Stress and Its Effects: Psychological and Physical Health (PSYCHOLOGY 2035A)

Stress and Its Effects: Psychological and Physical Health

Overview

This study guide summarizes key concepts from Psychology 2035A, focusing on the nature of stress, its sources, responses, effects, and the relationship between stress, personality, and health. It is designed to help students understand how stress impacts psychological and physical well-being, and how individual differences and lifestyle choices influence stress tolerance and health outcomes.

Nature of Stress

Definition and Characteristics

• Stress is defined as any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one’s well-being and thereby tax one’s coping abilities.

• It is a complex concept and a common, everyday event.

• Both major and minor problems can be stressful; daily hassles can have negative effects on well-being.

• Stressful events can have a cumulative or additive impact.

• Stress is subjective; not everyone feels the same degree of stress from the same event.

Appraisal of Stress

• Primary appraisal: Initial evaluation of the relevance, level of threat, and degree of stress an event brings.

• Secondary appraisal: Evaluation of one’s ability to cope with the event.

• Appraisal processes determine whether an event is experienced as stressful.

Environmental and Cultural Influences

• Ambient stress: Chronic negative conditions embedded in the environment (e.g., noise, pollution, crowding, poverty).

• Certain types of environmental stress (e.g., poverty) are associated with elevated stress hormones.

• Culture influences the experience and appraisal of stress, including disparities in stressors among cultural groups.

• Racial discrimination and acculturation (adapting to a new culture) are major sources of stress for targeted groups and immigrants.

Sources of Stress

Categories of Stressors

• Acute stressors: Threatening events with a short duration and clear endpoint.

• Chronic stressors: Threatening events with a long duration and no readily apparent time limit.

• Anticipatory stressors: Upcoming or future events perceived as threatening.

Types of Stressors

• Frustration: Occurs when pursuit of a goal is thwarted; failures and losses are common sources.

• Conflict: Occurs when two or more incompatible motivations or behavioral impulses compete for expression.

Types of Conflict

• Approach-Approach: Choice between two attractive goals.

• Avoidance-Avoidance: Choice between two unattractive goals.

• Approach-Avoidance: Choice about pursuing one goal with both pros and cons.

Life Changes and Pressure

• Life changes: Noticeable alterations in living circumstances requiring readjustment; both positive and negative changes can be stressful.

• Pressure: Expectations or demands to behave in a certain way; includes pressure to perform and pressure to conform.

• Pressure is often self-imposed.

Responding to Stress

Multidimensional Responses

• Responses to stress occur at three levels: emotional, physiological, and behavioral.

Emotional Responses

• Negative emotions: Annoyance, anger, rage, apprehension, anxiety, fear, rejection, sadness, grief.

• Positive emotions: Gratitude, love, and other emotions that build social, intellectual, and physical resources.

• Emotions may hamper or enhance coping, depending on arousal level and task complexity.

Yerkes-Dodson Law (Inverted-U Hypothesis)

• Low complexity tasks: High arousal is optimal.

• Medium complexity tasks: Medium arousal is best.

• High complexity tasks: Low arousal is optimal.

Physiological Responses

• Fight-or-flight response: Physiological reaction to threat that mobilizes an organism for fighting or fleeing.

• Occurs in the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which connects to blood vessels, smooth muscles, and glands.

• ANS divisions:

  • Sympathetic division: Mobilizes energy during emergencies; engages fight-or-flight response.

  • Parasympathetic division: Conserves energy; has a calming effect.

• Tend-and-befriend response: May be more common among females; involves seeking social support.

Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome

• Model of the body’s stress response, consisting of three stages:

Stage	Description
Alarm Reaction	Initial response to threat; fight-or-flight response engages.
Resistance	If threat continues, physiological changes stabilize, coping begins.
Exhaustion	If threat continues too long, resources are depleted, leading to exhaustion and illness.

Behavioral Responses

• Coping: Active efforts to master, reduce, or tolerate the demands created by stress.

• Coping responses may be healthy (problem-solving, seeking help) or unhealthy (ignoring problems, substance use).

• Coping strategies help determine whether stress has positive or negative effects.

Potential Effects of Stress

Impaired Task Performance

• Pressure to perform can impair performance by disrupting attention; people may "choke" under pressure.

• Increased tendency to jump to conclusions, unsystematic thinking, and impaired memory functioning.

