Health Psych Chapter Notes PDF

Health psych chapter notes Chapter 2 The Nervous system The nervous system is made up of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system - The CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord - The rest of the nerves in the body, including those that connect to th...

Health psych chapter notes Chapter 2 The Nervous system The nervous system is made up of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system - The CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord - The rest of the nerves in the body, including those that connect to the brain and spinal, constitute the peripheral nervous system The peripheral nervous system is made up of the somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system - The somatic, or voluntary, nervous system connects nerve fibres to voluntary muscles and provides the brain with feedback in the form of sensory information about voluntary movements - The autonomic nervous system, or involuntary, nervous system connects the CNS with all internal organs over which people do not usually have control Regulation of the autonomic nervous system occurs via a dynamic interplay between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system - The sympathetic nervous system plays an important role in response to stress. It prepares the body to respond to potentially threatening stimuli with strong emotions, such as fear, while mustering energy resources for emergencies and strenuous activities → Mobilization and exertion of energy = catabolic system - The parasympathetic nervous system controls the activities of organs during non-stress circumstances and acts in an opposite (inhibitory) manner to the catabolic actions of the sympathetic nervous system. Anabolic because its concerned with the conservation of body energy The brain receives afferent (sensory) impulses from the peripheral nerve endings and sends efferent (motor) impulses to the extremities and internal organs to carry out necessary movement. The Brain The brain consists of 3 sections: the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain The hindbrain has 3 main parts: the medulla, the pons, and the cerebellum. - The medulla receives information about heart rate and speeds up or slows down the heart as required. Receives sensory information about BP and levels of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the body to regulate blood vessel constriction and the rate of breathing. - The pons serve as a link between the hindbrain and the midbrain. It also helps control respiration  - The midbrain is the major pathway for sensory and motor impulses moving between the forebrain and hindbrain. Its also responsible for the coordination of visual and auditory reflexes. The forebrain has 2 main sections: the diencephalon and telencephalon: The diencephalon is composed of the thalmaus and hypothalamus - The thalamus is involved in the recognition of sensory stimuli and the relay of sensory impulses to the cerebral cortex - The hypothalamus helps regulate the centres in the medulla that control cardiac functioning, BP, and respiration. Regulates water balance in the body and regulates hunger and sexual desire. Important transition centre between the thoughts (chemical signals) generated in the cerebral cortex of the brain and their impact on internal organs. Together with the pituitary gland, the hypothalamus helps regulate the endocrine system, which releases hormones, influencing functioning in target organs throughout the body. The telencephalon is composed of the 2 hemispheres of the cerebral cortex. - The cerebral cortex is the largest portion of the brain and is involved in higher-order intelligence, memory, and personality - The sensory impulses that come from the peripheral areas of the body, up the spinal cord, and through the hind and mid brain are interpreted in the cortex - Motor impulses pass down from the cortex to lower brain and parts of the body The cerebral cortex consists of 4 lobes: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital Each lobe has its own memory storage areas. Through these networks, the brain relates current sensations to past ones, giving the cortex interpretive capabilities. The structures of the limbic system play an important role in stress and emotional responses - The amygdala and hippocampus are involved in the detection of threat and emotionally charge memories - The cingulate gyrus, the septum and areas in the hypothalamus are related to emotional functioning as well The nervous system functions by means of chemicals, called neurotransmitters, that regulate nervous system functioning  - Stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system prompts the secretion of large quantities of 2 neurotransmitters, epinephrine and norepinephrine, termed the “catecholamines” - Release of catecholamines prompts bodily changes. Heart rate increases, the heart’s capillaries dilate, and blood vessels constrict, increasing BP. - Blood’s diverted into muscle tissue, respiration rate goes