Stress: Negative emotional and physiological process that occurs as
individuals adjust to or deal with stressors.
Stressor: Environmental circumstances that disrupt or threaten to
disrupt individuals’ daily functioning and cause people to make
adjustments.
Advanced Placement Psychology
Chapter 13: Health, Stress, and
Coping
Health Psychology: the field of psychology that investigates the
relationship between psychological, behavioral, and social
processes and physical health. Goals: apply research to prevent
illness and promote better health
The Process of Stress
• Life changes and
strains
• Catastrophic events
• Daily hassles
• Chronic stressors
Stressors
Stress
Mediators
• Cognitive appraisal
• Predictability
• Control
• Coping resources and
methods
• Social support
• Physical
• Psychological
• Emotional
• Cognitive
• Behavioral
Stress
Responses
Psychological Stressors
Categories of Stressors: Things that stress us out
1. Life changes
▫ Major shifts in one’s life that
have far reaching and long
lasting effects
▫ Divorce
▫ Illness in a family
▫ Changing a career or homes
2. Catastrophic events
▫ Sudden, unexpected,
potentially life-threatening
experiences or traumas
▫ War
▫ Natural disaster
▫ Physical assault
3. Daily hassles
▫ Minor stress that one
encounters on a regular basis
and can accumulate into
something significant
▫ Traffic jams
▫ Job deadlines
▫ Homework
4. Chronic stressors
▫ Stress that continues over a
long period of time
▫ Living near a noisy airport
▫ Working in a hostile
environment
Measuring Stressors
Putting a number value to your stress
1. Life Change Unit (LCU)
▫ The amount of change and demand for adjustment
represented by events.
▫ Can be caused by both “positive” and “negative” things
such as marriage, divorce, getting fired, retiring, and
family vacations.
• Tests of Stress
2. Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
 Stress Score = Sum of LCU’s
3. Life Experiences Survey (LES)
 Not just what life events have occurred, but also an
appraisal of intensity. (positive or negative)
Social Readjustment Rating Scale
(SRRS) Stress Test
• What has happened to you in
the past year and what will
happen to you within this
coming year? (2 year span)
• Things that occur once a year
(like Christmas) should only
be counted once.
Life Event
LCU’s
Death of parent
119
Divorce of parents
98
Death of a close family member (other than parent)
92
Breakup with boyfriend/girlfriend
79
Expulsion from school
79
Major personal injury or illness
77
Death of a close friend
70
Pregnancy
66
Getting a job
62
Money troubles
61
Dating
57
Gain of a new family member
57
Change of finances
56
Major illness of family member or close friend
56
Failing grades at school
54
Change in number of arguments with peers
51
Marriage
50
Parent beginning or stopping work
46
Peer difficulties
45
Life Event
LCU’s
Loss or death of loved pet
44
Change in responsibilities at home or school
43
Brother or sister leaving home
42
Moving away
41
School beginning or ending
38
Trouble with parent
38
Outstanding personal achievement
37
Change in schools
35
Christmas
30
Change in recreation
29
Trouble with teachers/principles
29
Change in personal appearance
27
Change in social activities (joining new group)
27
Change in eating habits
27
Change in sleeping habits
26
Change in number of get-togethers
26
Vacation
25
Change in church activities
22
Traffic tickets or other minor violations of the law
22
Scoring
• Over 200: Urgent need of intelligent stress
management
• 150 – 199: Careful stress management indicated
• 100 – 149: Stressful life (be observant of your
mental health)
• Under 100: No present cause for concern about
stress.
Physical Responses: Stress & Bodies
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
• Sequence of physical
responses to stress that occurs
in a consistent pattern
• Triggered by the effort to
adapt to any stressor.
• Prepares the body to face or
flee from an immediate threat.
• When the danger has passed,
the responses subside.
Physical Response: GAS
Stages of the General Adaptation Syndrome
a) Stage 1: Alarm Reaction
(fight or flight syndrome)
▫ Mobilizes the body’s resources
for action
i.
Sympatho-AdrenoMedullary (SAM) System
b) Stage 2: Resistance
▫ Body settles in for long term
response to stressor
ii. Hypothalamic-PituitaryAdrenocortical (HPA)
System
c) Stage 3: Exhaustion
▫ Depletion of the body’s
adaptive energy and wear and
tear on the body’s organ
systems
▫ Diseases of Adaptation
Psychological Responses: Stress & Minds
1. Emotional Response
▫ Tend to dominate our experience of stress
▫ We remember things like “I was angry!” rather than
“My heart was racing and my blood pressure was
high!”
