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  3. Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (EUR)
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  5. 2.6 Anxiety And Stress (FSWP2062A)

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2.6 Stress and Anxiety - Summary of Everything you Need for the Exam

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In my summary you can find all the information required to know for the tutorial meetings, including notes from the book as well as all the articles. Everything is presented in a highly structured manner. Good luck with studying! ;)

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  • 24 november 2021
  • 43
  • 2019/2020
  • Samenvatting

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Door: bread • 2 jaar geleden

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Door: zoe00lhm • 2 jaar geleden

Covered all the important aspects of the course! Studied based on this summary and was definitely satisfied with my result :)

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Voorbeeld van de inhoud

Stress #1

1) Experiencing Stress in our Lives

WHAT IS STRESS?

-2 conditions of stress:
1) physical condition -> involves direct material or bodily challenges
2) psychological condition -> involves how individuals perceive circumstances in their lives

-3 approaches of examining the 2 components of stress:

1) stress = stimulus (called stressor (e.g. death within family, financial break down)) -> focus on the environment

2) stress = response -> focus on people’s reactions to stressors (e.g. calling the one’s state of tension “stress”)
=> psychological & physiological responses to stressors are called strains

3) stress = process -> includes both stressors & strains, BUT adds continuous adjustments & interactions (called
transactions) between person & environment => stress = process, in which the person is an active agent who can
influence the impact of stressors through behavioural, cognitive, and emotional strategies
 THEREFORE: same stressor elicits different levels of stress within 2 people

-dimensions of stress: frequency, intensity & duration of stressors

-definition of stress: circumstance in which transactions lead a person to perceive a discrepancy between the
physical/psychological demands of a situation & resources of their biological/psychological/social systems

*resources: stress taxes the limited biopsychosocial resources for dealing with difficult events
*demands: refers to the amount of resources that the stressors appear to require
*discrepancy: mismatch between resources & demands -> usually: resources are exceeded by demands
-> NOTE: some people also find it stressful when resources heavily exceed demands
*transactions: situational assessment process of demands, resources & discrepancies between the 2

NOTE: resources, demands and discrepancies can be either real or believed -> stress = subjective matter

APPRAISING EVENTS AS STRESSFUL

-Richard Lazarus: transactional process of assessment = cognitive appraisal -> 2 factors are assessed:

1) whether demand threatens physical/psychological well-being -> primary appraisal
=> can have 3 outcomes: 1. irrelevant; 2. good; 3. stressful  when circumstance/situation is evaluated as stressful:
 further appraisal for 3 implications: harm-loss, threat & challenge (refers mostly to secondary appraisal)
 NOTE: stress can be influenced by our appraisals even when transaction is vicarious (shown by exp.)

2) which resources are available to deal with the demand -> secondary appraisal
=> occurs continuously, BUT we pay more attention to it when primary appraisal had “stressful” outcome
 we determine whether our resources are sufficient to meet harm, threat, challenge we are facing
 final result of this evaluation heavily influences amount of stress that we experience

FACTORS THAT LEAD TO STRESSFUL APPRAISALS

-personal factors -> include motivational, intellectual & personality characteristics => examples:
*high self-esteem -> more likely to interpret demanding situation as challenge rather than threat
*the more important a threatened goal, the more stress
*perfectionism (treating minor issues as major problems) -> increases stress + causes long-term health issues

-situational factors -> stress is increased by…
1) difficult timing (events happening at unexpected times); 2) life transitions (passing from 1 life phase to the next);
3) ambiguity; 4) low desirability; 5) low controllability (either behavioural or cognitive control)

,CAN STRESS BE GOOD FOR YOU?

