stress

• Sympathomedullary Pathway


  Sympathetic Nervous System

  Alerted as soon as a stressor is perceived

  
  

  Adrenal Medulla

  Signal is sent via central nervous system to the Adrenal Medulla which releases adrenaline and noradrenaline into the blood stream

  
  

  Adrenaline and Noradrenaline

  affects target organs e.g. heart, muscles, heart rate ↑, blood pressure ↑, pupils dilate

  When the threat has passed, the parasympathetic NS dampens the stress response down and turns the body to its normal state
• Hypothalamic Pituitary-Adrenal System


  H - Hypothalamus

  - releases CRF into the bloodstream

  
  

  P - Pituitary glands

  - releases ACTH into the blood stream once CRF is detected

  
  

  A - Adrenal Cortex

  Stimulated to release cortisol
• Negative feedback of cortisol levels


  Negative feedback: receptors will pick up high levels of cortisol and respond by lowering the levels by stopping CRF from being released
• Cortisol effects on the body


  ↓ sensitivity to pain,

  ↑ heart rate,

  burst of energy

  ↓immune response
• General Adaption Syndrome


  Alarm reaction

  threat or stressor has been recognised

  Hypothalamus in the brain triggers the production of adrenaline/noradrenaline from the adrenal glands

  
  

  2) Resistance

  If stress continues, the body needs to find a way to cope.

  Resources are gradually depleting. The body appears to be coping

  
  

  3) Exhaustion

  Body systems can no longer maintain normal functioning.

  Symptoms of adrenaline reappear e.g. sweating, ↑ blood pressure/heart rate

  Adrenal glands potentially damaged, immune system can't cope, potential stress related illness

  
• AO3 of short term stress response


  It misses out the freeze stage of the fight or flight response where individuals freeze to analyse the situation and make the best decision

  
  

  Tend and Befriend

  Oxytocin - women tend and befriend rather than fight or flight due to oxytocin

  Testosterone in men dampens down the effects of oxytocin

  
  

  Used to be different stressors e.g. fighting (physical) and now mental stress (jobs) so may not be applicable anymore
• AO3 of general adaption response


  Observation with human patients

  They all shared common symptoms no matter what was wrong with them

  
  

  Rats - no matter which substance when they were injected with (stressor)

  It always led to the same response (common cold)

  
  

  Sheridan and Radmacher

  Might not be a depletion of resources as the current view is that there is increased hormone activity during exhaustion stage

  Illness may be due to this
• Role of stress in illness: Adrenaline and Cardiovascular disorders


  Stress activates SNS leading to the production of adrenaline and noradrenaline. High levels of these have the following effects

  
  

  ↑ heart rate causes the heart to work harder

  
  

  Vasoconstriction = ↑ blood pressure and tension = blocked arteries which can result in heart attack or stroke
• Role of stress in illness: Cortisol and Immunosuppression


  Ongoing stress activates HPA which leads to cortisol production, one effect of cortisol is reducing the immune system
• Role of stress in illness: Kiecolt-Glaser study


  75 medical students gave blood samples 1 month before exam and during exam period

  Immune system functioning was assessed by measuring natural killer cell activity

  Ps also completed SRRS to measure other life stressors and loneliness scale

  NK activity = ↓ in second sample

  Those who had ↑ life stressors (identified in SRRS) had ↓ NK levels
• AO3 of role of stress in illness


  Other factors may have a larger impact on heart disease e.g. genetic disposition

  
  

  Studies into heart disease are often based on self reports and ps may not remember all stressful events correctly

  
  

  Stress can lead to unhealthy behaviours e.g. smoking, drinking which can lead to health problems rather than the direct stress
• Life changes definition


  events that necessitate a major transition in some aspects of our lives. They can be either positive or negative. Both of which require change.

  
  

  E.g. marriage or divorce
• Measuring life changes

  Holmes and Rahe

  43 life events e.g. death of spouse, divorce, jail

  Individuals identify which items occurred within a set period of time (e.g. 3 months, 6 months, 1 year).

  Each event has a score - LCUs - Life changing units e.g. death of spouse is 100 LCU

  
• Rahe et al : Life Changes


  investigated the relationship between stress and illness.

  They called this SRE (schedule of recent experiences)

  2664 men in the navy asked to fill SRE in for events over the last 2 years which produced a LCU score

  Record kept of any time any of the men visited sickbay on the ship and the severity of the illness

  Significant correlation between LCU and illness of +.118

  
• AO3 of Life Changes


  Self report measures - not particularly accurate as you are relying on people's memory to recall life events

  Also a validity issue due to social desirability

  
  

  Heinkkinen and Lonngvist

  3 month period before suicide, individuals had a lot of life changes

  You can screen people and help them/support them

  
  

  People with high anxiety were more likely to report negative life events

  People who are unwell are more likely to want to find an explanation for their illness
• Daily Hassles definition


  minor events that arise in course of a normal day e.g. disagreement, traffic, late to work
• Daily Hassles: accumulation


  accumulation of daily stressors create persistent irritations and frustrations which results in more serious stress reactions
• Daily Hassles: Amplification


  Chronic stress due to major life changes may make people more vulnerable to daily hassles
• Daily hassles: Kanner et al


  100 participants aged from 45-67 completed Hassles and Uplifts Scale (HSUP) for events over previous month and did for 9 more months

  
  

  Ps completed a life events scale for 6 months preceding the beginning of the study

  
  

  Used these two to assess psychological wellbeing

  
  

  Negative correlation between frequency of hassles and psychological wellbeing

  Those with fewest hassles showed highest levels of wellbeing

  
• Bouteyre et al : Daily Hassles


  1st year psychology students completed HSUS (hassles and uplifts scale) and the Beck's depression inventory to measure depression

  
  

  Positive correlation between students suffering from depression and scores of daily hassles

  
  

  More stress = more depression symptoms
• AO3 of Daily Hassles


  Ps given situations describing if they've been through a major event or daily hassles and rate who they would help/support

  Individuals suffering from life events got more support.

