What is stress in terms of organism reactions to events?
Any physical, psychological, cognitive, or behavioural reaction to a demanding event.
What does appraisal mean in evaluating a situation?
A personal judgment interpreting a situation as threatening, challenging, or meaningful.
What type of stress results from unpleasant events?
Distress.
What type of stress comes from positive events requiring adjustment?
Eustress.
Who distinguished distress and eustress in 1936?
Hans Selye.
What defines catastrophes in terms of stress impact?
They are large-scale, unpredictable stressors causing tremendous stress and threat.
Who created the Social Readjustment Rating Scale and when?
Holmes and Rahe in 1967.
How was the Social Readjustment Rating Scale developed?
From 400 participants estimating stress by adding life change units for major events in the past year.
What does the Social Readjustment Rating Scale estimate?
Stress from major life events during the previous twelve months.
What does a Social Readjustment Rating Scale score of 300+ indicate?
A high risk of physical illness, mental illness, or an accident soon.
What are daily hassles?
Small everyday annoyances like frustrations and minor disagreements.
What do major life events predict compared to daily hassles?
Long-term health effects.
What do daily hassles better predict than major life events?
Short-term problems like headaches and colds.
What are the three stages of Hans Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome?
Alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
Who described the General Adaptation Syndrome?
Hans Selye.
What activates during the alarm stage of stress response?
The sympathetic system activates.
What do adrenal hormones do during the alarm stage?
They raise heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar.
What happens to the body's resources during the resistance stage?
Resources are gradually depleted.
How does the body respond to stress during the resistance stage?
Stress hormones help resist the stressor while early alarm symptoms ease.
When does the exhaustion stage begin in General Adaptation Syndrome?
When the body's resources are fully used.
What health risks increase during the exhaustion stage?
High blood pressure, ulcers, weakened immunity, and extreme illness.
What does psychoneuroimmunology study?
How psychological factors affect the immune system.
How does short-lived stress affect immune responses?
It temporarily activates immune responses.
How does chronic ongoing stress affect the immune system?
It weakens the immune system.
What effect does psychological stress have on cortisol's control of inflammation?
It makes cortisol less effective at controlling inflammation.
What health risks increase due to increased inflammation from stress?
Arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer risks increase.
What is coronary heart disease?
A condition where waxy plaque builds up inside heart arteries.
What happens to insulin effectiveness in type 2 diabetes as body size increases?
Insulin becomes less effective.
How does stress affect insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes?
Stress worsens insulin resistance through increased cytokines.
What defines cancer as a disease group?
Cells divide uncontrollably, form tumours, damage organs, and can cause death.
What is pressure in psychological terms?
The feeling of urgent outside demand to behave a certain way.
What psychological experience does frustration describe?
The experience when a desired goal is blocked or a need is unmet.
What causes external frustration?
Losses, rejections, failures, or delays outside the person.
What causes internal frustration?
A personal characteristic preventing goal attainment.
What defines psychological conflict in a person?
Being caught between two or more goals, desires, or actions that cannot all be satisfied at once.
What characterizes approach–approach conflict?
Two appealing goals that are usually easy to resolve.
What characterizes avoidance–avoidance conflict?
Two unpleasant options that create high stress.
What is approach–avoidance conflict?
One goal with both attractive and unattractive qualities.
What is multiple approach–avoidance conflict?
Several goals each having positive and negative qualities.
What does Richard Lazarus's cognitive-mediation theory state about stress appraisal?
A person's appraisal of a stressor determines its stressfulness and resulting emotions.
What does primary appraisal evaluate in stress?
Whether a stressor is a threat, challenge, or loss or harm.
What does secondary appraisal evaluate regarding a stressor?
Whether available resources can manage the stressor.
What does problem-focused coping aim to do with a stressor?
It directly eliminates or changes the stressor.
How does emotion-focused coping affect a person's reaction to stress?
It changes how a person feels or reacts emotionally to the stressor.
When is emotion-focused coping especially used?
When the situation cannot be controlled.
What is meditation in terms of mental exercises?
A series of mental exercises that refocus attention and produce deep relaxation.
What does progressive muscle relaxation involve?
Deliberately tensing and then releasing each muscle group.
Where does progressive muscle relaxation usually start?
With the feet moving upward.
What types of help does social support include?
Physical help, emotional comfort, financial assistance, advice, love, affection, or companionship.
What health outcomes are linked to strong social support?
Lower mortality, better symptom and pain management, improved cognition, healthier ageing, and longer life.
In what ways does stress commonly appear?
Physically, behaviourally, emotionally, and mentally.
Name three behavioural or emotional signs of stress.
Pacing, overeating, anxiety.
What mental difficulties can stress cause?
Poor concentration, memory problems, and difficulty making decisions.
What percentage of nearby residents developed severe stress disorder after 9/11?
Nearly 8%.
What percentage showed depression symptoms two months after 9/11?
Almost 10%.
How does Lazarus and Folkman's hassle scale rate hassles?
From 0 for no hassle to 3 for extremely severe hassle.
Which daily hassle is biggest at ages 3–5?
Being teased.
What is the biggest daily hassle at ages 6–10?
Bad grades.
Which daily hassle is most reported at ages 11–15?
Pressure to use drugs.
What is the biggest reported daily hassle in old age?
Lack of money.
What role does DHEA play in stress tolerance?
It helps people tolerate stress.
How might DHEA regulate stress effects on the hippocampus?
By regulating how stress affects the hippocampus.
How much did severe stress increase heart problems after 9/11?
By 53% during the following three years.
What increased diabetes risk did men with prolonged high stress have in a 35-year study?
They were 45% more likely to develop diabetes.
How does persistence relate to frustration?
It continues attempts to overcome frustration.
What is aggression in relation to frustration?
An act intended to cause harm that does not automatically follow frustration.
How can cognitive reappraisal affect a racing heartbeat during stress?
It can reinterpret it as readiness for action, reducing anxiety and speeding recovery.
Which negative emotions can intensify stress?
Fear, anger, sadness, guilt, and anxiety.
Which positive emotions support coping and relationships under stress?
Hope, confidence, gratitude, and joy.
What is the effect of rumination about a possible future attack on stress symptoms?
It is associated with more severe stress symptoms.
How does humour affect killer-cell activity after watching a humorous film?
It can increase killer-cell activity, lasting up to 12 hours.
Which brain waves increase during meditation?
Theta and alpha waves.
Which brain waves are rare during meditation and linked to sleep?
Delta waves.
What does visualisation require mentally placing oneself in?
A peaceful setting.
Which senses are engaged during visualisation to enhance calm?
Sound, smell, and touch.
How does social support affect people with lupus, cancer, or HIV?
It improves mental health, physical functioning, and benefits immune functioning.
How do positive emotions influence health and social connections?
They improve health directly and help build stronger social connections.
Test your knowledge with 32 questions on Stress and Health.
1. A student develops anxiety, poor concentration, and sleep problems after receiving a demanding assignment. What is the stress in this example?
2. Two employees receive the same workplace change, but one views it as an opportunity and the other views it as a threat. What process explains their different responses?
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