-people function the best if they are at their optimal level of arousal (differs individually) -> not below & not above
=> some stress can benefit our performance = eustress (opposite of distress)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2) Biopsychosocial Aspects of Stress

BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF STRESS

-physical reaction to stress: 1) heart beat raises & 2) skeletal muscles in arms & legs tremble => body is aroused
 caused by endocrine system & sympathetic NS  after emergency passes by, arousal level decreases again

-reactivity = physiological portion of response to a stressor/strain -> level of reactivity influenced by genetic factors

-Cannon: proposal of fight-or-flight response -> perceiving danger causes sympathetic NS to stimulate many organs
(e.g. heart) directly + to stimulate adrenal glands of endocrine system => adrenal medulla secretes norepinephrine &
epinephrine, which further arouses the body  FoF-response can have positive effects in the short term, BUT
threatens health when arousal levels remain high over longer periods of time (e.g. weakens immune system)

-Selye: general adaptation syndrome -> 3 stages of bodily reactions during prolonged stress exposure:

1) alarm reaction stage -> involves fight-or-flight response => fast-acting arousal functioning to mobilize resources

*also involves somewhat slower reacting hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) => system reacts a bit slower
-> stressor makes brain triggering anterior pituitary gland to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormones (ACTH)
=> ACTH causes adrenal cortex to release cortisol (glucocorticoids) into bloodstream

 increasing cortisol, epinephrine/norepinephrine levels (via 2 different systems) increase body’s activation
 2 system view = nowadays; before: Selye emphasizes HPA-axis only + Cannon added fight-or-flight response

2) stage of resistance -> if stressor continues to exist, the initial response by sympathetic nervous system (FoF-
response) weakens & the HPA-response starts to predominate (high cortisol levels)
=> body adapts to the stressor, BUT therefore loses ability to resist new stressors  more vulnerable to illnesses

3) stage of exhaustion -> severe, long-term stress may weaken immune system & deplete the body’s energy
reserves until resistance is limited => if stress continues at this point, organs are going to be damaged & people die

-allostatic load = accumulating effects of the body having to adapt repeatedly to stressors -> impairs adaptation-
ability to future stressors => cumulative amount of stress = more important than any intensity of a single stressor

NOTE: Selye assumed that the GAS was nonspecific in regard to the type of stressor -> reaction is always the same
=> contradicted by 3 more recent lines of evidence, which argue for existence of different types of stressors:

1) some stressors elicit a stronger emotional response than others -> the stronger the emotional response, the more
likely the physiological reaction involves increases in all 3 hormones (norepinephrine, epinephrine & cortisol)

2) pattern of physiological arousal under stress depends on 2 factors: effort & distress
*effort = involves a person’s interest, striving & determination
*distress = involves anxiety, uncertainty, boredom & dissatisfaction
=> effort + distress: catecholamine & cortisol excretion (daily life situations)
=> effort + no distress: catecholamine excretion (joyful state)
=> no effort + distress: cortisol excretion, catecholamines lightly elevated (when feeling helpless)
 this point ties in with 1st point, BC distress is an emotion

3) cognitive appraisal processes influence people’s physiological reaction
-> when judging something as a threat rather than as a challenge, you are inclined to have higher cortisol levels

 OVERALL: it is still a controversial issue, whether all stressors produce the same physiological reaction or not

,FACTORS THAT AFFECT BIOLOGICAL REACTIONS TO STRESS

-4 factors that affect the overall amount of bodily activation/physiological stress:

1) amount of exposure = includes frequency, intensity & duration
2) magnitude of reactivity = refers to reactivity-differences among individuals to the same stressor
3) rate of recovery = some people return quicker to baseline levels than others
-> NOTE: mentally revisiting the stressor delays recovery
4) resource restoration = sleep is the most important activity in replenishing resources -> sufficient sleep is needed

PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF STRESS

COGNITION & STRESS

-2-way connection between cognition & stress:

1) high levels of stress may interfere with memory & attention
-> trying to consistently “tune out the noise” & focusing on important tasks can negatively impair cognitive
performance => people lose the general knowledge about which sounds to attend to & which to tune out

2) thinking about future threats/ruminating about the past can turn stressful situation into chronic stress

=> 2-way connection especially important for executive functioning (set of cognitive abilities, which help guiding &
directing ongoing behaviour)  stress can disrupt these attentional capabilities, which then in turn leads to handling
the demanding situation worse than one usually could do, which then – again – increases the stress  vicious cycle

SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, EMOTIONS & STRESS

-people often use their emotional states to evaluate their stress -> again: refers to cognitive appraisal processes
=> stress causes emotional reactions involving: fear (phobia vs anxiety), sadness (sometimes depression), anger

-stress changes people’s behaviour toward one another -> stress + anger: increase in negative social behaviour