up, and airflow in the lungs is increased. Digestion and urination are decreased, pupils dilate, and sweat glands produce more sweat. - Repeated arousal of the sympathetic nervous system may develop several chronic disorders, such as coronary heart disease and hypertension. - The most common forms of neurological dysfunction are epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and Huntington’s disease The Endocrine system The endocrine system is made up of the ductless glands, which secrete hormones into the blood, stimulating changes in target organs - The endocrine and nervous systems depend on each other, stimulating and inhibiting each other’s activities - The nervous system is responsible for fast-acting, short-duration responses to changes in the body, - the endocrine system mainly governs slow-acting responses of long-duration The endocrine system is regulated by the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland The pituitary has 2 lobes: the anterior lob and posterior lobe - The anterior lobe secretes hormones responsible for growth - Somatropic hormone (STH) regulates bone, muscle, and other organ development - Gonadotropic hormone controls the development and secretions of the gonads (testes and ovaries) - Thyrotropic hormone (TSH) controls the development and secretion of the thyroid gland - Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) controls the growth and secretions of the adrenal glands  - The posterior lobe produces oxytocin which controls contractions during labor and lactation and vasopressin or antidiuretic hormone (ACH) which controls the water-absorbing ability of the kidneys Each adrenal gland consists of an adrenal medulla and adrenal cortex - The hormones of the adrenal medulla are epinephrine and norepinephrine - The adrenal cortex is stimulated by adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from the anterior lobe, it releases hormones called steroids - These steroids include: mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids, androgens, and estrogens - The adrenal glands are critically involved in physiological and neuroendocrine reactions to stress - Both catecholamines, secreted in conjunction with sympathetic arousal, and corticosteroids are implicated in biological responses to stress. Diabetes is a chronic endocrine disorder in which the body isn’t able to manufacture or properly use insulin - Type 1 diabetes typically arises in late childhood or early adolescence; believed to be an autoimmune disorder, the immune system falsely identifies the cells in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas as invaders and destroys these cells, compromising or eliminating their ability to produce insulin - Type 2 diabetes typically occurs after age 40, insulin may be produced but there may not be enough of it or the body may be insensitive to it. It is a disease of lifestyle - Diabetes is associated with the thickening of the arteries due to the buildup of wastes in the blood, it can cause blindness, kidney failure, and loss of sensation The Cardiovascular system The cardiovascular system is composed of the heart, blood vessels and blood and acts as the transport system of the body - Blood carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues, and carbon dioxide, excreted as expired air, from the tissues to the lungs - Blood carries nutrients from the digestive tract to the individual cells so that the cells may extract nutrients for growth and energy - Blood carries waste products from the cells to the kidneys, from which the waste is excreted in the urine  - Blood carries hormones from the endocrine glands to other organs of the body and transports heat to the surface of the skin to control body temperature - The arteries carry blood from the heart to other organs and tissues, where oxygen and nutrients are transported through the arterioles (tiny branches of the arteries) and the capillaries (smaller vessels that branch off from the arteries) to individual cells - Veins return the deoxygenated blood to the heart The heart functions as a pump and causes the blood to circulate throughout the body. - The left side of the heart (the left atrium and left ventricle) take in heavily oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumps it out to the aorta ( the major artery in the heart ) from which the blood passes into the smaller vessels (the arteries, arterioles and capillaries) to reach the cell tissues - The blood exchanges its oxygen and nutrients for the waste materials of the cells and is returned to the right side of the heart (right atrium and right ventricle) which pumps it back to the lungs via the pulmonary artery; once oxygenated the blood returns to the left side of the heart through the pulmonary veins The heart performs these functions through rhythmic phases of contraction and relaxation known as the cardiac cycle. There are 2 phases: systole and diastole - During systole, blood is pumped out of the heart and BP increases - As the muscle relaxes during diastole, BP drops and blood is taken into the heart Lifestyle in the form of diet, exercise, smoking, and stress exposure among other factors, heavily affects the development diseases of in the cardiovascular system Blood pressure is the force that blood exerts against the blood vessel walls. Its measured as a ratio as the heart contracts and pushes blood out (systolic) and when the heart relaxes in between heartbeats (diastolic) - Blood pressure is influenced by several factors: 1. Cardiac output, pressure against the arterial walls is greater as blood flow increases 2. Peripheral resistance, resistance to blood flow in arterioles 3. The structure and condition of the arterial walls. Blood An adult’s body contains approx. 