2. Cognitive Response
a) Ruminative Thinking – Recurring intrusion of
thoughts about stressful events
b) Catastrophizing – Dwelling on and overemphasizing
the potential consequences of negative events
3. Behavior Response
▫ Aggression – People get MAD
▫ Avoidance – We avoid what stresses out
Linkages: Stress and Psychological
Disorders
• Burnout  a gradually intensifying pattern of
physical, psychological, and behavioral dysfunction
in response to continued flow of stressors
▫ Symptoms: indifferent, impulsive, accident-prone,
drug-abusing, suspicious, depressed, and withdrawn
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder  a pattern of
adverse reactions following a traumatic event
▫ Symptoms: anxiety, irritability, jumpiness, inability to
concentrate or work, sexual dysfunction, and difficulty
in interpersonal relationships
Stress Mediator: Appraisal of Stressors
Stressfulness changes depending on how you perceive and think about it.
The Lazarus Experiment
• Showed a scene portraying
blood industrial accidents and
measured stress through
sweat-gland activity.
▫ Group 1: Told to deny the
validity of the scenes
▫ Group 2: Told to distance
themselves and be detached
from the scenes
▫ Group 3: Were unprepared
The Results
Stress Mediator: Predictability & Control
• When a stressor is predictable, then the effects of
the stress are less severe and shorter lasting.
▫ Rats that were given a “warning” before they were
shocked tended to experience less evidence of distress.
(less disruption in eating/drinking patterns, and less
physiological change)
• When an individual feels that he or she is more in
control, the effects of the stressor is diminished.
▫ Surgery patients who were given explanations about
what was going to happen and suggestions to help
post-surgery recovery were better adjusted and
discharged from the hospital sooner.
Stress Mediator: Coping Strategy
Stressfulness changes depending on how you cope with it
Problem-Focused Coping
Emotion-Focused Coping
• Efforts to alter or eliminate the
source of stress
• Efforts to regulate the negative
emotional consequences of the
stressor.
• Confronting
• Painful Problem Solving
•
•
•
•
•
Self-Controlling
Distancing
Positive Reappraisal
Accepting Responsibility
Escape/Avoidance
Stress Mediator: Social Support
Stressfulness changes based on who we have to lean on
1.
Social Support Network
▫ A group that offers support
for an individual undergoing
a stressful situation
• Eliminates the stressor,
buffering it’s impact
▫ Companionship
▫ Ideas for coping
▫ Reassurance of being cared
for
Stress Mediator: Personality
Stressfulness changes based on personality
2. Type A Personality
3. Type B Personality
• Prefers to operate at a high
level of activity
• Tends to be impatient
• Tends to have higher levels of
stress
• Are more open to change and
flexibility
• Tends to have lower levels of
stress
1. Dispositional Optimism: A predisposition towards looking at
events in a more positive and optimistic way.
Stress Mediator: Personality (cont.)
Stressfulness changes based on personality
Internal Locus of Control
External Locus of Control
• You believe that events are
often within your control.
• You believe that events are
often outside of your control.
• You tend to attribute success
or failure to yourself instead of
luck or others.
• You believe there is little
connection between your
behavior and their outcomes.
• You think that success
depends on your own efforts.
• You think that success is
largely dependent on luck.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Do you believe that most
problems will solve
themselves if you just don’t
fool with them?
Do you believe that you can
stop yourself from catching a
cold?
Are some people just born
lucky?
Most of the time do you feel
that getting good grades
means a great deal to you?
Are you often blamed for
things that just aren’t your
fault?
Do you believe that if
somebody studies hard
enough he or she can pass
any subject?
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Do you feel that most of the
time it doesn’t pay to try
hard because things never
turn out right anyway?
Do you feel that if things
start out well in the morning,
it’s going to be a good day no
matter what you do?
Do you feel that most of the
time parents listen to what
their children have to say?
Do you believe that wishing
can make good things
happen?
When you get punished, does
it usually seem it’s for no
good reason at all?
Most of the time, do you find
it hard to change a friend’s
mind?
13. Do you think that cheering
more than luck helps a team to
win?
14. Do you feel that it is nearly
impossible to change your
parent’s mind about anything?
15. Do you believe that parents
should allow children to make
most of the own decisions?
16. Do you feel that when you do
something wrong there’s very
little you can do to make it
right?
17. Do you believe that most
people are just born good at
sports?
18. Are most of the other people
your age stronger than you?
19. Do you feel that one of the
best ways to handle most
problems is just not to think
about them?
20. Do you feel that you have a lot
of choice in deciding who your
friends are?
21. If you find a four-leaf clover,
do you believe that it might
bring you good luck?
22. Do you often feel that whether
or not you did your homework
has much to do with what kind
of grades you get?
23. Do you feel that when a person
your age is angry at you,
there’s little you can do to stop
hi or her?
24. Have you ever had a good-luck
charm?
25. Do you believe that whether or
not people like you depends
on how you act?
26. Do your parents usually help
you if you ask them to?
27. Have you felt that when people
were angry with you, it was
usually for no reason at all?
28. Most of the time, do you feel that
you can change what might
happen tomorrow by what you do
today?
29. Do you believe that when bad
things are going to happen, they
just are going to happen no
matter what you try to do to stop
them?
