Biological
Psychology
Revision
Biological Psychology
Stress as a Bodily Response
Stress in everyday Life
•Key Terms
•Sympathomedullary Pathway (response to ACUTE stress)
•Pituitary adrenal system
Response to CHRONIC stress
•Stress, illness and the immune system
(direct and indirect effects)
•Life changes and daily hassles
•Workplace stress (effects of job control and workload) including
how to reduce
•Personality factors and stress, inc Type A, B and HARDINESS
•Psychological methods of stress management
•Physiological methods of stress management
1. The Body’s response to stress
• Stress occurs when…
• Stressors are...
• TWO different types of stress/stressors
• ACUTE vs CHRONIC
• Two systems responsible for our bodies
response to each
• P_________ A_______ System (HPA) and
S__________________ Pathway (SAM)
Body’s Response to ACUTE stress
• Situation is appraised as stressful
• H___________ decides the stress is acute so activates
the SAM system
• Sympathetic branch of ANS activated
• A_______ M_________ stimulated
• This secretes the hormones A_________ and
N______________
• This prepares the body for _____ or _____, leading to
physical changes such as...
• After a few minutes there is a parasympathetic
rebound which...
– Why?
Body’s response to Chronic Stress
• Situation appraised as stressful
• Hypothalamus decides stress is chronic so
activates HPA (pituitary adrenal system)
• Stimulates the P_______ G________ in brain
• Releases the hormone ACTH
• This stimulates the A_________ C________ which
releases C______________
• This has both good and bad effects, including...
• (extension) body self regulates this system by
monitoring cortisol levels. If these get too high,
the release of cortisol is suppressed
2. Stress Related Illness and the
Immune System
• Research indicates stress has a NEGATIVE
impact on our immune system functioning.
• Stress has been linked to many illnesses
including...
• Note – studies investigate both DIRECT and
INDIRECT effects of stress on our immune
system
Stress and Illness Research
• TWO from FOUR
• Evaluation Points
• Kiecolt-Glaser (NK
Cells)
• Glaser (T Cells)
• Limited sample (low…) so
we cannot be sure stress
would affect everyone's
immune system in the
same way (individual
differences)
• Cohen (Common
Cold)
• Marucha (Wound
Healing)
• Correlation not cause and
effect so we cannot be
sure…
• Measurements of stress may
lack validity as they are
based on self report
methods. This means…
3. Life Changes and Daily Hassles
• Life changes are...
• Type of stressor?
• E.g...
• Daily Hassles are...
• Type of stressor?
• E.g...
• These cause illness
because…
• These cause illness
because…
Life Changes and Daily Hassles
Life Changes
• Rahe (1970)
– SRRS used to measure life
changes of…
– 7 month study; monitored
health
– 0.118 correlation between
life changes and stress
related illness
– In conclusion…
• Evaluation points?
Daily Hassles
• Delongis
– PPTS aged 45 and over given
daily hassles questionnaires,
life changes questionnaires and
general health questionnaires.
– Strong positive correlation
between daily hassles and
health problems but no
correlation between life
changes and health problems.
– In Conclusion
• Evaluation points?
4. Workplace Stress
• The workplace is a major source of stress
• You must be able to identify these factors and
explain WHY they cause stress
• Workplace factors which cause stress
include...
Workplace stress - Research
• MARMOT – Whitehall II study (Job control)
– Analysed data from over 7000 ppts and followed ppts for
over 5 years.
– Found that, even when risk factors were controlled (such
as...) those with least JOB CONTROL were more likely to
suffer stress related illness.
• KARASEK – Investigated workload and Job Control and
found…
• Johansson – Swedish saw mill study…
• Use the same EVALUATION points as previous!
– Sample issues, Measurement of Stress, Correlation…
Suggestions to lower workplace
stress
• “Suggest ways in which we can reduce stress
in the workplace”
• Must be able to identify ways to reduce
stress AND explain why these would reduce
stress. The best answer also start with an
initial indication about what causes stress in
the first place
• TOP MARKS - Use research / theory to
support / validate your ideas
Suggestions to lower workplace
stress
• Give workers GREATER JOB CONTROL
– HOW…
• Ensure employees have a GOOD WORK-HOME
BALANCE
– HOW…
• Monitor WORKLOAD closely
– HOW…
• Ensure the WORK ENVIRONMENT IS SUITABLE and
tasks are varied
– HOW…
– Why will this help?
Suggestions to reduce workplace
stress
• E.g. Answer
• “Marmot found that workers who had low decision
latitude (job control) were significantly more
likely to experience stress and related illness like
hypertension (tick). Based on this, employers
should ensure that workers have a greater degree
of job control as this should reduce stress and
related illness (tick). To achieve this, employees
could be allowed to negotiate deadlines or could
even be allowed to work from home as these
would both give the workers a greater sense of
control and allow them to manage their workload
(tick tick)”
5. Personality Factors and Stress
• Personality factors may influence our
experience of stress
• Main personality types investigated
– TYPE A personality (this is...)
– TYPE B personality (this is...)
– HARDINESS (this is...)
• Which is associated with stress?
• Which buffers the effects of stress?
TYPE A
• Why does having a TYPE A personality lead
to more stress related illness?
• Make sure you put a biological spin on it!
– Biological Stress response easier to trigger in
Type As so…
– Hearts of Type As more sensitive to adrenalin,
SNS activity
– Type As have fewer support structures
(buffers)
Personality and Stress
- RESEARCH
• Rosenman
– 3454 middle aged men
studied.
– Structured interviews
used to assess personality
type (type A or B).
– PPTS followed for 8.5
years.
– 69% of heart attacks were
experienced by type A’s.
– Indicates a Significant
relationship between
type A and stress related
illness
• KOBASSA; BEASLEY
– Found people (e.g.
Students) who scored
highly on measures of
hardiness (using
questionnaires)
demonstrated reduced
levels of stress (in various
situations) and fewer
stress related illness.
– Suggests strongly that
hardiness buffers the
negative effects of stress.
What am I going to say about the evaluation?
5. BIOLOGICAL Methods of Stress
management
• Focus on the PHYSICAL effects of stress;
Controls bodily changes.
EVALUATION
• DRUGS (Anti-anxiety)
• EVIDENCE of EFFECTIVENESS
from PLACEBO STUDIES
• Main types...
– Benzodiazepines
• E.g. Valium
• Work how?
– Beta Blockers
• Work how?
• ETHICAL ISSUES, including…
• But BBs…
• IMMEDIATE EFFECTS but…
• NOT A LONG TERM SOLUTION TREAT EFFECTS NOT CAUSE
• Chemical Straightjacket
• So what should we do instead?
8. Psychological Methods of stress management
• Stress Inoculation Therapy (SIT)
developed by MICHENBAUM
EVALUATION
• Three stages
• EVIDENCE of
EFFECTIVENESS
1.
Conceptualisation
• Therapist and client work together to
identify the sources of stress.
Therapeutic alliance is key
2.
Re conceptualisation, Skills training
and rehearsal
• teach a client strategies to cope with
stressors – e.g. coping statements)
3.
Application in the real world
• Client set tasks to practise using new
strategies in real world; success
evaluated in later sessions;
modifications made if needed
• FEWER ETHICAL
ISSUES THAN DRUGS
• EFFECTS ARE NOT
IMMEDIATE (lengthy
process) but…
• A LONG TERM
SOLUTION because…
What do you notice?