1.

Biopsychosocial Model holds that physical illness is caused by a complex

interaction of biological, psychological and socio-cultural factors.
2. Health Psychology concerned with how psychosocial factors relate to the promotion
and maintenance of health and with the causation, prevention and treatment of illness.
B. Stress As An Everyday Event
1. Stress any circumstances that threaten or are perceived o threaten ones well being
and thereby tax ones coping abilities.
2. Stress is cumulative it adds up.
C. Appraisal: Stress Lies in the Eye of the Beholder
1. Peoples appraisal of stressful events are highly subjective i.e. Depends on a person.
Primary Appraisal= judging whether an event is irrelevant to you, relevant, or stressful
Secondary Appraisal= judging your coping resources and options for dealing with stress
II. Major Types of Stress
A. Frustration
1. Frustration occurs in any situation in which the pursuit of some good is thwarted.
2. Failure and loss are 2 common kinds of frustration which are highly stressful.
B. Conflict
1. Conflict occurs when 2 or more incompatible motivations on behavioral impulses
compete for expression.
2. King and Emmons used questionnaire to measure overall amount of internal
conflict.
a. High Levels anxiety, depression and physical symptoms.
3. Approach-Approach Conflict choice must be made between 2 attractive goals.
a. Tend to be least stressful.
b. Generally happy ending.
4. Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict choice must be made between 2 unattractive goals.
a. Usually unpleasant and highly stressful
5. Approach-Avoidance Conflict choice must be made about whether to pursue a
single goal that has both attractive and unattractive aspects.
a. Common and can be quite stressful
b. Vacillation indecision.
C. Change
1. Life Changes any noticeable alterations in ones living that require readjustment.
a. Changes in personal relationship, work, finances, etc., can be stressful even
when welcomes (Holmes and Rahe)
b. Developed Social Readjustment Rating Scale SRRS to measure life changes as
a form of stress.
c. People with higher social scores tend to be more vulnerable to many kinds of
physical illness and to many types of psychological problems.
D. Pressure
1. Pressure involves expectations or demands that make one behave in a certain way.
a. Pressure to perform when expected to execute tasks and responsibilities
quickly, efficiently, and successfully.
b. Pressure to conform- abide by the rules Strongest influence

A Persons reaction to stress can be analyzed at 3 levels emotional, physiological

and behavioral.
E. Emotional Response
1. Stress tends to elicit unpleasant emotions
2. As stress increases, mood becomes more negative.
3. Emotions Commonly elicited
a. Strong link between specific cognitive reactions to stress (appraisals) and
specific emotions
b. Common emotional responses to stress include
i. Annoyance, anger, rage
ii. Apprehension, anxiety, fear
iii. Dejection, sadness, and grief.
c. Others emotions incl. guilt, shame, envy, jealousy, and disgust.
Broaden and build theory- 1. Positive emotions can broaden peoples scope of attention
2. Positive emotions can undermine lingering effects of negative emotions
3. Positive emotions promote rewarding social interactions.
Positive emotions can protect against heart diseases.
U hypothesis suggests optimal arousal level decreases as tasks become more complex.
FIGHT OR FLIGHT
Sympathetic nervous system of the ANS
The General Adaptation Syndrome model of the bodys stress response, consisting
of 3 stages alarm, resistance, and exhaustion (Selye)
a. Alarm reaction 1st stage, occurs when organism realizes the existence of a
threat i.e. Flight or Fight Response.
b. As stress continues, reach 2nd Stage Stage of resistance, physiological
changes stabilize as coping efforts get under way.
c. Substantial Period of time, 3rd stage Stage of Exhaustion if stress cant be
overcome, bodily resources depleted, and organism may collapse; Resistance
goes down, leading to diseases of adaptation.
Hypothalamus, adrenal medulla, adrenal cortex
Learned helplessness- giving up in exposure to unavoidable stressful events
Catastrophic thinking accompanies blaming oneself in response to stress
a. Aggression any behavior that is intended to hurt someone, either physically or
verbally.
b. Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis (Dollard) aggression is always caused by
frustration (however, not inevitable).
c. Displacement lashing out aggressively at others who had nothing to do with
their frustration, apparently because you cant vent anger at the real source
(Freud).
d. Catharsis release of emotional tension, through behaving aggressively to get
pent up emotion out of ones system. Adaptive technique proposed by Freud.
(Little support).

d. Defense Mechanisms largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from

unpleasant emotions such as anxiety and guilt.
e. Used to defend against emotional discomfort that is elicited by stress, incl.
anxiety, anger, guilt and dejection.
f. Used to Distort Reality, by using self detection. Stages:
i. Stages of Self Deception denial, fantasy, intellectualization (isolation),
undoing, overcompensation.
4. Constructive Coping relatively healthful efforts that people make to deal with
stressful events. Strategies:
a. Confronting Problems directly.
b. Making realistic proposals of your stress and coping resources.
c. Learning to recognize (and inhibit) potentially disruptive emotional reactions to
stress.
d. Making efforts to ensure that your body is not especially vulnerable to the
possibly damaging effects of stress.
Baumeister pressure can interfere with performance. Assumes pressure to perform often makes
people self-conscious and that this elevated level of self-consciousness disrupts their attention.
i.e. choking is common.
Burnout involves physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that is attributable to long term
involvement in emotionally demanding situations.
Resilience- successful adaptation to significant stress and trauma
Arteriosclerosis- primary cause of coronary heart disorder
1. Elements of Type A Behavior
a. Type A Personality incl. 3 elements strong competitive orientation,
impatience, time urgency, and anger/hostility.
i. Generally ambitious, heard driving perfectionists who are exceedingly time
conscious (workaholics).
ii. Cynical about life and hostile towards others.
b. Type B Personality relatively relaxed, patient, easygoing, amicable behavior
i. Less hurried, less competitive, and less easily angered
Precocity-longevity hypothesis (McCann)- early achievers are prone to early death
Stress can suppress the immune system temporarily, chronic inflammation can occur during
stress, overproduction of proteins called cytokines.
Smoking= 8 years, lung cancer and heart disease
Albert Ellis rational emotive therapy is that stress is caused by catastrophic thinking
Acute stressor- short duration, clear endpoint
Chronic stressor- long duration, unclear endpoint