Health Psychology - Stress

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

STRESS

CAUSES OF STRESS

• Johansson - work - aimed to show that responsability at work impacts on stress - 24 workers at a swedish sawmill - data collected through urine samples and self-report - 14 high-risk, governed by production line, responsible for rate at which objects were finished and there teams wages - 10 control group who were cleaners or maintenance workers - adrenaline levels measured through urine, body temp measured at time of urine collection, self rating scales e.g. sleepiness, well being etc.., caffeine and nicotine consumption notes - at first urine sample all same, by end of day high risk had increased significantly - self report, high risk felt more irritated/rushed than the control group, rated well-being lower - highpaced, repetitive work contributed to stress
• Kanner - hassles - compare hassles and uplifts scale and the berkman life events scale as predictors of psychological symptoms of stress - repeated measures - assessed symptoms psychological symptoms using Hopkins symptons checklist and bradburn morale scale - 100 participants who had previously completed health survey in 1965, all from california, mostly white - completed hassles rating every month for 9 months - completed life events rating after 10 months - HSCH and Bradburn morale scale every month for 9 months - hassles were consistent from month to month - men life events and hassles pos correlation - more life events, more hassles, less uplifts - women life events, hassles and uplifts pos correlation - hassle correlated with HSCL Symptoms - hassles are more powerful predictor than life events
• Geer and Maisel - control - lab expt - 60 psych students - wired up to GSR and heart rate monitor (heart rate wasn't consistent so only used GSR data) - presented with a toneo and a photo at particular times - GSR measured at on-set of tone, 2nd half of tone and response to photo (all photos of dead carcrash victims) - indept groups 1) actual control 2) predictable/no control 3) no control/no predictibility - 1) had lowest stress (lowest GSR) 2) had greatest stress to…