5L of blood, which consists of plasma and cells - Plasma, the fluid portion of blood, occupies approx. 55% of the blood volume - Plasma contains plasma proteins, plasma electrolytes and the substances that are being transported (nutrients, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and waste) - The remaining 45% of blood volume is made up of cells - The blood cells are manufactured in bone marrow which contains 5 types of blood-forming cells: - Myeloblasts and monoblasts produce specific white blood cells - Lymphoblasts produce lymphocytes - Erythoblasts produce red blood cells - Megakaryocytes produce platelets - White blood cells heal by absorbing and removing foreign substances from the body. They contain digestive enzymes that turn bacteria into a form conducive to excretion - Lymphocytes produce antibodies– agents that destroy foreign substances through the antigen-antibody reaction which fight infection - Red blood cells contain hemoglobin which is needed to carry oxygen and carbon dioxide throughout the body - Platelets clump together to block small holes that develop in blood vessels. When an injury occurs and tissues are damaged, platelets help form thromboplastin which acts as fibrogen and turns into fibrin and produces clotting Microbes that cause infection are transmitted to people in 4 ways: - Direct transmission involves bodily contact - Indirect transmission (environmental) microbes passed to human via air particles, dust, water, soil, and food - Biological transmission occurs when a transmitting agent, such as a mosquito, picks up microbes and changes them into a form conducive to grow in the human body and passes on the disease to a human - Mechanical transmission is passage of a microbe by means of a carrier that’s not directly involved in the disease process– dirty hands, dirty water, rats, mice and flies Course of infection - First, there’s an incubation period between the time the infection is contracted and the time the symptoms appear - Second, there’s a period of nonspecific symptoms that precede the onset of disease, such as headaches, discomfort, low mood and fatigure. The discomfort is called “sickness behaviour” and is associated with immune processes such as the release of cytokines, chemical messenger proteins secreted by immune cells that coordinate the immune response. During this, the microbes are actively producing toxins - Third, the acute phase, disease and symptoms are at their height. Unless the infection proves fatal, a period of decline follows the acute phase. During this period, the organisms are expelled from the mouth and nose in saliva and respiratory secretions, as well as through the digestive tract and the genitor-urinary system in feces and urine. Localized infections remain at their original site and don’t spread throughout the body. Although theyre confined, it sends toxins to other part of the body causing other disruptions Systemic infections affect a number of areas or body systems The primary infection may lead to secondary infections. These occur because the body’s resistance is lowered from fighting the primary infection leaving it vulnerable. In many cases, secondary infections are riskier. Immune system Natural immunity is involved in defence against a variety of pathogens. The cells involved in innate immune processes provide against many pathogens. Natural immunity is also gained from exposure to disease through “acquired immunity” Artifical immunity is acquired through vaccinations and inoculations through the process of acquired immune processes Nonspecific immune mechanisms are a general set of responses to any kind of infection or disorder; specific immune mechanisms which are always acquired after birth and fight particular microorganisms and their toxins. Nonspecific innate immunity is mediated in 4 ways: - Anatomical barriers (skin), phagocytes, antimicrobial substances and inflammatory response - Phagocytosis is the process by which certain white blood cells (phagocytes) ingest microbes. Phagocytes are usually overproduced when there’s a bodily infection so that sufficient numbers can be sent to the site of infection to ingest foreign particles. - Antimicrobial substances are chemicals mobilized by the body to kill invading microorganisms. One that has received particular attention in cancer research is interferon, an