Biological Psychology - Stress Mind Map - Mindmap in A Level and IB Psychology

Created by: Harry Jones
Created on: 28-05-13 11:12

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Biological Psychology - Stress
- Stress in Everyday Life
  - Life Changes and Daily Hassles
    - Holmes and Rahe: Social Readjustment Rating Scale
      - Formed a list of life events and asked participants to score how stressful they believed them to be
      - They then ranked the events in order of most to least stressful according to the Life Change Units (LCUs)
      - Rahe et al: found a positive correlation between LCUs and physical illness when studying naval men over 6 months
      - However, Michael and Ben-Zur noted that the same life event can have different effects depending on the context (e.g. divorced vs. bereaved loss of spouse)
    - DeLongis et al: Daily Hassles
      - The Hassles and Uplifts scale measures respondent's attitudes towards daily situations
      - Kanner et al: Found that daily hassles had a stronger correlation with stress than daily hassles
      - Evaluation: - Is the measured effect really due to life changes/dailyhassles? (other extraneous factors) - Problems with retrospective recall (may not fully rememebr the stress caused if event/hassle was experienced a long time ago) - Correlation not cause
        Holmes and Rahe: Social Readjustment Rating Scale
        Formed a list of life events and asked participants to score how stressful they believed them to be
        
        They then ranked the events in order of most to least stressful according to the Life Change Units (LCUs)
        
        Rahe et al: found a positive correlation between LCUs and physical illness when studying naval men over 6 months
        
