Stress and Coping

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Stress and Coping

• Josée L. Jarry, Ph.D., C.Psych.
• Health Psychology, psy333
• Department of Psychology
• University of Toronto
• October 28, 2002

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Definition (1)

• Aldwin (1994)
• Quality of experience, produced through a
  person-environment transaction, that through
  over- or under-arousal, results in psychological
  or physiological distress
• Hans Selye
• The non-specific result of any demand upon the
  body, be the effect mental or somatic
• Eustress is a positive stressful experience, a
  state of physical and psychological well-being
  that is associated with increased motivation and
  the acceptance of a challenge.
• What is essential to well-being is a balance to
  produce an optimal level of arousal
• Too little stress can be as harmful as too much
• Stress can result from being over- or
  under-stimulated

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Definition (2)

• Lazarus Folkman (1984)
• A relationship between a person and the
  environment that is appraised by the person as
  taxing or exceeding his or her resources and
  endangering his/her well-being
• This definition introduces the important notion
  of subjective appraisal
• Walter Canon
• Introduced the concept of homeostasis bodys
  attempt at maintaining a stable internal state
• Stress challenges homeostasis
• Fight or Flight response
• Complex ANS reaction in preparation for
  emergencies

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Definition (3)

• Rice, P. R. (1999)
• Stressors
• External, environmental demands placed on us that
  cause us to feel stressed
• Subjective response
• Interpretive mental state of the individual
• Allows one to diminish, augment, or distort the
  impact of external events
• Bodys physical response to stress
• Physiological challenges which, if prolonged, can
  result in a negative state, or alternatively, an
  improved capacity to cope physiologically

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The Physiology of Stress

• 2 major components to the physical response to
  stress
• Nervous system
• Endocrine system

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Structure of the Nervous System

• Central nervous system is made of
• Brain
• Spinal cord
• Peripheral nervous system is made of
• Somatic nervous system
• Receives information from the sensory organs
• Controls movements of the skeletal muscles
• Autonomic nervous system (ANS)
• Primarily serves internal organs
• Has 2 divisions
• Sympathetic
• Parasympathetic

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Sympathetic Response to Stress

• Hypothalamus causes
• Increases arousal in the sympathetic nervous
  system
• Increased heart rate blood pressure
• Constriction of peripheral blood vessels
• Respiration rates increase
• Bronchial tubes dilate
• Pupils dilate
• Digestive processes decrease
• Sympathetic activation prepares the body for
  intense motor activity

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Parasympathetic response to stress

• Serves regenerative, growth-promoting,
  energy-conserving functions
• Its effects include the opposite of the effect of
  the sympathetic nervous system
• Functions under normal, non-stressful conditions
• Also activated by the hypothalamus
• re-establishes homeostasis in the system
• reconstructive process following stressful
  experience
• slows the heart rate decreases blood pressure
• decreases muscle tension
• slows respiration
• neutralizes fight or flight response

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Structure of the Endocrine System

• The endocrine system consists of ductless glands
  distributed throughout the body
• The neuroendocrine system is made of those
  endocrine glands that are controlled by the
  nervous system
• Glands of the endocrine and neuroendocrine
  systems secrete chemicals called hormones
• Hormones move into the blood stream to be carried
  throughout the body
• Specialized receptors on target tissues or organs
  allow hormones to have specific effects even
  though they circulate throughout the body

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Endocrine Responses to Stress

• Hypothalamus causes
• The pituitary gland to secrete adrenocorticotropic
  hormone (ACTH) that stimulates the adrenal
  cortex
• Sympathetic fibers to directly activate the
  adrenal medulla
• The adrenal glands are located on top of each
  kidney
• Each gland is composed of
• an outer covering the adrenal cortex
• an inner part the adrenal medulla
• Both secrete hormones that are important in the
  stress response

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Adrenomedullary Response - SAM

• Occurs through the activation of the
  sympathetic-adrenal medulla (SAM) complex
• Perception of stress causes the hypothalamus (via
  nervous connection) to activate sympathetic
  fibers
• Sympathetic fibers activate the adrenal medulla
• Adrenal medulla secretes the catecholamines
  epinephrine norepinephrine
• This causes
• Increased heart rate, blood pressure, breathing
  rate blood glucose levels
• Shuts down digestive system
• Rapid, short-lived response to stress

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Adrenocortical Response - HPA

• Occurs through the activation of the
  hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) cortex
  complex
• Perception of stress causes the hypothalamus to
  release ACTH releasing hormone
• This causes the anterior pituitary to secrete
  ACTH
• ACTH stimulates the adrenal cortex to secrete
  glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids
• Glucocorticoids
• Protein and fat get metabolized into glucose
• Reduce inflammation, suppress immune cells
• Mineralocorticoids
• Blood volume and pressure increase

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Sympathetic and Endocrine Responses to Stress

