These answers are not for you to copy or learn by heart, they are for you to see how to develop you answers to get the marks. They have been written according to the marking scheme and taking into account the examiner’s comments.
They are marked /= AO1 , //=AO2 www.psychbug.co.uk

. Outline how the body responds to stress
(6 marks)
For 6 marks you need to describe briefly the two stress pathways.
Depending on whether the stress is perceived as chronic or acute the body will respond differently.
If the stressor is perceived as acute, the SAM pathway is activated . / the hypothalamus sends an electrical nerve impulse to the adrenal medulla which releases adrenaline into the blood stream . / This prepares the body for “fight or flight” by increasing the heart rate and blood pressure.
/
If the stressor is perceived as chronic, the HPA pathway is activated. The hypothalamus produces CRF which activates the pituitary gland which in turn releases ACTH.
/ This hormone is carried by the bloodstream to the adrenal medulla which releases cortisol.
/
This produces an increase in glucose and fatty acid levels which leads to energy being released.
/
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2 (a) Identify two sources of stress in the workplace
( 1 mark +1 mark)
You just need to give two factors; you do not need to explain them.
Time pressure i.e. tight deadlines, repetitive jobs, working environment (e.g. noisy, loud, hot), heavy workload
( 2 marks + 2 marks)
Make sure that the factors mentioned in the previous question and the study link.
Johansson et al did a study that looked at levels of stress in high-risk and low-risk workers.
High-risk workers had more repetitive jobs and had higher levels of responsibility.
/ When tested, they had more stress hormones, more stress-related illness and more days off than the low risk group, suggesting that long term stress from their job made them ill.
/
Marmot et al. carried out a study on British civil servants. He found that people who had low job control were three times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than people with high job control. / However unlike Johansson he did not find a relationship between high workload and stress related illness. /
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3. In a study of stress, the number of life events individual participants experienced was measured as well as an illness score for each individual.
Data from the study were plotted on the graph below
Illness scores
3. Outline two conclusions that could be drawn from the graph above.
( 4 marks ) a.
The graph indicates that the more life change units you experience, the more likely you are to be ill. One conclusion you could draw would be that higher levels of stress cause you higher levels of illness. Another conclusion could be that the higher your illness levels are, the more likely you are to become stressed. b.
One conclusion is that there appears to be a positive correlation between life changes and physical illness, because as the life change units increase, so do the illness scores. It is a strong correlation because the data forms almost a straight line.
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4. Outline the impact that stress may have on the immune system
( 6 marks )
Here, the amount of detail is the key to getting good marks. You need to make sure that every sentence is telling the examiner about the effects of stress on the immune system in detail. This is different from the overall effects of stress on the body.
When we are exposed to stress the response of the immune system is initially increased but long term, chronic stress has negative effect on the immune system.
/ When the HPA pathway is activated, corticosteroids are released by the adrenal cortex to provide energy.
Cortisol however weakens the immune system so we are less able to fight off bacterial and
/ viral infections.
/ One way it does this is by decreasing the activity of NK cells.
/ Kiecolt-
Glaser et al showed that NK cells activity was decreased in medical students when they were tested just before their final exams compared to when they were tested a month before their exam.
/ This is also shown by Cohen who found that when participants were exposed to the cold virus the higher the life events score the higher the chances of developing a clinical cold.
/
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5. Discuss psychological evidence that suggests personality can affect our experience of stress
( 6 marks )
This question is asking you to ‘discuss’ (an AO2 term), which means that you need to include evaluative points. It is also asking you to look at psychological evidence (i.e. research studies), so you must talk about these to get marks.
Friedman and Rosenhan suggested that your personality can lead to you coping differently with stress. Type A personalities are ambitious and competitive and these qualities can lead to more stress-related illness, e.g. heart attacks.
/ Type B personalities are generally more relaxed and less competitive so are less likely to suffer stress related illness .
/
This is supported by Friedman and Rosenman (1974) who found that Type A behaviour pattern is risk factor for heart disease.
// However the study was carried out only on
American males so we cannot generalise the results to women or population of different cultures . //
However no one is completely type A or B we are all on a continuum between the two types and we can chage depending on the situation we are in.
