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Chapter 2 Stress and Coping Issues of Definition ● Stress & coping: ○ Definitions of stress and coping are highly personalized and reflect an individual’s unique life experiences - Individuals and researchers have different definitions ● Stress: the non-specific mental or somatic results of any demand upon the body ○ Refers to that quality of experience, produced through a person-environment transaction that, through either overarousal or underarousal , results in p sychological or physiological distress ● Coping: strategies that an individual employs to deal with stresses caused by the ever-changing demands of the environment ● Stress literacy : the degree to which an individual (or community understands the effects of stress) ○ The lack of consensus in defining these terms has led some researchers to ask if the concept of stress is worth retaining ● Homeostasis: the dynamic physiological response to maintain a stable internal state in spite of the demands of the environment ● Fight-or flight response: autonomic reaction when faced with a perceived threat Stress ● For most people, stress is viewed as a negative experience that is equated with distress ○ Too little stress can be as harmful as too much, that distress can result from being over- or under stimulated. ● BUT! Eustress : a positive yet stressful experience ○ State of physical and psychological well-being that is associated with increased motivation and the acceptance of challenge ● Stress may be a subjective experience, we frequently use physical terms to explain its impact ○ We speak of being on the “edge” of a breakdown, of feeling the “weight” of the world, of not being sure that we can cope with “the pressure”, or of “exploding” ● Prolonged stress can result in a decreased capacity to cope physiologically The Physiology of Stress ● The physical response to stress: ○ Is highly complex ○ Begins when an individual perceives a real or imagined threat ● Involves two major components ○ 1. Nervous system ○ 2. Endocrine system
1. Nervous System ● 1. Central nervous system (CNS)
○ Brain + spinal cord ● 2. Peripheral nervous system (PNS) ○ 1) Somatic ○ 2) Autonomic ■ Sympathetic + Parasympathetic
2. Endocrine System ● Responds to stress more slowly but can persist for weeks ○ Pituitary gland ■ Is described as the “master” gland because of its controlling effect on other glands ■ Most of the hormones secreted by the pituitary gland have an indirect impact on stress ● The most important of these is adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) ○ Adrenal cortex ■ Secretes glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids ● One of the glucocorticoids is cortisol, an important stress hormone that provides energy to the system by converting stored protein and fats into glucose ● If stress is prolonged, glucocorticoids can adversely affect the body’s ability to resist disease and recover from injury ○ Thyroid gland ■ Functions in the stress response by producing thyroxine, which increases the release of fatty-acid fuels that are metabolized in the stress process ● Elevated thyroxine levels increase blood pressure and respiration rate. Mental processes are also affected, in that individuals feel more anxious or agitated ○ Pancreas ■ Secretes insulin and glucagon in response to blood sugar levels ● Insulin decreases blood sugar by storing it, whereas glucagon stimulates increases in blood sugar, which is an energy source during times of stress The Stress Response ● The perception of stress mobilizes the body to act through two interrelated systems 1. Sympathetic Adrenomedullary system (SAM) - in which the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal medulla are most important ● It initiates the body’s rapid fight-or-flight response to stress through the release of adrenaline and noradrenaline from the adrenal medulla as mediated by the sympathetic nervous ○ Hypothalamus ■ Stress response begins in the hypothalamus, which is located in the central core of the brain. ● It initiates the stress response in both the nervous system and the endocrine system
○ Reticular formation: communication network, filters input from the sensory systems ■ Serves as a communication network that filters messages between the brain and the body ■ The reticular formation receives input from all the sensory systems and influences which sensory information is processed or blocked The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) ● The three-stage response of the body to stressors as identified by Selye: ○ 1. Alarm- fight or flight ■ First phase in which the body mobilizes its defences against a stressor. ○ 2. Resistance- mobilization of resources ■ Set of physiological responses that allow a person to deal with a stressor ■ Second phase in which the body mobilizes its resources if the source of stress moves from acute to chronic ○ 3. Exhaustion- breakdown or resistance ■ Third stage- the body experiences fatigue and immunocompromise