Transcript Introduction to Psychology

Coping with stress
“Worried Sick” – last section on coping
Coping with stress
Overview:
1. Psychosocial
moderators of the
stress response
2. Ways of coping
Moderators: Factors that
influence impact of a
“stressor”
Coping styles
and strategies
(including
appraisal)
Social support
Control:
unpredictable
events;
ambiguous tasks
Personality &
current state of
person
The role of appraisal in stress
Appraisal: Attributional
style
Explanatory Style
A person’s propensity to attribute outcomes
to positive causes or negative causes
Negative Explanatory Style
Pessimistic attributions that are global,
stable, and internal
The Negative Stress Cycle
Social Support
Social Support
Companionship, emotional connection,
material assistance, touch, and/or honest
feedback, etc.
Handout: Bowling Alone
Social Support and Health
People who perceive strong social support
experience:
faster recoveries
fewer medical complications
lower mortality rates at any age (Alameda County
Study)
less distress in the face of terminal illness
Written exercise: Write about one of your
close friends and the support he/she provides
Just thinking about support helps!
For this study, “undergraduates (41 men, 41 women) wrote about
supportive ties or casual acquaintances. Supportive ties were rated as
warmer and less controlling than acquaintances, and writing about
them evoked reductions in negative affect, especially for low-hostile
participants," the researchers said.
"Compared with the acquaintance condition, the supportive tie
condition resulted in reduced heart rate and blood pressure response
during a subsequent speech stressor” among low-hostile participants.
Mental activation of supportive ties, hostility, and cardiovascular reactivity to
laboratory stress in young men and women. Health Psychology,
2004;23(5):476-485.
How Social Support Makes
a Difference
Ameliorate stress hormones
Encourages healthier lifestyles
Better relationships with doctors, nurses,
etc.
Religious involvement as a form of social support
Research studies
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Better immune/endocrine function (3 of 3)
Lower mortality from cancer (4 of 6)
Lower blood pressure (14 of 23)
Less heart disease (7 of 11)
Less stroke (1 of 1)
Lower cholesterol (3 of 3)
Less cigarette smoking (23 of 25)
More likely to exercise (3 of 5)
Lower mortality (11 of 14) (1995-2000)
Clergy mortality (12 of 13)
However, multiple problems with the research
Numerous new studies now under review
Religious Attendance and
Life Expectancy
Possible Reasons for Correlation Between
Religious Involvement and Health
Moderators: Personal Control
Personal Control
self-efficacy (Albert Bandura)
Design an intervention for nursing home
residents to increase their perceptions of
personal control
Langer & Rodin (1976): Nursing home
residents who were given more
responsibility over their daily lives were
more active, sociable, happier, and had
lower mortality rates than other residents
Perceived Control and
Biological Effects
Uncontrollable stressors trigger stronger
corticosteroid response
Stress aroused in a person with a sense of
mastery can actually enhance immune
functioning
Who Copes Well?
Appraisal of a stressor is impacted by
personal resources such as personality
Personality styles related to health
Type A
Optimism/Pessimism
Mastery/Locus of Control
Hardiness/Resilence
Moderators: Personality -hardiness
Hardiness
Cluster of stress-buffering traits
consisting
of commitment, challenge,
control
Linked to lower levels of
anxiety, adaptive coping styles,
and adjustment to cancer,
cardiovascular disease,
diabetes, and many other
health problems
Hardy people are more likely to
engage in positive reappraisal
of stressful events
Personality: Optimism and
Immune Functioning
Coping with stress
Coping
What is your most frequent and/or effective
coping method?
Coping -- a dynamic process to reduce stress
and/or restore balance
Involves cognitive, behavioral, emotional, social,
spiritual aspects
Coping Strategies
Problem-Focused Coping — dealing directly
with a stressor by reducing its demands or
increasing one’s resources for meeting those
demands
Proactive Coping — anticipate potential
stressors and act to prevent them or to mute
their impact
Health buffers – exercise, sleep, nutrition
Problem-focused: e.g., time
management
•Time stress!
•Strategies:
•Common time-consumers?
(identify and minimize)
•Prioritizing
•Avoiding procrastination
•Assertiveness (e.g., saying
no when necessary
•Others?
Coping Strategies
Emotion-Focused Coping
person tries to control his or her emotional
response to a stressor
escape-avoidance
reappraisal(e.g., “is this really that
important?” “am I engaging in faulty
thinking?)
only connect!
others? (see following slides)
Relaxation-based
approaches
Mindfulness
Meditation
Yoga
Biofeedback
Hypnosis
Relaxation
Guided imagery
Systematic desensitization
PMR
Coping: Psychotherapy
Psychotherapies:
Cognitive-behavioral (e.g., cognitive
restructuring)
Psychodynamic