antiviral protein secreted by cells exposed to a viral antigen to protect uninfected cells from invasion - The inflammatory response is a local reaction to infection. At the site of infection blood capillaries enlarge, histamine is released, the area becomes reddened and fluids accumulate. The white blood cells attach to the microbes resulting in pus. Usually, a clot then forms around the inflamed area, isolating the microbes, and keeping them from spreading - Specific immunity is acquired after birth and protects against particular microorganisms and their toxins. May be acquired by contracting a disease or through artificial means, such as vaccinations. It operates through the antigen-antibody reaction. Antibodies are proteins produced in response to stimulation by antigens (foreign substances) which then chemically combine to overcome their toxic effects There are 2 basic immunologic reactions: humoral and cell-mediated Humoral immunity is mediated by B lymphocytes, which circulate in the body fluids, such as blood, and act before cells become infected - The functions of B lymphocytes include providing protection against bacteria, neutralizing toxins produced by bacteria and preventing viral infection - B cells confer immunity by the production and secretion of antibodies - B lymphocytes release antibodies, which bind to pathogens and their products, aiding recognition by phagocytes  - Cytokines released by T cells activate the phagocytes to destroy the material they hace taken up, in turn, mononuclear phagocytes can present antigen to T cells, thereby activating them When B cells are activated they differentiate into 2 types: 1. Mature, antibody-secreting plasma cells 2. Resting, nondividing, memory B cells which differentiate into antigen-specific plasma cells only when re-exposed to the same antigen Plasma cells produce antibodies or immunoglobulins which are the basis of the antigen-specific reactions - Humoral immunity: particularly effective in defending the body against bacterial infections and viral agents that haven’t invaded cells. - Once a cell is infected, the humoral immune response can’t detect the pathogen and cell-mediated immune response becomes critical - Cell-mediated immunity: involves T lymphocytes from the thymus gland, is a slower-acting response. Rather than releasing antibodies into the blood, as humoral immunity does, cell-mediated immunity operates at the cellular level. - When stimulated by the appropriate antigen, T cells secrete chemicals that kill invading organisms and infected cells There are 3 major types of T lymphocytes: cytotoxic T cells, helper T cells, and suppressor T cells. - TC cells kill by producing toxic substances that destroy infected cells - TH cells enhance the functioning of TC cells, B cells, and macrophages by producing cytokines, they also suppress certain immune activities - TS cells help to end the immune response after the infection is under control Cell-mediated immunity is particularly effective in defending the body against fungi, viral infections that invade cells, parasites, foreign tissues and cancer. The lympathic system The lymphatic system is a drainage system of the body and is involved in immune functioning. Lymphatic tissue consists of lymphatic capillaries, vessels, and nodes. - Lymphatic capillaries drain water, proteins, microbes and other foreign materials into lymph vessels - Conducted from lymph vessels to lymph nodes which filter out microbes and foreign materials for ingestion by lymphocytes - Lymphatic vessels drain the remaining substances into the blood The spleen, tonsils, and thymus gland are important organs in the lymphatic system - The spleen aids in the production of B and T cells, removes wornout red blood cells, helps filter out bacteria and is responsible for the storage and release of blood - Tonsils are patches of lymphoid tissue in the pharynx that filter out microorganisms that enter the respiratory tract - The thymus gland is responsible for helping T cells mature; produces a hormone, thymosin, which stimulates T cells and lymph nodes to produce the plasma cells that produce antibodies The gut microbiome The gut microbiome (GM) the “second brain” is an ecosystem of microorganisms that live within one’s GI tract. The GM has important functions, including food particle fermentation, pathogen management, vitamin synthesis, intestinal barrier strengthening, toxic compound removal and immune system regulation and stimulation Autoimmunity is a condition characterized by a specific humoral or cell-mediated immune response that attacks the body’s own tissues, e.g. arthritis - The body fails to recognize its own tissue, instead interpreting it as a foreign invader and producing antibodies to fight it - Women are more likely than men to be affected - A viral or bacterial infection often preceds the onset of an autoimmune disease - Viral and bacterial pathogens have, over time, developed the ability to fool the body by mimicking basic protein sequences in the body Stress symptoms 2 interrelated systems are