Stress

• what are life changes?

  large, normally rare event that require significant adjustment (psychic energy). Can be positive or negative
• what is the SRRS?

  social readjustment rating scale: holmes and rahe were doctors who had noticed their patients were often stressed before they became ill

  created list of stressful events and asked 200 people to rate them in terms of stressfulness

  took an average score for each event (LCU) to form SRRS

  
  

  e.g. death of a spouse = 100, Christmas = 12
• what is research into life changes as a source of stress? (2)

  Rahe (1972)

  - looked at LCU score for prev year, and then health of pps for following year

  -those who had LCU under 150 = reasonable health, 50% of those with LCU score of 150-300 had illness the next year

  80% of those with an LCU score of over 300 had illnesses the next year

  
  

  Rahe (1970)

  - 2700 US Navy men given LCU score

  - given an illness score based on illnesses whilst on tour

  -found positive correlation of 0.118 found b/w LCU score and illness

  - concluded that life changes lead to illness
• What is the evaluation of life changes leading to stress?

  - supporting research including prospective studies (add predictive validity so can say more life changes you have, more likely to have stress based illness but not 100% account for indiv dif)

  
  

  - scores on SRRS subjective (pregnancy)

  
  

  -recent research shows +ve stressors are less likely to lead to illness. Turner and Wheaton (1995) found that undesirable life events caused most of the stress in pps

  
  

  - daily hassles encountered more often and so better predictor of stress

  
  

  - lot of research into this area is correlational (can't infer cause and effect)
• what are daily hassles?

  Small irritating, frustrating, demands that occur everyday
• what are daily uplifts?

  minor positive experiences that can balance the effect of the daily hassles
• what is accumulation?


  minor stressors build up over time, leading to more serious stress reactions such as depression, anxiety or illness
• what is amplification?


  daily hassles take into account the effect of these large scale stressors - stress due to maj life changes amplifies effects of daily hassles

  
  

  DUE TO: already in a state of distress, or resources depleted by coping with major stressors so unable to cope with minor stressors
• what is the Kanner et al (1981) study for daily hassles?

  - 100pps used both males and fems (45-64yrs)

  -completed hassle scale for every month for 9 months, scale to measure life changes a month before study and after 10 months, scale to measure symptoms of anxiety and depression

  
  

  - found positive correlation between number of hassles experienced and severity of anxiety and depression

  - hassles better predictor of anxiety and dep than life changes
• what is the limitations of a hassle scale?

  low temporal validity - scale used may not be applicable to hassles today
• EVALUATION for daily hassles

  might get more help with life change than hassles, Flett et al (1955) asked 320 students to read a scenario of a person experiencing hassles or life changes. Rated those experiencing life changes as getting more support. Shows life changes less of a predictor of stress as they come with the buffer of extra support

  
  

  potential errors when recalling past events. this is because people might forget what has happened. Overcome using diary method instead. Therefore, research using hassles might lack validity if it is filled incorrectly

  
  

  ms and fms view events differently. Miller et al found pets were an uplift for women, but a hassle for males. Means we cannot define hassles and uplifts objectively. Could weaken validity of scale and therefore theory

  
  

  cant infer cause and effect. Cant say that hassles caused stress, could be coincidental. However, Charles et al found hassle scores predicted depression. Limitation as we can't be sure that hassles cause stress
• what is a stressor?


  something that causes stress. physical stressor (e.g. risk of physical harm) or psychological stressor (e.g. slow computer)
• what is a stress?

  when the perceived means of a situation outweigh the perceived resources to cope with it. Means stress is subjective
• what is acute stress?


  stress that is caused by something temporary and which passes fairly quickly. Short term.

  e.g. thinking we have lost out phone and quickly finding it at the bottom of our bag
• what is chronic stress?

  stress that is long term eg. dealing with illness, going through a divorce etc
• what is the general adaptation syndrome?

  Hans Seyle (1936) argued that we have one general response to stress.

  means it doesn't matter what the stressor is, we always want to respond to all stress in the same way

  he believed this response is an attempt to 'adapt' to the stress (hence the adaptation
• what is the first GAS stage?

  Alarm reaction: threat or stressor recognised (hypothalamus triggers the production of adrenaline/noradrenaline from the adrenal gland) (f/f response experienced: inc HR, muscles tense ready for action, inc sweating)
• what is the second stage of GAS?

  resistance: body adapts to the stressor.

  Biochemical substances constantly manufactured by the body such as sugars, nts, proteins, and hormones are gradually depleted and the immune system becomes less effective.
• what is the third stage of gas?

  exhaustion: body cannot maintain normal functioning.

  previous over activity of the adrenal glands can lead them to become damaged. The immune system may not be able to cope as production of proteins necessary for functioning has been reduced.

  Symptoms of the stress response may reappear; the person experiences sweating, inc HR, stress-related illness experienced e.g. depression, ulcers, cardiovascular problems
• EVALUATION of GAS


  - Seyle exposed rats to range of stressors and found they responded in the same way to each one. Supports general part of theory.

