Unit 2 Don’t get stressed!

Stay in control Apply the principles you have learned to this area of study Systematic revision puts you in control!

What you need to know 1 Stress as a bodily response Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome Relationship between stress and physical illness

What do you know? What are the three stages to Selye’s GAS? What are the long term health ill-effects of stress Why did Brady electrocute monkeys and what did he find? What would make the hypothalamus produce CRF, prompting the stress response? The adrenal gland triggers which part of the nervous system?

Answers ARE – Alarm, Resistance, Exhaustion Cardiovascular disease, stomach ulcers, (cortisol produced in adrenal gland) reduces immunity He tested executive stress and found executives more stressed than passive A stressor – real or perceived The sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system

Research into sources of stress Individual differences in modifying the effects of stress What you need to know 2

What is a stressor? What was the outcome of the research into life changes as stressors? And into work? What do we know of the role of: Gender? Culture? Personality? What do you know?

Answers A stimulus that causes us to adapt our behaviour These are personal stressors that are common in people’s lives and the research came up with a Social Readjustment Rating Scale. These events were given scores. ( Use today? How was this done? Holmes and Rahe) Work issues – lack of control; interpersonal conflict; role conflict; role ambiguity; work overload Personality – Types (Friedman and Rosenman) Gender – men more likely than women to demonstrate stress symptoms (maybe women will catch up – so could be environmental; could be social support) Culture – Asian evidence of social support; black Americans more likely to suffer heart disease than white Americans or black Africans; blood pressure higher in urban areas (environmental stressors)

Methods of managing stress, including psychological and physiological approaches. The role of control Strengths and weaknesses of methods of stress manangement What you need to know 3

What do you know? Give two examples of a physiological approach Give two of a psychological approach What is learned helplessness? What does this tell us about the need for control? What do we mean by locus of control?

Answers Drugs, biofeedback; exercise Stress inoculation; increasing hardiness When past experience makes us believe that there is nothing we can do to change the course of events. This can lead to depression where people believe that they have no control over stressors in the environment. Locus can be internal or external. This is where we attribute events to causes within ourselves or causes outside ourselves

Essay questions Can come from anywhere So long as it is on the specification! Make sure you know: Relationship between stress and physical illness Role of individual differences Strengths and weaknesses of stress management methods

So finally.. Well almost Physiological Method Drugs Very effective Easy to use Bio feedback Most studies involve animals Confounding variables in human research Requires commitment Exercise Cheap and cheerful Requires commitment Can lead to an addiction

Method Drugs Very effective Easy to use Side effects Dependency Doesn’t tackle the issues Ethical issues of informed consent Bio feedback Non invasive No side effects Effects can be long term Most studies involve animals Confounding variables in human research Requires commitment Exercise Cheap and cheerfulRequires commitment Can lead to an addiction

Similarly.. Psychological method strengthsweaknesses Inoculation CBT techniques to analyse coping strategies Devise more effective methods of coping Hardiness Taught to recognise signs of stress Increase belief in ability to control See change as challenging not threatening

Similarly.. Psychological method Inoculation CBT techniques to analyse coping strategies Devise more effective methods of coping Long lasting effects Can be generalised Commitment Time consuming Costly Not effective at high levels of stress Hardiness Taught to recognise signs of stress Increase belief in ability to control See change as challenging not threatening Empirical support Hardiness, social support and exercise found to be most important factors Difficult to assess White male middle class Correlation Only works with the hardy!

Finally … for real! Make sure you can discuss: Role of individual differences; revise some examples Role of control Effective strategies