//
People who see themselves as being in charge of their life, are involved in the world around them and have a sense of purpose and see challenges as problems to be overcome rather than as stressors, hardy personality, are less likely to suffer stress related illness . / This is supported by Kobasa who found that managers of large companies who were assessed as
‘hardy’ were less likely to suffer stress related illness.
//
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Outline and evaluate research into life changes and/or daily hassles as sources of stress.
( 12 marks )
For the 6 AO1 you will need to describe studies so you need to learn enough details to get 6 marks i.e. sample, procedure and findings
For the 6 AO2 marks, you can use methodological issues, but make sure you link them clearly to the particular study you are evaluating
(generic statement get no marks). Y ou can also compare the effects of life events and daily hassles.
Make sure you use a point of evaluation only once i.e. the samples used in the studies I have used in the essay lack population validity but I have used this only once.
Holmes and Rahe et al.(1967), studied the effects of life changes as a source of stress and their effects on health on 2700 members of the US navy . / The sample consisted on
American men. They were asked to complete an adapted version of the SRRS before they went on tour and their health was monitored for six months.
/ It was found that there was a weak positive correlation (0.118) between the life events score and the illness score.
/
This shows that life events can have a negative effect on health.
/ However the sample was
American males and lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise could have influenced the outcome and they might be different in other cultures.
// Also the fact that they were all males means that we cannot generalise the results to women as their reaction to stress is different from males. So we cannot generalise the results to other cultures or to women.
by accumulating over the course of the day can trigger the chronic stress response and
//
Furthermore this study fails to take into account the effects of daily hassles and uplifts which present a serious risk to health.
//
Furthermore the SRRS questionnaire relies on the use of retrospective data, people might have forgotten or distorted some events and social desirability might also have influenced the participants’ answers.
//
Bouteyre et al. (2007) investigate relationship between daily hassles and mental health of
French students during the transition between school and university .
/ The sample consisted of first-year psychology students. They were asked to complete The Hassles and
Uplifts Scales (HSUS) and the Beck’s Depression Inventory to measure depression .
/
The results showed a positive correlation between students suffering from depression (41% of total) and scores on the daily hassles. From this we can conclude that daily hassles are a risk factor for mental health.
/
However it was a correlational study so we cannot infer a cause and effect relationship between the two co-variables as other factors could be involved for example the students who scored high on depression might already have had mental health problems before starting university .
// Furthermore this study only looks at the influence of daily hassles it did not measure the effect of daily uplifts which are said to counteract the effects of hassles.
//
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Discuss two or more methods of stress management.
( 12 marks )
One method of stress management is the use of drugs. There are two types of drugs the benzodiazepines (BZs) and the betablockers (BBs).
The BZs, like Valium work by increasing the effect of the neurotransmitter GABA. / GABA increases chloride ions into the neurons making it more difficult for neurotransmitters to stimulate them so it slows down the activity of the activity of the central nervous system. /
This reduces anxiety and leads to a feeling of calm. /
Bzs work very fast so it makes them suitable for emergency situations, // however they are very addictive so can only be prescribed for two weeks at a time.
// They also have sideeffects like for example they lead to memory loss and if an overdose is taken it can lead to respiratory arrest. //
The Betablockers block the adrenaline receptors which are mainly situated in the heart and the large blood vessels. / So when adrenaline is produced by the adrenal medulla as a response to a situation perceived as a stressor the blood pressure does not increase and the heart rate remain stable. /
The BBs do not cause addiction but if taken for a long period of time they can cause diabetes type 2, they can also make people tired and lead to hallucinations.
// Lau et al. (1992) carried out a meta-analysis and found that they were effective in reducing blood pressure.
//
However drugs are emotion focused therapies unlike psychological therapies like CBT they do not teach the patients skills to deal with the stressors so when they stop the treatment the symptoms reappear. // However they can give the time for patients to deal with the stressors directly or learn new skills.
//
An alternative to these biological treatments is stress inoculation therapy (SIT) which works by teaching patients new skills to deal with the stressor. / It takes 6-8 weekly sessions so it is more time consuming and expensive than drugs but it has no side-effects and once people have new skills they can use them in other situations so its effects are long-lasting. // www.psychbug.co.uk