GENDER & SOCIOCULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN STRESS

-gender differences: women experience more stressful minor & major events than men
-> due to 2-income households nowadays, BUT women still taking over chore tasks at home
=> women with higher workloads & more sensitive to everybody’s needs within the family

HOWEVER: generally, men show more reactivity to the same stressors & men take longer to get back to base-line
-> NEVERTHELESS: depends on type of stressor => example: when relationship is challenged, women more reactive

-sociocultural factors that increase the experienced stress events
-> low income, being part of a minority group, low educational attainment

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3) Sources of Stress Throughout Life

SOURCES WITHIN THE PERSON

-sources of stress within the person:

1) illness -> creates physical & psychological demands => demands depend on seriousness of illness & individuals age

2) appraisal of opposing motivational forces -> inner conflict with pushes & pulls for all motivational forces
=> produce different types of conflicts:
1. Approach/approach -> deciding between two desirable options (little stress)
2. Avoidance/avoidance -> deciding between to undesirable options (a lot of stress)
3. Approach/avoidance -> single option, which has pushes & pulls (moderate stress)
 OVERALL: conflict is most stressful, when there are many choices of relatively equal strength & when wrong
choice can potentially have meaningful negative consequences

, 3) motives & goals about social interactions & relationships wit others -> example: being rejected/negatively
evaluated by others is very stressful (especially if they are important to us)

SOURCES IN THE FAMILY

1) addition to the family -> baby brings stress to all family member (mostly mother) => parental stress relates to
baby’s personality dispositions (temperaments)  10% of babies are “difficult” & cause most stress

2) marital strain & divorce -> children can suffer the most from divorce in the long term

3) family illness, disability, and death -> especially problematic when chronic illness exists within family, which then
strains other relationships within the family, since most attention is paid to the “ill” member => HOWEVER: death
causes most stress for the entire family & can lead to long term problems regarding health

SOURCES IN THE COMMUNITY & SOCIETY

1) job causes stress
*demands of the task -> cause stress in 2 ways: 1) workload is too high; 2) specific job may be very stressful
*evaluation of performance -> can be stressful for supervisor & employee
*having responsibility over people’s lives -> mostly also closely related to having a high workload (e.g. as a nurse)
*other job aspects (low control over aspects of the job, noisy/heated up physical environment of the job, etc.)
NOTE: all these problems are linked to emotional distress, physiological strain & sleep loss + can spill over into family

2) environment causes stress
*some are short-term wise: e.g. being at a concert, where there is no space to move freely
*other stressors are long-term wise & produce chronic/more severe stress: e.g. living in low SES neighbourhood

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4) Measuring Stress

ASSESSING PHYSIOLOGICAL AROUSAL

-stress produces physiological arousal in many of our body systems:
*can be assessed by electrical/mechanical equipment taking measurements of heart rate, blood pressure,
respiration rate & galvanic skin response => can be measured all together with a polygraph (fit into pocket)
*arousal can also be assessed through biochemical analyses determining hormone levels in urine & blood
=> both corticosteroid levels (most importantly cortisol) & catecholamine levels ((nor)epinephrine) can be assessed

-advantages of these methods: reliable, objective & very direct
-> disadvantages: expensive, potentially stressful for subjects & confounded by gender, age, weight, etc.

ASSESSING LIFE EVENTS

-multiple scales exist, which measure stress by using self-reports on life events (major happenings that require
psychological adjustment, & which are assigned to a value indicating their stressfulness) -> example scale:

*Social Readjustment Rating Scale -> includes long list of events (derived from clinical experience), which was then
given to men & women of all ages, who had to rate adjustment degree for each particular event => each event was
assigned a value of stressfulness (e.g. 11 points for minor violations of the law & 100 points for death of spouse)

=> when stress-level is assessed now, participants are supposed to tick every event of the list, which has happened
to them within the last 2 years  total stress score is obtained by summing all values of the events, which happened

*strengths of SRRS:
1) SRRS includes wide range of events, which are indeed stressful to most people
2) stress-ratings for each item seem representative due to the large, initial sample
3) survey can be filled out quickly & easily

*weaknesses of SRRS:
1) some items can be very vague/ambiguous -> reduces precision of the measurement

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