Burnout

• Burnout: Syndrome involving physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and lowered self-efficacy due to work-related stress.

Component	Symptoms	Consequences
Exhaustion	Emotional fatigue, lack of energy	Reduced productivity
Cynicism	Depersonalization, detachment	Poor relationships
Lowered self-efficacy	Feelings of ineffectiveness	Decreased job satisfaction

Other Effects

• Academic performance difficulties

• Sleep disturbances

• Relationship dissatisfaction

• Substance abuse

• Onset of psychological disorders (depression, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• PTSD: Psychological disturbance attributed to the experience of a major traumatic event.

• Symptoms: Nightmares, flashbacks, emotional numbing, alienation, problems in social relations, elevated arousal, anxiety, guilt.

• Associated with increased risk for substance abuse, depression, anxiety, and physical health problems.

• Intensity of reaction to trauma is a key predictor of PTSD symptoms.

Psychosomatic Diseases

• Psychosomatic diseases: Genuine physical ailments thought to be caused in part by stress and other psychological factors.

• Common examples: High blood pressure, ulcers, asthma, eczema, hives, migraine and tension headaches.

Positive Effects of Stress

• Can promote positive psychological change or post-traumatic growth.

• Can inoculate and psychologically prepare individuals for future stress.

Variables Influencing Stress Tolerance

Moderator Variables

• Social support: Aid and succor provided by members of one’s social networks.

• Hardiness: Disposition marked by commitment, challenge, and control; associated with strong stress resistance.

• Optimism: General tendency to expect good outcomes; optimists use action-oriented, problem-focused coping and seek social support, while pessimists avoid stress or use denial.

• Optimism is associated with better mental and physical health worldwide.

Personality, Stress, and Illness

Coronary Heart Disease

• Results from reduced blood flow through the coronary arteries, often due to atherosclerosis (narrowing caused by buildup of cholesterol and debris).

• Personality factors, especially Type A personality (competitive, impatient, hostile), are linked to increased coronary risk.

Cancer and Other Diseases

• Cancer: Malignant cell growth; stress is related but not necessarily causally linked to onset.

• Personality and stress can influence the course of disease.

• Other stress-related diseases: Headaches, hypertension, inflammatory bowel disease, gastrointestinal disorders, infections.

Immune Function

• Immune response: Body’s defense reaction to invasion by bacteria, viruses, or other foreign substances.

• Stress-related immune suppression can occur, but most research is correlational.

Lifestyles and Health

Unhealthy Habits and Premature Death

• Unhealthy habits (smoking, alcohol consumption, unsafe driving, risky sexual behavior, illicit drug use) account for most premature deaths.

• Unrealistic optimism: Awareness of health risks but erroneous belief that dangers apply to others, not oneself.

Smoking

• Increases risk of premature death (13–14 years shorter life expectancy).

• Linked to lung cancer and other cancers, chronic obstructive lung diseases, circulatory diseases, and more.

• Quitting smoking is difficult; many attempts may be needed.

Alcohol Consumption

• Alcohol is widely endorsed socially and can temporarily boost self-esteem and dull negative emotions.

• Short-term risks: Hangover, headache, dizziness, vomiting, impaired judgment, reduced intellectual functioning, poor motor coordination.

• Long-term risks: Alcohol dependence (alcoholism), impaired control, negative health and social consequences.

Exercise

• Benefits: Enhanced cardiovascular fitness, avoidance of obesity, reduced risk of certain cancers, protection from stress, positive effect on mental health, increased self-esteem.

• Recommendations: Choose enjoyable activities, exercise regularly but moderately, increase participation gradually, reward yourself, and remember it is never too late to begin.

HIV/AIDS

• AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome): Condition where the immune system is weakened by HIV.

• Transmission: Contact with bodily fluids (blood, semen), risky behaviors (unprotected sex, sharing needles), mother-to-child during birth or breastfeeding.

• Stigma: Misconceptions about HIV transmission and prognosis persist; proper treatment allows normal life expectancy.

• Prevention: Fewer sexual partners, open communication, use of latex condoms, limiting acts that mix semen and blood.

Additional info: Academic context and definitions have been expanded for clarity and completeness. Tables have been recreated to summarize burnout and general adaptation syndrome. All major topics from the original notes are covered and logically grouped.