30. Do you think that people can get
their own way if they just keep
trying?
31. Most of the time, do you find it
useless to try to get your own way
at home?
32. Do you feel that when good things
happen, they happen because of
hard work?
33. Do you feel that when somebody
your age wants to be your enemy,
there’s little you can do to change
34. Do you feel that it’s easy to get
friends to do what you want them
to do?
35. Do you usually feel that you have
little to say about what you get to
eat at home?
36. Do you feel that when someone
doesn’t like you, there’s little you
can do about it?
37. Do you usually feel that it is
almost useless to try in school
because most other students are
just plain smarter than you are?
38. Are you the kind of person who
believes that planning ahead
makes things turn out better?
39. Most of the time do you feel that
you have little to say about what
your family decides to do?
40. Do you think it’s better to be
smart than to be lucky?
Scoring & Scale
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
External Score: 16 – 40
Intermediate Score: 7 – 15
Internal Score: 0 – 6
External
You believe there is little connection
between your behavior and their outcomes
and that events are often outside of your
control. You think that success is largely
dependent on luck.
Intermediate
You believe that you do have control of your
fate, but that you have little control in some
areas.
Internal
You tend to attribute success or failure to
yourself instead of luck or others.
Stress, the Immune System & Illness
The Immune System and Illness
a) Leukocytes (White Blood
Cells)
b) T-Cells
▫ Matures in the thymus
▫ Kills other cells
c) B-Cells
▫ Matures in the bone marrow
▫ Produces antibodies (proteins
that initiate the deactivation
of foreign toxins and viruses)
d) Natural Killer Cells
▫ Antitumor & antiviral
e) Macrophage
▫ Engulfs foreign substances
Phagocytosis: Process of
surrounding and engulfing
other cells.
The Immune System and Stress
We get more sickly when we’re stressed out
Changes Based on Stress
• Stress suppresses the
functioning of the immune
system
• Subjects exposed to a
respiratory virus or a
placebo, and results showed
that those who scored lower
on a stress test were less likely
to contract the virus after
exposure.
Moderators of the Immune System
• Social support can improve the
health of those undergoing
stressful situations.
• Even anonymous disclosures
can improve one’s health.
• Widows who did not have
social support were more
likely to develop a physical
sickness within one year of
their spouse’s death.
Health Endangering Behaviors
Behaviors that can be triggered by stress
• Smoking
▫ Accounts for more deaths than all other drugs, car accidents, suicides,
homicides, and fires combined.
▫ Currently on the decline (only about 26% of American adults now
smoke)
▫ One of the most difficult habits to break (only about 35% long term
success)
• Alcohol
▫ Linked to heart disease, stroke, cancer, and liver disease
▫ Causes damage to the brain and gastrointestinal system
▫ 15% of the US healthcare costs are related to it and it costs the economy
approximately $70 billion per year.
• Unsafe Sex
▫ AIDS & other STD’s are continuously on the rise
Health-Belief Model
Your decision about health-related behaviors are guided by…
1.
A perception of personal
threat
1.
2.
A perception of the
seriousness of the illness and
the consequences of having it
2.
3.
A belief that a particular
practice will reduce the threat
3.
4.
Perception of the balance
between the cost of enacting
the health practice and the
benefits expected.
4.
Do you believe you develop a
health problem from
smoking?
How serious is lung cancer?
How likely would quitting
smoking actually reduce my
risk for lung cancer?
Is the health benefit worth the
loss of the good feelings from
smoking?
Prochaska’s Stages of Readiness
How ready are you to change your health behavior?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
Precontemplation
The person does not perceive the problem and has no intention
of changing.
Contemplation
The person is aware of the problem behavior and is seriously
thinking about it.
Preparation
The person has a strong intention to change, has specific plans
to do so, and has begun the first steps
Action
The person is engaging successfully in behavior change and
must remain in this stage for at least 6 months
Maintenance
The person uses skills learned along the way to continue the
healthy behavior and prevent relapse.
Planning to Cope: Stages of Coping with
Stress
1. Assessment
▫
Identify the sources and effects of stress
▫
Designate which stressors are and are not changeable
▫
List the specific steps to be taken to cope with stress
▫
Implement coping plans
▫
Determine the changes in stressors & stress responses
that have occurred as a result of the coping methods
2. Goal Setting
3. Planning
4. Action
5. Evaluation
6. Adjustment
▫
Alter coping methods to improve results
Coping Strategies
• Cognitive
▫ Thinking of stressors as challenges rather than as threats
▫ Cognitive Restructuring – Replacing catastrophic
thinking with thoughts that are more positive.
• Emotional
▫ Gaining social support from others
• Behavioral
▫ Changing one’s behavior to minimize the effects of stressors
• Physical
▫ Exercise & meditation
▫ Progressive Relaxation – Technique of repeatedly
tensing and relaxing the 16 major muscle groups