• Stress perception causes a chain reaction
• SAM
• rapid, short-term stress reaction
• the sympathetic NS stimulates the adrenal medulla
• the adrenal medulla produces epinephrine and
  norepinephrine
• HPA
• slower but longer-lasting response
• the pituitary releases ACTH
• ACTH causes the adrenal cortex to release
  glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids

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Brain Response to Stress

• Limbic System
• Adds an element of emotion to the experience of
  stress
• Usually negative emotions fear, anger, anxiety,
  pain
• Reticular formation
• Communication network that filters messages to
  the body
• Receives input from all the sensory systems and
  determines which sensory information is processed
  or blocked
• This allows us to selectively attend to specific
  tasks while ignoring irrelevant information

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The General Adaptation Syndrome (1)

• Defined by Selye in 1956. Comprises 3 stages
• Stage I Alarm
• The bodys defences against stressors are
  mobilized through activation of the sympathetic
  nervous system
• Activation of the SAM complex
• Arousal of the sympathetic nervous system
  releases hormones (adrenaline) that help prepare
  the body to meet stress and danger
• Highly adaptive short term response to an
  emergency situation

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The General Adaptation Syndrome (2)

• Stage II Resistance
• The body enters this stage if the stress is
  prolonged
• Activation of the HPA complex
• Arousal is lower
• But the body continues to draw on internal
  resources at an above normal rate
• Outwards appearance seems normal
• Physiologically, the bodys internal functioning
  is not normal
• Sets the stage for diseases of adaptation (e.g.,
  peptic ulcers, ulcerative colitis)

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The General Adaptation Syndrome (3)

• Stage III Exhaustion
• Continued exposure to the same stressor drains
  the body further
• The capacity to resist is depleted
• Illness results
• This stage is characterized by activation of the
  parasympathetic division of the ANS
• But at an abnormally low level
• In severe cases, results in death

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Cognitive - Transactional Model

• Lazarus Folkman (1984)
• Propose that the interpretation of stressful
  events is more important than the events
  themselves
• It is neither the environmental event nor the
  persons response that defines stress
• It is the individuals perception of the
  psychological situation that defines stress
• Stress is a function of the persons feeling of
  threat, vulnerability, and ability to cope rather
  than a function of the stressor
• Distinguish three kinds of appraisal

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Primary appraisal

• Initial evaluation of a situation
• 3 possible outcomes
• Irrelevant
• the event has no implication for the individuals
  well-being
• Benign-positive
• the event may increase well-being
• Stressful
• the situation is perceived as harmful,
  threatening, or challenging

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Primary appraisal (2)

• Harm/loss
• involves actual significant physical or
  psychological loss
• psychological damage that has already been done
• Threat
• the anticipation of harm or loss
• allows to anticipate and prepare for the future
• Challenge
• the event is perceived as stressful
• the focus is on positive excitement
• refers to the persons confidence in overcoming
  difficult demands

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Secondary Appraisal

• Concerned with a persons evaluation of his/her
  ability to cope with the situation
• The individual asks 3 questions
• which coping options are available?
• the likelihood that one can apply the strategy
• the likelihood that any given options will work
  will it reduce stress?
• Reappraisal
• continuous reappraisal on the basis of new
  information
• identical to the initial process
• may lead to more stress

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Coping (1)

• Lazarus and Folkman (1984)
• Constantly changing cognitive and behavioural
  efforts to manage specific internal and/or
  external demands that are appraised as taxing or
  exceeding the resources of the person
• Several important elements of the definition
• Coping is a process of constant evaluation of the
  success of ones strategies
• Coping is learned as one encounters situations
• Coping requires effort
• Coping is an effort to manage. Success is not
  contingent on mastery, just good enough

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Coping (2)

• Health energy
• Positive belief
• the ability to cope is enhanced when people
  believe they can successfully bring about desired
  consequences
• Problem-solving skills
• having specific knowledge or abilities related to
  specific problem
• Social skill
• ability to get other people to cooperate
• Social support
• feeling of being accepted, loved, or prized by
  others
• Material Resources

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Coping (3)

• Problem Focussed Coping
• consists of changing the situation
• redefining the problem
• looking at alternative solutions
• evaluating the implications of the alternatives
• choosing the best one to act on
• Emotion-focussed coping
• consists of controlling and possibly changing the
  emotional response to an event
• cognitive responses such as avoidance or
  minimization
• the goal is to decrease emotional distress
• often used when the individual feels that nothing
  can be done about the situation

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Stress and Control

• Stephen Weiss (1968, 1971)
• Study 1
• reliable escape response reduces development of
  ulcers
• Study 2
• predictable stressors produced fewer ulcers
• true even in the absence of an escape response
  option
• Study 3
• feedback about effectiveness of response results
  in fewer ulcers
• Conclusion
• the physiological effects of stress can be
  greatly reduced if the organism can engage in
  controlling behaviour
• getting feedback that ones behaviour is
  effective can further reduce the physiological
  effects of stress

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