  - But Mason exposed monkeys to 7 stressors and found varied effects. Suggests not true that we respond in same way to all stressors

  - limitation is that much research into this area was carried out on animals, Raises ethical issues but also with extrapolation - do the findings apply to humans?

  - however, Seyle's work considered very influential as it paved the way for our understanding of the link between stress and illness
• what are stress pathways?

  two pathways/ responses depending on the type of stressor

  1) acute stressors trigger the Sympathomedullary pathway (SAM)

  2) chronic stressors trigger the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal system (HPA)
• what is involved in the SAM pathway?

  STRESSOR

  hypothalamus

  sympathetic NS

  Adrenal medulla (secretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline)

  Instantaneous effects
• what is the HPA pathway?

  STRESSOR

  hypothalamus

  (CRF - corticotrophin releasing factor)

  anterior pituitary (ACTH - Adrenocorticotrophin hormone)

  adrenal cortex (cortisol)

  affects after about 20 minutes
• what is the negative feedback loop in the HPA system?

  high levels of cortisol trigger a reduction in CRF and ACTH which causes a reduction in cortisol
• what is the effects of the HPA system?

  Cortisol has the following effects on the body:

  - (bodily change) provide body with steady supply of fuel. (adaptive value) calms down the effects of adrenaline and noradrenaline, and ensure the person has enough energy to deal with the stressor

  
  

  -(BC) conserves salt and water. (av) as above

  
  

  - (BC) mobilise protein reserves. (av) as above

  
  

  - (BC) conserves glucose. (av) as above

  
  

  -(BC) supresses immune system. (av) to ensure that the resources are focused on dealing with the stressor
• EVALUATION of stress pathways

  - theory ignores role of cognition (how we appraise situations to see if threatening or not)

  - Speisman et al (1964) - students watched a gruesome medical procedure and were told it was either traumatic or joyful rite of passage. The heart rates of those in 'traumatic' group increased

  - f/f not adaptive anymore

  - theory has important implications. We understand stress response and understand how to better treat stress

  - theory might explain stress in men, more than women. Women able to take 'tend and befriend approach
• what is the issues and debates link to stress pathways

  gender bias in psychological theory and research:

  - alpha bias: exaggerating differences between men and women and ignoring similarities

  - beta bias: exaggerating similarities between men and women and ignoring differences
• what is a parsimonious theory?

  simple theory which can explain a lot e.g. the work place stress theory

  ADV: less room for error
• what is the shultz et al (2010)?

  gathered data from 16,000 employees across 15 European countries and found that employees who experienced work underload (as well an overload) also experience stress-related illness
• what is the Lazarus (1995) study?


  proposed that whether a person suffers from workplace stress is down to their perceived ability to cope with the situation in which they are placed
• what is the Warr et al (1987) study?


  Put forward the idea that workplace stress may contribute to poor mental health but there may be other factors as well such as experienced stressful life events
• what was the Marmot et al (1997) study?

  Found a link between low control and CHD, i.e, if other people make decision for you at work, you are more likely to become ill
• what is the Schaubroeck et al (2001) study?

  Found that some pps who experienced low control experienced higher immune system responses when their saliva was assessed. This suggest that having more control could do the opposite - make the immune system worse and increase vulnerability to illness.
• what is the Karasek (1979) study?

  A high demanding jobs can cause stress, but a high level of control can buffer against this

  - therefore the most stressful jobs are those with high demand and low control
• what is the Whitehall study (1997)?

  - 10,000 civil servants were given questionnaires to assess workload and control

  - assessed for CHD

  -followed up after 11 years

  
  

  Found no correlation b/w workload and illness

  - those who reported low control, were more likely to have CHS 5 years later (even with risk factors considered

  
  

  - partially supports the idea that control is a predictor of stress

  - doesn't support the link between workload and stress
• what is the Johansson et al (1978)?

  -Natural experiment in a Swedish sawmill

  - compared to finishers (low control, high demand) with cleaners (high control, low demand)

  - looked at absenteeism and levels of adrenaline/ noradrenaline

  
  

  - higher levels of stress hormones increased during the day in the finisher

  -finishers had more absences and illness

  
  

  - yes - it shows both high demand and low control causes stress related illness
• EVALUATION of workplace stress

  - model is simplistic (there are other factors that cause workplace stress)

  - work underload can also cause stress related illness e.g. Shultz

  - supporting studies have issues (e.g. sawmil study extr variables as natural exp, or other lifestyle factors not controlled)

  - research into this field could be seen to lack temporal validity as work/home lines become blurred
• what is the SRRS? (self report method)

  43 life events, where 400 people rated them. Scores averaged to create LCUs. To use the scale tick off events from a time period and add up LCUs
• what are the strengths of the SRRS?


  - easy to use

  - used by researchers
• what are the limitations of the SRRS?

  - LCUs are subjective

  - only applies to adults

  - individual differences: others may feel the LCU is too high or low for the stress event

  - ignores factors that buffer stress