Psychology of Health: Stress and Coping

Understanding Stress and Coping

• Stress arises from perceived threats or demands, impacting the body's system.
• The fight-or-flight response and the General Adaptation Syndrome are foundational theories explaining stress response.

Types of Stress

• Distress: Negative stress occurring from feeling inadequate to handle situations, leading to adverse health impacts.
• Eustress: Positive stress associated with engaging challenges, beneficial for health and related to optimal arousal.

Stress Duration and Impact

• Acute stress can evolve into chronic stress, particularly with rumination.
• Chronic stressors are characterized by frequency and duration rather than intensity.

Stressful Situations

• Common stressors include job roles, caregiving responsibilities, life events, and factors tied to socioeconomic status, gender, and race.

Job and Role-related Stress

• Job stress factors: high demands and low autonomy, effort-reward imbalance, and mismatch between job demands and employee capabilities.

Life Events and Stress Measurement

• The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) assesses life stress without differentiating between positive and negative events.
• Frequent minor stressors may cause more stress than rare major life events.

Caregiving and Its Consequences

• Caregivers experience relentless responsibilities that can negatively affect physiological markers like telomere length.

Sociological Factors Influencing Stress

• Lower socioeconomic status correlates with poor health outcomes, hindered nutrition, and increased exposure to stressors linked to gender and race.

Personal Factors in Stress Experience

• Stress proneness linked to Type A personality traits (anger, hostility), and negative affectivity associated with higher susceptibility to stress.

Stress Appraisal

• Primary Appraisal: Identifying the threat's magnitude.
• Secondary Appraisal: Assessing available resources to cope with the threat.

Coping Mechanisms

• Problem-focused coping: Tackling the problem directly.
• Emotion-focused coping: Managing emotional responses in stressful situations.
• Avoidant coping: Ignoring the issue and emotions related to it.

Coping Strategies and Gender Differences

• Women’s stress response may diverge due to oxytocin's role, encouraging caregiving rather than fight-or-flight.
• Coping tools include emotional disclosure through journaling and exercise for stress reduction.

Stress and Mental Health

• High stress significantly contributes to anxiety, depression, and PTSD, with rumination exacerbating these conditions by prolonging stress responses.

Stress and Sleep

• There is a bidirectional relationship between stress and sleep, influenced by job-related stress, digital media use, and shift work.

Stress Management Techniques

• Various interventions like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), biofeedback, relaxation techniques, mindfulness practices, and pharmacological treatments are crucial for stress management.

Online Social Support vs. In-Person Support

• Online social networks offer mixed benefits for perceived support, falling short of the positive effects seen in face-to-face interactions.

Future Research Directions

• Continued examination of the relationship between stress and health, acute responses leading to chronic diseases, and the design of effective interventions.

Coping Strategies from the Ways of Coping Scale

• Confrontative coping: Attempting to persuade the other party.
• Distancing: Acting as though an incident didn’t occur.
• Self-controlling: Practicing restraint.
• Seeking social support: Discussing issues with others.

Additional Coping Mechanisms

• Accepting responsibility: Recognizing personal involvement in a problem.
• Escape-avoidance: Engaging in escapist behavior, like excessive sleeping.
• Planful problem-solving: Creating and following a strategic plan.
• Positive reappraisal: Making personal changes in response to stressors.

Social Support Types

• Four primary types of social support: emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal support.
• Main Effects Model: Social support generally has a positive influence on well-being.
• Buffering Model: Social support can mitigate the negative effects of stress on health.

Gender Differences in Seeking Support

• Women tend to seek social support more frequently than men, highlighting a significant gender divide in coping strategies.

This quiz explores the concepts of stress and coping within the context of health psychology. It addresses the differences between distress and eustress, the impact of life events on health, and the importance of social support and coping strategies. Gain insights into the health consequences of stress and how to manage it effectively.