because of the severity or duration of a stressor ■ An end- point at which the body’s ability to resist the stressor breaks down and might even result in death if a return to homeostasis is not possible. ● Exhaustion → diseases of adaptation: health problems that are the result of long-term neurological and hormonal changes caused by ongoing stress ● Criticisms of GAS ○ Concerned only with physical responses to stress and does not account for psychosocial factors that influence the human stress response ○ Narrow biological focus (animal studies) ○ Neglects psychosocial influences ● Stress-diathesis model ○ Model that examines the interaction between the environment and heredity , often referred to as nature versus nurture; this model proposes that predisposing factors in an individual may determine whether or not a physical effect is experienced in the presence of stressful events ○ Predisposing factors interact with stressors to trigger a stress response ■ Speaks to nature and nurture Cognitive Transactional Models ● Focus expands from physiology to the: ○ Individual-environment relationship ○ Individual’s appraisal of this relationship ● Cognitive appraisals determine if an event will be perceived as stressful ○ Primary appraisals ○ Secondary appraisals ○ Reappraisals
Cognitive Transactional Models - models that emphasize the relationship between a person and his or her environment and the appraisal that the individual makes of the situation ● Cognitive appraisal: assessment of whether or not an event is stressful.
1. Primary appraisal - initial evaluation of the situation ● Three kinds: ○ Irrelevant - cognitive process by which an event is appraised as having no implications for the individual’s well-being; it is irrelevant and requires no response ○ Benign-positive - involve outcomes appraised to be positive and that may increase well-being; are associated with pleasurable emotions, such as happiness, joy, or love ○ Stressful , three types: ■ Harm/loss- involve the possibility of significant physical or psychological loss, such as might be experienced through a serious illness or the loss of one’s job ■ Threat - involves the anticipation of situations of harm or loss ● When an individual has experienced harm/loss, threat is involved, as it has implications for the future ■ Challenge - involve events perceived to be stressful, but the focus is one of positive excitement and anticipa- tion of the potential for growth contained in the situation ● It is possible to experience threat and challenge in the same situation 2. Secondary appraisal - evaluation of one’s ability to cope with a situation ● Interacts with primary appraisal to determine emotional reaction to event ○ If the consequences of an event are perceived as important, individuals may experience considerable stress if they believe they cannot cope with the event; a state of helplessness may result 3. Reappraisal - continuous re-evaluation of situation based on new information ● Reappraisal simply follows an earlier appraisal of an event and results in a new appraisal ○ The direction of the outcome of the appraisal may vary ○ Defensive reappraisal- self- generated coping strategy in which an attempt is made to reinterpret past events more positively or to view current threats or losses as being less threatening. Factors in Appraisal ● Vulnerability ○ Physically - the adequacy of an individual’s resources ○ Psychologically - a threat to something that an individual values ● Person variables - variables, particularly commitments and beliefs, that interact with situation variables to affect the appraisal of a situation’s stressfulness. ○ Commitments - influence appraisal by determining the importance of a particular encounter and will affect the decisions made to achieve a desired outcome. ○ Beliefs - pre-existing notions that deter- mine the meaning given to the environment
○ Result(s) = coping outcome(s): the specific outcomes of a coping response. Coping ● Can serve two functions
1. Problem-focused coping : coping by actively addressing the stressors associated with a disease, such as cancer and its treatment ● Aim: to solve the problem ● Includes solutions that are focused inward as well as those directed at the environment ● Two types of problem-focused coping have been identified ○ Proactive coping - potential stressors are anticipated and acted on in advance to either prevent or decrease their impact ○ Combative coping - people react to an unavoidable stress in a manner designed to help better cope with the stress 2. Emotion-focused coping: coping by focusing on ways to reduce the emotional impact of a disease without trying to cure it ● Aim: to control emotions ● Could consist of using cognitive processes, such as avoidance or minimization, to decrease emotional distress, or using techniques to increase emotional intensity, as one might do in preparation for an athletic competition Coping Cont. ● Involves the use of personal resources ○ Social support, personal control ○ Increase one’s ability to cope with stress Coping: Personal Resources ● 1. Social support ○ Takes different forms ■ Emotional support implies being cared for and loved ■ Informational support comes in the form of advice and information made available to us concerning a particular event ■ Tangible support concerns the direct aid or services we receive to assist us in coping with stress ○ Perception is what matters ○ Stress buffering hypothesis - the theory that social support has an indirect effect and acts as a buffer to protect individuals from the negative effects of stress ● 2. Personal control - a factor that influences a person’s ability to cope with stress; personal control can be achieved either behaviour- ally or cognitively ○ Perceived & behavioural control reduces stress ○ Resilience, positive motivation Positive Psychology
● Approach that encourages psychologists to use fewer negative or problem-focused frameworks and to focus more on effective human functioning ● Resilience: good outcomes in spite of serious threats to adaptation ○ Positive emotions can have a powerful undoing effect on negative emotions and individuals should be encouraged to cultivate positive emotional experiences to help them cope with stress and adversity Coping: Stress Management ● Stress management techniques: techniques that have been developed specifically to help people cope with stress either directly or indirectly ○ Can assist people who are experiencing trouble coping ○ Various effective interventions exist ● Relaxation techniques - techniques to reduce anxiety to man- ageable levels so that the energy can be used to positively influence performance ○ Most widely used through history Induce hypermetabolic response ○ Inhibit hypermetabolic response ● These reciprocally inhibit one another ○ Hypometabolic: a state of the body in which the heart slows , blood pressure drops, breathing is slow and easy, and muscle tension decreases. ○ Hypermetabolic: a physiological state in which the metabolic rate is higher than normal , as occurs in the fight-or-flight response. East and West ● The West is now interested in eastern philosophies and meditations: ○ Mind and body are connected ○ Our mind can influence one’s muscles, breathing, EEG waves, attention, etc. ○ Our ability to control physiological & psychological processes (e.g., stress) Relaxation ● Many different relaxation techniques ○ 1. Progressive muscular relaxation (PMR) - a technique in which a person achieves relaxation by flexing and gradually relaxing muscle groups ■ Gradual fixation on muscle groups ○ 2. Meditation - a form of relaxation in which one attempts to focus attention fully on a single thought or image ■ Focus on the process of thought ● E.g., transcendental meditation (TM) - a technique of meditation to reduce stress introduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the late 1950s. ○ 3. Biofeedback - the recording of physiological measures through electronic instruments that provide immediate feedback concerning a subject’s physiological state in an attempt to modify physiological processes ■ Measures of physiological processes with aim to modify them Behavioural & Cognitive Therapy
○ The physiology of stress involves a highly complex response to perceived threat that involves the nervous system and the endocrine system. The nervous system is composed of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The former is made up of the brain and spinal cord, while the latter is made up of the sympathetic and para- sympathetic nervous systems. The endocrine system responds to stress more slowly but its effects may persist for much longer. ● Understand the cognitive components of stress. ○ General Adaptation Syndrome describes a three-stage response to stress made up of alarm, resistance, and exhaustion , which focuses essentially on physiological processes. Alternatively cognitive transactional models focus more on the role of cognitive appraisals in determining whether or not an event will be perceived as stressful. ● Appreciate the role of personality in stress and coping. ○ It is possible that certain personality styles predispose an individual to specific stress responses and specific illnesses. A widely researched set of personality traits, the Type A behaviour pattern , has been identified as a risk factor for coronary cardiovascular disease. ● Identify different coping styles. ○ Coping is the process by which individuals attempt to manage stress. This can be achieved through problem-focused coping or emotion-focused coping. The former involves identifying the problem and choosing a solution, whereas the latter focuses more on managing emotional responses to stress. ● Identify strategies for coping with stress. ○ Highly effective procedures are available to help us cope, both physiologically and psychologically, with stress. These include strategies such as relaxation techniques, biofeedback, meditation, and behavioural and cognitive approaches to stress management.
