CH14 – Stress, Coping & Health

The below information is derived from the textbook “Psychology Themes & Variations”.

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Key Learning Goals

Here is a summary of the chapter “Stress, Coping, and Health” in point form:

The Nature of Stress

• Stress is defined as any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one’s well-being and that thereby tax one’s coping abilities.
• The threat can be to various aspects of value, such as physical safety, security, self-esteem, or peace of mind.
• Stress is an everyday event, not just limited to overwhelming, traumatic crises. Examples include commuting, term tests, and unexpected bills. Extraordinary events like the COVID-19 pandemic are also sources of stress.
• Minor stresses, or daily hassles, can have significant harmful effects on mental and physical health.
• People’s experience of stress is subjective and depends on how they appraise events.
• The cognitive appraisal model of stress by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) suggests a two-stage process:
  • Primary appraisal: Determining if an event is irrelevant, not threatening, or stressful.
  • Secondary appraisal: Evaluating one’s coping resources and options for dealing with the stress.
• Stress lies in the mind of the beholder, as individuals can differ significantly in their appraisals of the same event.
• The chapter identifies four major types of stress:
  • Frustration: Experienced when the pursuit of a goal is thwarted.
  • Conflict: Occurs when two or more incompatible motivations or behavioural impulses compete for expression. Three types are:
    • Approach-approach: Choice between two attractive goals.
    • Avoidance-avoidance: Choice between two unattractive goals.
    • Approach-avoidance: A single goal with both positive and negative aspects.
  • Change: Substantial alterations in one’s living circumstances that require readjustment.
    • The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) by Holmes and Rahe (1967) attempts to measure stress related to life changes.
    • It is criticised for not exclusively measuring change and for the greater impact of negative events.
  • Pressure: Expectations or demands to behave in certain ways, which can come from time constraints or the need to conform. It can be self-imposed.

Responding to Stress

• People respond to stress at three levels: emotional, physiological, and behavioural.
• Emotional Responses:
  • Common negative emotions include anger, anxiety, and sadness.
  • Positive emotions also occur during periods of stress and can be beneficial for immune response and longevity.
  • The effects of emotional arousal on performance are often described by the inverted-U hypothesis, suggesting that performance improves with arousal up to a point, after which further increases lead to deterioration.
  • The optimal level of arousal depends on task complexity.
• Physiological Responses:
  • The fight-or-flight response, described by Walter Cannon (1932), is a physiological reaction to threat involving the autonomic nervous system mobilising the body for attacking or fleeing.
  • Hans Selye (1936, 1956, 1982) developed the general adaptation syndrome (GAS), a model of the body’s stress response consisting of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
  • Prolonged stress can lead to diseases of adaptation.
  • The brain sends signals to the endocrine system via two main pathways, involving the release of catecholamines (for fight-or-flight) and corticosteroids (for energy and inflammation control).
  • Stress can also interfere with neurogenesis in the brain.
  • Women are more likely to respond with “tend-and-befriend” behaviour, involving social and nurturant responses, and experience a spike in oxytocin.
• Behavioural Responses:
  • Coping refers to efforts to master, reduce, or tolerate stress.
  • Coping responses can be adaptive or maladaptive.
  • Less ideal coping strategies include giving up (learned helplessness), blaming oneself (catastrophic thinking as described by Albert Ellis), indulging oneself (e.g., overeating, substance use, Internet addiction described by Kimberly Young), and using defence mechanisms.
  • Constructive coping refers to relatively healthful efforts to deal with stressful events.

The Effects of Stress on Psychological Functioning

• Severe or accumulated stress can affect psychological functioning.
• Burnout is characterised by physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and a lowered sense of self-efficacy, often stemming from chronic work-related stress. It can occur in various occupations and among students.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) involves enduring psychological disturbance attributed to experiencing a major traumatic event, with symptoms that can be immediate or delayed. Research highlights the potential for long-term negative psychological effects following stressful events.

The Effects of Stress on Physical Health

• Stress can impact physical health, contributing to various ailments.
• Research has explored the link between personality, hostility, and heart disease.
  • The Type A personality, identified by Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman (1974), includes competitiveness, impatience, and anger/hostility.
  • While the overall link between Type A behaviour and heart disease is modest, anger and hostility appear to be the most toxic elements.
• Emotional reactions and depression have also been implicated in heart disease.
• Stress can affect immune functioning, potentially suppressing it and promoting chronic inflammation.
• Chronic inflammation is linked to a range of diseases, including arthritis, osteoporosis, respiratory diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and some cancers.
• While a wealth of evidence shows a correlation between stress and illness, most research is correlational and does not conclusively prove causation.

Factors Moderating the Impact of Stress

• Several factors can lessen the impact of stress:
  • Social support: Aid and emotional sustenance from social networks. Cultural differences exist in preferences for explicit vs. implicit support.
  • Optimism: A general tendency to expect good outcomes.
  • Conscientiousness: A personality trait associated with good health habits and coping.
  • Hardiness: A constellation of commitment, control, and challenge.
• Stress can also have positive effects, leading to personal growth (post-traumatic growth as coined by Tedeschi and Calhoun) and resilience.

Health-Compromising Behaviour

• Health can be negatively impacted by behaviours such as:
  • Smoking: Causes widespread cellular damage and increases the risk of premature death.
  • Lack of exercise: Linked to poor health, obesity, and increased risk of various diseases, while regular exercise offers numerous benefits.
  • Alcohol and drug use: Particularly heavy consumption and binge drinking, pose significant health risks.
  • Risky sexual behaviour: Increases the risk of HIV and AIDS.

Putting It in Perspective: Themes 4 and 7

• The chapter highlights two key themes:
  • Multifactorial causation: Health is influenced by a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors.
  • Subjectivity of experience: The impact of stress is highly dependent on individual subjective perceptions and appraisals.

Summary of Key Figures and Their Contributions

• Walter Cannon: Described the fight-or-flight response.
• Hans Selye: Formulated the general adaptation syndrome (GAS).
• Richard Lazarus and Anita Delongis: Developed cognitive appraisal and highlighted everyday hassles.
• Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe: Created the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS).
• Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman: Identified Type A and Type B personality.
• Albert Ellis: Developed rational-emotive therapy and the concept of catastrophic thinking.
• Aaron Beck: Linked negative self-talk to depression.
• Kimberly Young: Coined Internet addiction.
• Shelley Taylor: Researched positive illusions and social support preferences.
• Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter: Developed a model of burnout.
• Nicholas Carleton: Conducted research on PTSD in Canadian first responders.
• Herbert Benson: Described the relaxation response.
• Kabat-Zinn: Popularised mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR).
• Tedeschi and Calhoun: Coined post-traumatic growth.

Personal Application: Improving Coping and Stress Management

• Key to managing stress is not avoiding it, but coping effectively.
• Strategies include:
  • Reappraising stressful events through rational thinking.
  • Using humour.
  • Practising relaxation techniques and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR).
  • Increasing physical fitness.
  • Improving sleep habits.
  • Spending time in nature (biophilia).
  • Following recommendations like getting enough sleep, prioritizing, managing commute stress, taking care of physical well-being, using vacation time, staying home when sick, planning ahead, setting boundaries, practicing gratitude, and building a strong support system.

Critical Thinking Application: Thinking Rationally about Health Statistics and Decisions

• Evaluating health information requires critical thinking:
  • Understanding that correlation is not assurance of causation.
  • Understanding the limitations of statistical significance.
  • Considering base rates in evaluating probabilities.
• Making informed health decisions involves:
  • Seeking information to reduce uncertainty.
  • Making risk-benefit assessments.