heavily involved in the stress response: the sympathetic-adrenomedullary (SAM) system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis - Sympathetic activation releases catecholamines - HPA activation releases CRF, ACTH, and cortisol - Sympathetic arousal stimulates the medulla of the adrenal glands which serete the catecholamines epinephrine and norepinephrine→ these result in the feeling of unease and leads to increased BP, heart rate, sweating and constriction of peripheral blood vessels  - The hypothalamus releases corticotropic-releasing factor (CRF) which stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) which stimulates the adrenal cortex to release glucocorticoids Cortisol is especially significant. It conserves stores of carbohydrates and helps reduce inflammation; helps the body return to its steady state by inhibiting release of CRF from the hypothalamus - Repeated activation of the HPA axis can compromise its functioning → allostatic load, daily cortisol patterns become altered, instead of being high in the morning and decreasing throughout the day, cortisol remains high throughout the day Chapter 6 How a potential stressor is perceived determines whether it will be experienced as stressful or not Person-environment fit: Stress is the consequence of a person’s appraisal processes: the assessment of whether personal resources are sufficient to meet the demands of the enviroment. Stress is then determined by person-environment fit. resources=no stress; no resources=stress Fight or flight: When an organism perceives a threat, the body is rapidly aroused and motivated via the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine system. The fight of flight and freeze responses are most adaptive at maximizing survival when faced with a threat Selye’s generation adaption syndrome Cannon’s work explored adrenomedullary responses to stress and catecholamine section. Selye’s work more closely explored adrenocortical responses to stress. The general adaptation syndrome consists of 3 phases: 1. Alarm: the organism becomes mobilized to mee the threat 2. Resistance: the organism makes efforts to cope with the threat through confrontation (behavioural response) and trying to achieve homeostasis (physiological response) 3. Exhaustion: occurs if the organism fails to overcome the threat and depicts its physiological resources in the process of trying Criticisms of the general adaptation syndrome: 1. Assigns a very limited role to psychological factors 2. Responses to stress aren’t uniform— not all stressors produce the same endocrinological responses→ how people respond is influenced by their personalities, perceptions, and biological constitutions 3. Selye assessed stress as an outcome and is only evident when the general adaptation syndrome has run its course. People experience many of the debilitating effects of stress while a stressful event is going on and even anticipation of its occurrence Tend-and-befriend: - Has evolutionary significance for women’s reaction to stress - Oxytocin is a stress hormone, rapidly released in response to some stressful events and its effects are especially influenced by estrogen, suggesting a role in the response of women to stress - Response to stress with social and nurturant behaviour Primary appraisal processes: - Events may be perceived as positive, neutral or negative in their consequences. - Negative or potentially negative events are further appraised for their possible harm, threat, or challenge Secondary appraisal processes: - secondary appraisal is the assessment of one’s coping abilities and resources and whether they will be sufficient to meet the harm, threat and challenge of the event - Coping abilities high = stress low - Coping abiliteis low = stress high The unease modulation model - UMM reflects the dynamic nature of stress, including how stress causes physical and psychological harm. UMM uses plain language to present tangible strategies for mental health conditions, meta-cognitive skills, etc. Individual differences in stress reality: - Reactivity is the degree of change that occurs in autonomic, neuroendocrine, and immune responses as a result of stress - Reactivity is, in part, a genetic predisposition to respond physiologically to environmental threats or challenges  - Stressful exposures, adverse chilhood experiences can alter reactivity and sympathetic dysregulation Allostatic load: - This concept refers to the fact that physiological systems within the body fluctature to meet demands from stress, a stated called “allostasis” - Overtime, allostatic load builds up, which is defined as the physiological costs of chronic exposure to fluctuating or heightened neural or neuroendocrine response that results from repeated or chronic stress - These include decreases in cell-mediated immunity, inability to shut off cortisol in response to stress, elevated epinephrine levels, volume of the hippocampus decrease with repeated stimulation of the HPA axis, memory problems and elevated BP. - The damage due to chronic or repeated