  
  

  Self report measure

  Social desirability which can lead to a validity issue. Relying on people remembering the truth is hard

  
  

  Miller et al

  Found a gender difference

  Males and females who have pets see them differently

  Male saw them as daily hassles whereas females saw them as daily uplifts
• Workplace stress: Job strain model


  workplace creates stress and illness in two ways

  high work load creating greater job demands

  Low job control
• Workplace stress: Whitehall Study


  10,000 civil servants who worked in Whitehall, London since 1985

  
  

  Some had higher grade jobs e.g. professional staff who have ↑ workload and control

  Some had lower grade jobs e.g. administrative staff who had ↓ workload and control

  
  

  Ps completed a range of questionnaires assessing their job workload

  
  

  11 years later, coronary heart disease risk was assessed

  High workload wasn't associated with CHD but low workload was
• Workplace stress: Swedish Sawmill study


  28 manual labourers in Sawmill

  High risk group = 14 sawyers, edgers and graders compared to low-risk group of stickers, repair men and maintenance workers

  
  

  Researcher measured levels of adrenaline and self report of job satisfaction and illness

  High risk group = ↑ illness rates and ↑ levels of adrenaline in their urine
• How SRRS was made


  5,000 patient records and identified 43 common life events reported

  400 participants asked to score each event in terms of how much readjustment they felt would be needed

  Marriage was given the baseline value at 50. They had to compare the events to marriage e.g. would it require more or less readjustment

  
• Hassles and Uplifts scale


  Research staff asked to generate a list of hassles and uplifts related to work, health, family, friends

  List of 117 hassles and 135 uplifts

  Ps asked to rate each hassle on a 3 point scale in terms of severity

  Uplifts are rated on a 3 point scale in terms of frequency

  
• Physiological measures: Skin conductance response


  Skin = electrically active when wet (sweat)

  
  

  2 electrodes are placed on index finger and middle finger

  0.5v applied and current is measured

  
  

  Sweat = measure of someones stress

  
• Physiological measures: Blood pressure


  Effect of social support (close friends touching wrist during stressful task) can help blood pressure and heart rate

  
• Physiological measures: Cortisol levels


  Children in high stress daycare had high levels of stress

  high levels of cortisol in saliva
• AO3 of self report methods to measure stress


  social desirability can lead to a validity issue

  Relying on people to remember what happened which is hard to do as daily hassles are minor

  Could use a diary to overcome this

  
  

  SRRS is used in many different studies which shows it is popular

  If it was useless, it wouldn't be used so often

  
  

  
  

  Ignores other factors such as social factors that could moderate the effect of stress

  Flett et al

  People who got social support for life changes and not daily hassles

  Therefore, stress may be different
• AO3 of Physiological measures of stress


  It isn't just stress that can lead to sweating

  other conditions can play a part e.g. medical conditions, hot room

  
  

  
  

  Not just stress can cause these hormonal and BP effects e.g. fear, arousal, angers

  Side effects of medication can also cause these effects

  Validity issue = not measuring what you intend to measure

  
  

  May be better than self report as you aren't relying on the individual to tell the truth/remember as they can't control it

  Objective and scientific
• Individual differences in stress: Personality Type A


  Time urgent

  Hostile

  Competitive
• Individual differences in stress: Personality Type B


  relaxed

  easy going

  patient
• Individual differences in stress: Personality Type C


  Consistent and dependable

  Assertive

  Prone to illness
• Individual differences in stress: Personality : Friedman and Rosenman


  Western collaborative study where they conducted interviews on personality

  These questions were asked in a certain manner to provoke a response e.g. slow and hesitant to assess personality type

  Type A = anger/frustration

  Type B = no anger

  Type A = 2x more likely to die of a CHD and have a heart attack
• Individual differences in stress: Personality : Morris et al


  2 year longitudinal study

  75 interviews to assess personality types

  those who had breast lumps also had low experience and expressed emotion

  Highlights link between type C behaviour and cancer
• AO3 of Individual differences in stress: Personality


  Found a link between the hostility component of type A and CHD but not the other aspects

  Type A = hostility but also other aspects

  Myrket said the hostility park was the only part that could predict future CHD

  
  

  
  

  Ragland and Brand

  Follow up of WGCS and confirmed a link between factors such as age and smoking and CHD and high blood pressure.

  However, they found no link between type A and CHD

  Not due to personality, but due to other factors e.g. smoking

  
  

  
  

  Riska- Beta Bias

  The initial WGCS was only on men and type A reflects masculine behaviour
• Hardiness personality (3 C's)


  Control: feeling in control of the situation

  Commitment: showing commitment to a certain cause

  Challenge: saw challenges are things to overcome rather than problems
• Hardiness personality: Kobasa


  800 American business executives using SSRS (Social readjustment rating scale)

  150 showed high level stress

  The ones who had low stress had high illness ratings

  Individuals who had high stress/low illness had characteristics of hardy personality
• Hardiness personality: Maddi et al


  US company reduced size of their workforce

  2/3 got stress related illness

  1/3 thrived and all scored highly on characteristics of hardiness personality