inverted U hypothesis) optimal arousal dependent on task complexity

Physiological Response n n Fight or flight: physiological reaction to threat autonomic nervous system mobilized for attack or escape evolutionary value current adaptive value?

General Adaptation Syndrome n n Hans Selye noticed that animal physiological responses to stress were similar regardless of stressor stress reactions are non-specific coined the term stress

General Adaptation Syndrome n 1 2 3 Model of body’s stress response Alarm Resistance Exhaustion • If stress can’t be overcome, body’s limited coping resources become depleted • diseases of adaption

Behavioral Responses n n n Coping: Active efforts to master, reduce, or tolerate demands created by stress may be positive or negative Individuals exhibit styles of coping that are consistent across situations

Aggression n n Frustration-aggression hypothesis not inevitable context specific displacement catharsis

Self Indulgence n n Excessive consummatory behavior shopping, smoking, drinking, eating, internet

Defensive Coping n n Defense mechanisms: unconscious reactions that protect individual from adverse emotions (eg, anxiety, guilt) shield from stress-eliciting events self-deception, distortion of reality Commonly unhealthy - avoidant

Adaptive/Constructive Coping n 1 • • • Relatively healthful efforts that people make to deal with stressors Confronting problems directly task relevant action oriented rational consideration of options

Adaptive/Constructive Coping 2 3 Based on realistic appraisal of stress & coping resources Recognizing and inhibiting potentially disruptive emotional reactions

Impact of Stress on Psychology n n “Choke” effect Burnout - physical, mental, emotional exhaustion attributable to longer-term exposure to stressful situations – fatigue, weakness, low energy – negative attitudes towards self, others, work – hopeless, helpless

Impact of Stress on Psychology n n Burnout - need to believe our lives/work are meaningful, and our activities are useful, important, etc “erosion of the spirit”

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder n n Exposure to traumatic event that represented actual or threatened harm, and response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror Hyperarousal Intrusive imagery Avoidant behavior

Impact of Stress n n n Insomnia & sleep disturbance (e. g. , nightmares) poor academic performance sexual problems substance abuse depression & dysthymia

Stress & Physical Health n n n Psychosomatic disorders: physical ailment with genuine organic basis that are caused in part by psychological factors (emotional distress) not imagined ailments hypertension, ulcers, migraines, rashes, asthma

Type A Behavior 1 2 3 • • Highly competitive impatient angry & hostile Type B: easy going, relaxed, amicable Type A associated with coronary artery, hypertension, premature mortality

Type A n n n Double the risk vs. Type B May depend on other individual factors attributable to greater physiological reactivity ups and downs tax cardiovascular system create more stress for selves less social support & positive coping

Proximal effects of stress n n Stress as catalyst for heart attacks Stress management training improves outcome with cardiac patients Depression and heart disease - cause or effect? Depression - unhealthy behavior

Psychoneuroimmunology n n Arthritis, yeast infections, herpes, dental disease, inflammatory bowel disease Stress depletes and/or suppresses immune activity - vulnerability to infection Student research - reduced immune activity surrounding final exams same for recently divorced men

Stress Moderators n n n Social Support students reporting greater social support had higher levels of antibody re: combat respiratory infections strength of relationship rivals cigarettecancer relationship

Stress Moderators n n n Optimism - expectance of positive outcome related to lower incidence of illness and more effective immune functioning cope in more adaptive ways pessimists more likely to cope passively pessimism and self-blame

Stress & Health Impairing Behavior n n Poor nutrition Sedentary lifestyle Substance abuse Smoking