stress is only made worse if people also cope with stress via a high-fat diet, smoking, etc. Negative events - More likely to produce unease and subsequenr physiological stress responses than positive events. Negative stressful events have implications for the self-concept, producing loss of self-esteem or erosion of a sense of identity and the ongoing physiological dysregulation Uncontrollable events - When people feel that they can predict, modify, or terminate an aversive event or feel they have access to someone who can influence it, they experience it as less stressful even if they actually do nothing about it Ambiguous events - When a potential stressor is ambiguous, a person has no opportunity to take action. They must instead devote energy to try to understand and the stressor Overload - People who have too many tasks in their lives report higher levels of stress than those who have fewer tasks Can people adapt to stress? Psychological adaptation:  - People and animals shows signs of both long-term strain and habituate to chronically stressful events. - Most people can adapt moderately well to mildly stressful events - It may be difficult or impossible to adapt to highly stressful events - Even when psychological adaptation may have occurred, physiological changes in response to stress may persist Physiological adaptation - Low-level stress may produce habituation in most people, but with more intense stress, damage from chronis stress can accumulate across multiple organ systems as the allostatic load model suggests - Habituation is more likely for HPA responses to stress than for sympathetic responses to stress Anticipating stress - The anticipation of a stressor can be equally or more stressful as its actual occurrence and can negatively impact cognitive functioning After-effects of stress - Performance and attentional decrements that occur after a stressful event has subsided; believed to be produced by the residual physiological, emotional, and cognitive draining in response to stressful events Studying stress in the laboratory - The acute stress paradigm finds that when people are induced to perform stressful tasks as they show both short-term psychological distress and strong indicators or sympathetic activity and neuroendocrine responses. - Shows how reactions to stress are influenced by personality, social support and the presence of chronic stress in a person’s life. Inducing disease - Psychological stress leads to greater evidence of illness and an increased production of IL-6 (mucus) in response to viral challenges than those who were less stressed Stressful life events - Events that force an individual to make changes in their life; these range from cataclysmic events, such as the death of one’s partner or  being fired from a job, to more mundance problematic events such as moving into a new home Chronic stress and strain - Results from severely traumatic or stressful events whose residual effects may remain with the individual for years → abuse, rape, disasters Long term effects of early stressful life experiences - Heightened sympathetic reactivity, exaggerated cortisol responses, physiological and neuroendocrine are affected longterm, negative immune consequences Stress in the workplace - Studies of occupational stress are important for several reasons: - 1. They help identify some of the most common stressors of everyday life - 2. They provide additional evidence for the stress illness relationship - 3. Work stress may be one of our preventable stressors and studies provide intervention - work -related stress is estimated to have an enormous cost to the canadian economy through sick pay, absenteeism, lost productivity, and health care costs Physical hazards - Physical, chemical, and biological hazards - Even noise can produced elevated catacholamines - Carpal tunnel syndrome is a product of our sedentary, computerized way of life - More people today are working in jobs that require more sitting and less physical activity which creates the possibility of vulnerability to illness Overload - Working overload creates stress and burnout - Chronic neuroendocrine activation and cardiovascular activation associated with over-commitment can contribute to cardiovascular disease Ambiguity and role conflict - Role ambiguity occurs when a person has few clear ideas of what is to be done and no idea of the standards used for evaluating work. - Role conflict occurs when a person receives conflicting information about work tasks or standards from different individuals Social relationships - Having a poor relationship with one’s supervisor appears to be related to job distress and increased risk for coronary heart disease - Social support may help against having low control over work or anger towards co-workers Control - Lack of control over work has been related to heightened catecholamines secretion, job dissatisfaction, absenteeism, and development of coronary artery disease - When high demands and low control are combine with little social support at work “demand-control