Psychology 1000 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Cortisol, Catecholamine, Endocrine System
4 Jun 2018
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Stress and Psychological Well-Being
• Rape trauma syndrome – victims may feel nervous for months or years and fear
another attack by the rapist
• The more negative people report their traumatic experience to be the more reports of
psychological distress
• Neuroticism – heightened tendency to experience negative emotions and to get
themselves into stressful situations through their maladaptive behaviours
• Stressful events can function as both a cause and effect
Stress & Illness:
• Stress can combine with other physical and physiological factors and influence the
contraction of diseases such as a cold, cancer, heart disease, diabetes.
• The link between long-term stress and illness are not surprising because physiological
responses to stressors can directly harm other body systems.
• Stress can trigger the break down of the immune system and its functions
• Research has shown that exposure of the hippocampus to prolonged elevations of
stress-related hormones causes deterioration of the hippocampus and accompanying
memory impairment
• A stressor lasting only a few hours can release sufficient stress hormone to induce
structural changes in the hippocampus that last for a month or even longer
• Stress can also contribute to health breakdown by causing people to behave in ways
that increase the risk of illness
Vulnerability and Protective Factors:
• Vulnerability factors – increase people’s susceptibility to stressful events
o Lack of a support network, poor coping skills, tendencies to become anxious or
pessimistic, and other factors that reduce stress resistance
• Protective factors – environmental or personal resources that help people cope more
effectively with stressful events.
o Social support, coping skills, and personality factors
Social Support:
• Is one of the most important environmental resources that people can have
• Social isolation is an important vulnerability factor
o Research has found that people with weak social ties were twice as likely to die
during the period of study of those with strong ties
• Social ties leads to an improved immune system while stressed
• Social support decreases psychological distress in people who are dealing with stressful
life events
Cognitive Protective Factors: The Importance of Beliefs
Hardiness:
• Commitment, control (most important), and challenge
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Document Summary
Social support: social isolation is an important vulnerability factor. Coping self-effacy: through social persuasion and encouragement from others: when people experience an increase in self-effacy while confronting a stressful situation, their immune system actually begins to function more effectively. stressful events. Increased vulnerability to bodily breakdowns occurs when the person responds to stress with high levels of cortisol instead of catecholamines. Effectiveness of coping strategies: studies found that problem-focused coping methods and seeking social support are associated with favourable adjustment to stressors. Controllability and coping efficacy: problem-solving coping attempts to change the situation, which is not always the most adaptive way of dealing with stress. In some cases, emotion-focused coping may be the most adaptive approach: effectiveness of strategies depends on the characteristics of the situation, the appropriateness of the technique, and the skill with which it is carried out.
