© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Health Psychology 8 th edition Shelley E. Taylor Chapter Seven: Moderators of the Stress Experience

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-2 Coping with Stress Coping : - thoughts and behaviors used to manage the internal and external demands of situations that are appraised as stressful - several characteristics: - relationship between coping and a stressful event is a dynamic process - breadth: – the great many actions and reactions to stressful circumstances

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-3 Coping with Stress (cont.) Personality and coping: - negativity, stress and illness: - negative affectivity: - a pervasive negative mood marked by anxiety, depression and hostility; related to poor health - neuroticism is related to poor health - negativity can cause a false impression of poor health - high negative affectivity produces more vulnerability to illness

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-4 Coping with Stress (cont.) Coping resources: - positive emotional states are associated with bettermental and physical health - optimism: - leads to better coping mechanisms and reduces risk of illness - optimistic people differ from pessimists in physiological functioning

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-5 Coping with Stress (cont.) Coping resources (cont.): - psychological control: - the belief that one can determine one’s own behavior, influence one’s environment and bring about desired outcomes - used in interventions to promote good health habits - Stressful medical procedures and control-enhancing interventions: - information, relaxation, and cognitive-behavioral techniques are successful in helping people overcome adverse effects of a variety of medical procedures

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-6 Coping with Stress (cont.) Additional coping resources: - high self-esteem - interventions to enhance a sense of self - self-confidence - sense of coherence about one’s life - conscientiousness Sources of Resilience: - coping resources and effective coping - positive life events, emotions, opportunities for rest

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-7 Coping with Stress (cont.) Coping style: - a general propensity to deal with stressful events in a particular way - originates in genes and personal experience - approach vs. avoidance: - each has advantages and liabilities - level of success depends on length of stressor

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-8 Coping with Stress (cont.) Coping Styles (cont.): Problem-focused coping: – doing something constructive about stressful conditions that are harming, threatening or challenging an individual Emotion-focused coping: – regulating emotions experienced because of the stressful event - rumination: negative thoughts focused on a stressor - emotional-approach coping

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-9 Coping with Stress (cont.) Specific coping strategies: - personal coping strategies are important when dealing with stressful events - people who are able to shift coping strategies to meet the demands of a situation cope better with stress than those who do not

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-10 Coping and External Resources External resources include: - time - money - education - decent job - children - friends - family - standard of living - presence of positive life events - absence of other life stressors - SES

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-11 Coping Outcomes -measures of physiological and biochemical functioning -whether and how quickly people can return to their pre-stress activities -effectiveness in reducing psychological distress

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-12 Social Support What is social support? - knowing that one is loved and cared for, esteemed/valued and part of a network of communication and mutual obligations - can take several forms: - tangible assistance - informational support - emotional support - invisible support

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-13 Social Support (cont.) Effect of social support on psychological distress: - l ack of social support is very stressful, whereas social support effectively reduces psychological distress(such as depression and anxiety) Effect of social support on illness and health habits: - lowers the likelihood of illness - speeds recovery from illness or treatment - reduces the risk of mortality due to serious illness

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-14 Social Support (cont.) Biopsychosocial pathways: - social support reduces biological responses to stress - social support affects endocrine functioning in response to stress Genetic bases of social support: - t he ability to construe social support or the ability to pick supportive networks may be genetic

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-15 Social Support (cont.) Moderation of stress by social support: - Direct effects hypothesis: - social support is generally beneficial during non-stressful times as well as during highly stressful times - Buffering hypothesis: - the health benefits and mental health benefits of social support are chiefly evident during periods of high stress; when there is little stress, social support may have few health benefits - Extracting support: – effectiveness of social supports depends on how and individual uses a social support network

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-16 Social Support (cont.) Most effective means of support: - a spouse, partner or close friend may be the most effective social support - overly intrusive social contacts exacerbate stress Matching support to the stressor: - Matching hypothesis: – a match between one’s needs and what one receives from others in one’s social network

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-17 Social Support (cont.) Threats to social support: - stressful events can interfere with the ability to use potential social support effectively - social support that is controlling or directive can cause psychological distress.

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-18 Social Support (cont.) Effects of stress on support providers: - family and friends adversely affected by the stressful event are less able to provide social support Enhancing social support: - increasing social support for people should be a high research priority for psychologists

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-19 Coping Interventions Mindfulness training: - Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR): - systematic training in meditation to enable people to self-regulate their reactions to stress and the negative emotions that may result -Expressive Writing: - confiding in others may reduce the physiological activity associated with the event - written exercises are designed to encourage emotional expression - disclosure is useful for coping

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-20 Coping Interventions (cont.) Coping effectiveness training: - basic techniques of stress management: - stress management program: - identifying stressors - monitoring stress - identifying stress antecedents - avoiding negative self-talk - take-home assignments - skill acquisition - setting new goals - positive self-talk and self-instruction - other cognitive-behavioral techniques - self-affirmation

© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.7-21 Coping Interventions (cont.) Relaxation training and stress management: - relaxation training therapies are valuable for physical and mental health Supplementary stress management skills: - time management and planning - good health habits and social skills - assertiveness training - social support - practicing stress management techniques and monitoring their effectiveness in daily situations