        However, Michael and Ben-Zur noted that the same life event can have different effects depending on the context (e.g. divorced vs. bereaved loss of spouse)
  - Workplace Stress
    - Karasek's Model: a high strain job (most stressful) will have low control and high demand. Important factors in determining stress are decision latitude and job demand
    - Marmot et al: Conducted a longitudinal study of civil servants (Whitehall Study)
      - Found that heart disease was 1.5x more likely in the lower paid jobs (that had higher demad and lower control)
      - Found that the most important factor was decision latitude
        Johansson et al: Studied repetitive and high demand sawyer jobs in a Swedish saw mill
        Found that blood pressure was higher in the lower paid jobs (with less control and social contact)
    - Johansson et al: Studied repetitive and high demand sawyer jobs in a Swedish saw mill
      - Found that blood pressure was higher in the lower paid jobs (with less control and social contact)
  - Personality Factors
    - Personality Type
      - Friedman and Rosenman identified type A and type B personalities through interviews
      - Type A individuals are: - Hostile and competitive - Time Pressured Type B: - Relaxed and disinterested
        Friedman and Rosenman identified type A and type B personalities through interviews
      - Friedman and Rosenman found that Type A individuals were more at risk from heart disease
        Type A individuals are: - Hostile and competitive - Time Pressured Type B: - Relaxed and disinterested
      - Type C Individuals are more at risk from cancer: - Easygoing - Not good with stress - Emotionally suppresive
      - Type D Individuals are more at risk from heart attacks: - Pessimistic - Worry and lack social skills
    - The Hardy Personality
      - Kobasa identified hardy individuals as being: Challenged, Committed and Controlling
      - Kobasa also concluded that these individuals were more able to cope with stress
        Kobasa identified hardy individuals as being: Challenged, Committed and Controlling
      - Maddi et al found that more 'thriving' employees were hardy individuals
    - Rotter: Locus of Control
      - Internal Locus of Control: Blaming oneself and believing that stress is in one's own control (associated with autonomy)
      - External Locus of Control: Blaming others and believing that stress is beyond one's own control
- Stress
  - Body's Response to Stress
    - Sympathomedullary Pathway for Acute Stress
      - Stressor is detected in higher brain centres which makes the sympathetic branch of the ANS more active
        This causes the adrenal medulla to release adrenaline and noradrenaline into the blood
        This leads to increased blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate and perspiration and decreased digestion to allow more energy to be available for immediate use (fight or flight)
        Higher brain centres detect lowered levels of energy and strain on body's resources
        CRH is released by Hypothalamus which stimulates the anterior pituitary gland to release ACTH
        ACTH stimulates the adrenal cortex to release corticosteroids (including cortisol)
        These convert fat and protein to energy to replace energy lost and allow continued fight or flight
    - Pituitary-adrenal System for Chronic Stress
      - Higher brain centres detect lowered levels of energy and strain on body's resources
        CRH is released by Hypothalamus which stimulates the anterior pituitary gland to release ACTH
        ACTH stimulates the adrenal cortex to release corticosteroids (including cortisol)
        These convert fat and protein to energy to replace energy lost and allow continued fight or flight
      - Used to replace energy in times of chronic stress to allow continued response
    - Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome Model
      - 1) Alarm: Stressor is perceived which leads to increased arousal for "fight or flight" response
      - 2) Resistance: the body adapts to stress and becomes able to cope in a normal way (whilst arousal levels remain higher than normal)
      - 3) Exhaustion: the body becomes unable to cope and illness may develop
    - Gender Differences in the Stress Response
      - Taylor et al: Found that oxytocin was released in females which leads to maternal behaviour, or the "tend and befriend" response
      - Caroll: women make more use of social support (this could be due to men not wanting to talk about their feelings)
      - Vogele et al: women respond differently because they are more able to control their anger. This could be the result of biology or the roles we are taught to follow
  - Stress and the immune system
    - Brady et al: Found that monkeys with control over shocks were more likely to develop stomach ulcers
      - This suggests that having limited control may decrease immune functioning
    - Cohen et al: Participants completed questionnaires to determine their "stress index"
      - Found a positive correlation between participants with a high stress index and developing the common cold
    - Evans et al: measurd slgA levels in students during high and low stress
      - Found that short-term stress increased immune functioning while long-term stress reduced it
    - Kiecolt-Glaser et al: Found that Natural Killer cell activity was reduced uring students' examination period (high stress)
      - Concluded that stress weakened immune functioning
    - Segerstrom and Miller
      - Acute Stress -> upregulation of immune system
      - Chronic Stress -> downregulation of immune system
    - Marucha et al: Found that wounds inflicted on students took 40% longer to heal during exam periods
      - Kiecolt-Glaser et al: Found that Natural Killer cell activity was reduced uring students' examination period (high stress)
        Concluded that stress weakened immune functioning
  - Stress and the cardiovascular system
    - Krantz et al
      - Blood pressure and heart contractions were measured while participants undertook stressful tasks
      - Participants with high heart contractions also had high blood pressure which was concluded to be a direct impact of stress making cardiovascular disorders more likely
  - What is Stress?
    - The Transactional Model
      - Primary Appraisal: involves perception of the stressor (i.e. is it a threat and how much will it take to be able to cope with it)
      - Secondary Appraisal: involves perception of one's own coping abilities (i.e. can I cope with the stressor?)
      - Lazarus and Folkman: claimed that when perceived capacity to cope is lower than the perceived threat this leads to stress
    - Evolutionary Explanations
      - Canon claimed that when stressed humans exhibit a "fight or flight" response - they are provided with a sudden burst of energy
      - Early humans developed this response to stress as a result of natural selection - those who had the response had an increased chance or survival
- Coping with Stress
  - Psychological Stress Management
    - Kobasa: Hardiness Training
      - Teaching/Focusing: Identification of stressors and focusing on the physical symptoms of our stress
      - Reconstructing situations: involves considering how past stressors have been dealt with to encourage client towards a more realistic appraisal of life stress
      - Self-Improvement:aims to improve self-efficacy through introduction of skills that should make the client feel more optimistic towards dealing with stress
      - Maddi et al has shown effectiveness of therapy for increasing hardiness and relieving stress stymptoms
    - Meichenbaum: Stress Inoculation Training
      - Meichenbaum believes that altering the way that an individual thinks about stressors can change peoples' behaviour
      - 1) Conceptualisation: appraisal of stressors and how they're being dealt with
      - 2) Skill training and rehearsal: Therapist introduces skills to directly address stress appraisal
      - 3) Application: client uses their new skills and they develop the skills through experience
      - Although effective and long-lasting, this treatment is ethnocentric and requires commitment
  - Biological Stress Management
    - Biofeedback: - Patient's heart rate, blood pressure and muscle tension are measured - They are taught how to control these symptoms through relaxation and breathing techniques - These techniques are learnt to be used in everyday life
      - Attanasio et al: Biofeedback Useful - found that biofeedback helped children to gain control and develop a positive attitude
      - Masters et al: Biofeedback not useful - may be no more useful than relaxation techniques
    - Benzodiazepines: (e.g. valium) enhance the action of GABA and reduce the increased seratonin activity associated with anxiety thus making the person more relaxed
    - Beta-Blockers: (e.g. propanolol) reduce symapthetic activity by binding to receptors on body parts usually aroused by adrenaline
    - Drug Treatments: May be more effective for passive stressors as they do not traget the problem and do have side effects and can be addictive
      - Beta-Blockers: (e.g. propanolol) reduce symapthetic activity by binding to receptors on body parts usually aroused by adrenaline
    - Exercise: leads to better overall health and better sleep which reduces the chanc of stree-related illness
      - Throne et al studied fire-fighters and found that exercise lowered stress levels
  - Approaches to Coping with Stress
    - Problem-focused: active method that aims to deal with the problem itself . Taking control over source of stress itself.
    - Emotion-focused: can be positive or negative, deals with the emotions caused by stress. Examples include denial or smoking.
    - Evaluation: often a combination of both approaches is most effective (e.g. Folkman and Lazarus example of students using problem before exams and emotion after)
    - Mullis and Chapman found that people with higher self-esteem use problem-focused
    - Carver et al's COPE Scale: assesses coping styles from most effective (active coping) to least effective (e.g.humour)

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Biological Psychology - Stress Mind Map

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