support” model, risk for coronary heart disease may be even greater Job insecurity and unemployment - Unemployment can produce a variety of adverse outcomes, including poor physical and psychological well-being - Relationship between unemployment and heart attack and worse cardiovascular events Combing work and family roles - Work-life balance: the concept of managing multiple roles simultaneously in one’s like; most adults are workers, partners, and parents which entail heavy and potentially stressful obligations Women and multiple roles - Employed mothers with young children spend twice the amount of time on childcare than men and take on domestic work. - Single women raising children on their own are most at risk for health problems Protective effects of multipe roles - There are positive effects of combing home and work responsibilities when financial strain isn’t present  - Having multiple roles may enhance well-being for both men and women - In women, there appears to be an inverse relationship between number of roles and depressive symptoms, women with no roles are more depressed than women with more roles Chapter 7 Negativity, stress, and illness - Negative affectivity is a personality variable marked by a pervasive negative mood, including anxiety, depression, and hostility; believe to be implicated in the experience of symptoms, the seeking of medical treatment and possibly illness - Neuroticism is related to poor health, increased risk for diabetes, arthritis, kidney/liver disease, stomach/gallbladder problems and ulcers. - “Disease-prone” personality - Negative affectivity can be associated with elevated cortisol secretion and higher risk for mortality in old age Pessimism - A relatively stable dispositional characteristic to expect negative outcomes in the future - Pessimistic explanatory style: a chronic tendency to explain negative events as due to internal, stable and global qualities of the self and to attribute positive events to external,unstable and nonglobal factors; believed to contribute to the likelihood of illness - People from lower SES are more pessimistic Perfectionism - A tendency to experience frequent cognitions about the attainment of one’s own or others’ ideal standards - Associated with poor health outcomes; migraines, IBS, arthritis, asthma, chronic pain, heart disease, and even early mortality Optimism - An optimistic nature can lead people to cope more effectively with stress and thereby reduce their risk for illness - Dispositional optimism: a general expectancy that good things, not bad, will happen in the future Self-compassion - Treating oneself with kindness, feeling connected with humanity, and being mindfully aware of distressing experiences - Translate into better self regulation of health behaviour - Helps people become more resilient to the effects of stress Gratitude - Having an orientation toward noticing and appreciating the positive in life; gratitude is a dispositional characteristic that’s related to a variety of well-being indicators - Associated with positive coping styles such as seeking social support - Regularly acknowledging and appreciating the good things that one has in life shows promise as an internal resource for reducing stress and enhancing health Psychological control - The belief that one can determine one’s own behaviour, influence one’s environment, and bring about desired outcomes - When people are able to perceive events as controllable, regard their coping efforts as likely to be successful, stress is lessened, distress is lower, and physiological responses to stress is reduced Additional coping resources - High self-esteem may moderate the stress-illness relationship - Conscientiousness also moderates the stress-illness relationship - Conscientiousness people are more successful in avoiding situations that could harm them, or are more reliable in their practices of good health habits Coping style - A general propensity to deal with stressful events in a particular way, which can be differentiated from coping strategies, which are specific behaviours, thoughts, and emotions that people use to deal with a stressor Approach VS avoidance - Avoidant (minimizing) coping style: the tendency to cope with threatening events by withdrawing, minimizing, or avoiding them; believed to be an effective short-term response to stress.  - Approach (confrontation) coping style: the tendency to cope with stressful events by tackling them directly and attempting to develop solutions; may be an especially effective method of coping (longterm) although it may produce accompanying distress - Approach coping is associated with beneficial outcomes in general, including less psychological distress and lower stress-related physiological responses - Avoidance coping is associated with adverse psychological and health-related outcomes Problem-focused VS emotion-focused coping - Problem-focused coping: an attempt to do something constructive about the stressful conditions that are harming, threatening, or challenging an individual; problem-focused coping appears to emerge during childhood - Emotion-focused coping: an effort to regulate emotions experienced because of a stressful event; emotion-focused coping skills develop in late childhood or early adolescence - Situations in which something constructive can be done with favour problem-focused coping, situations that simply must be accepted favour emotion-focused coping Relationship-focused coping - Underscores the importance of the interpersonal processes involved in dealing with stress - Dyadic coping: the interplay of the stress experienced and expressed by one partner and the copung reactions of the other. Sources of resilience - Psychological resilience is characterized by the ability to bounce back from negative emotional experiences and by adapting flexibly to the changing demands of stressful experience - Being resilient to the stress of a traumatic event may depend on not only internal resources but also external resources and the sociocontextual factors that may limit their availability Coping outcomes - Coping efforts centre on 5 main tasks: - 1. To reduce harmful environmental conditions and enhance the prospects of recovery  - 2. To tolerate or adjust to negative events or realities - 3. To maintain a positive self-image - 4. To maintain emotional equilibrium - 5. To continue satisfying relationships with others - Coping outcomes: the beneficial effects that are thought to result from successful coping; as listed above. - Coping efforts are judged to be successful by: reducing arousal, how quickly people return to their pre-stress activities, and reducing psychological distress. What is social support? - Information from others that one is loved and cared for, esteemed and valued, and part of a network of communication and mutual obligations from parents, a partner, friends, social and community contacts, or even a pet. - People with high levels of social support may experience less stress when they confront a stressful experience and they may cope with it more successfully. Social support can take many forms: - Tangible assistance or support: involves the provision of material support, such as services, financial assistance, or goods. - Informational support: may help an individual understand a stressful event better and determine what resources and coping strategies may be mustered to deal with it. - Emotional support: reassures the person that they are a valuable individual who is cared for - Receiving social support can have several potential costs: using someone’s time and attention can produce quilt and threaten one’s self-esteem→ compromises the ability of social support to otherwise ameliorate psychological distress and health - Invisible support: when one receives help from another, but is unaware of it, that help is most likely beneficial to the self - Explicit social support: designed to target a specific problem or is meant for a specific purpose - Implicit social support: includes simply knowing that you have a social network that you can rely upon if there was a stressful event, and receiving suppor from that network without actively having to seek out that support Animals and pets as social support - The companionship provided by pets can be a source of comfort during stressful times Effects of loneliness on health - Lonely people experience higher levels of stress, have more trouble sleeping, show more cardiovascular activation, and engage in less healthy behaviours Biopsychoscial pathways - Social support has beneficial effects on the cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune systems - Social support is associated with reduced cortisol responses to stress - Biopsychosocial pathways provide links between illness and social support. These links play critical roles in the leading causes of death– cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory illness. Moderation of stress by social support - Direct effects hypothesis: maintains that social support is generally beneficial during nonstressful times as well as during highly stressful times - Buffering hypothesis: maintains that the benefits of social support are chiefly evident during periods of high stress; when there is little stress, social support may have few health benefits Matching support to the stress - Matching hypothesis: social support is helpful to an individual to the extent that the kind of support offered satisfies the individual’s specific needs Stress warning signs and symptoms Physical symptoms Behavioural symptoms Memory problems moodiness Inability to concentrate irritability Poor judgement Agitation, inability to relax Seeing only the negative Feeling overwhelmed Anxious thoughts Sense of loneliness and isolation Constant worrying Depression or general unhappiness Cognitive symptoms Emotional symptoms Aches and pains Eating more/less Diarrhea or constipation Sleeping too much/little nausea or dizziness Isolating yourself Chestpain, rapid heartbeat procrastinating Loss of sex drive Using drus or alcohol to relax Frequent colds Nervous habits (nail biting)