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 StylePessimistic attributions that are global,

stable, and internal

The Negative Stress Cycle

Social Support

Social SupportCompanionship, 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 recoveriesfewer medical complicationslower 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 hormonesEncourages healthier lifestyles Better relationships with doctors,

nurses, etc.

Research studies

• 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 involvement as a form of social support

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 balanceInvolves 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 stressorescape-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 imagerySystematic desensitizationPMR

Coping: Psychotherapy

Psychotherapies: Cognitive-behavioral (e.g.,

cognitive restructuring) Psychodynamic