Stress & Illness
24 important questions on Stress & Illness
What did Kiecolt-Glaser et al. 1984 investigate? What did they find?
= decrease in Th1 type cytokine and increase in Th2 type cytokine (Th1 is related to the cellular response and immunity = people’s response to viruses; suggests people are more likely to get ill during exam periods) (Th2 cells activate blood system immunity – wards off more specific pathogens) = exams have a specific effect on immunity
Conclusion: stressful events reliably associated with changes in the immune system
- Shows potential causal chain but does not explain individual differences
What are 4 moderators of the stress-illness link?
1. Social support (Cohen & Mills, 1985; Pressman et al., 2005)
2. Hardiness (Klag & Bradley, 2004)
3. Type A personality (Fredrickson et al., 2000)
4. Exercise/ physical activity (Carmack et al., 1999)
What hypothesis did Cohen and Mills (1985) propose?
--> A support network may inhibit a maladaptive response to stress - look at slide 14 for diagram
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What did Pressman et al. (2005) investigate? What did they find?
Participants kept daily diaries of levels of loneliness - acted as proxy levels of stress
Results = Higher levels of loneliness = higher psychological levels of stress
Asked to identify how large their social network
- The researchers found no relationship between loneliness and support network – limitations of study?
Measured antibodies in the blood
Results = social support may provide a buffer to people’s immune function
--> supports Social Support and buffering Hypothesis
Paper: http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1242&context=psychology
What did Fredrickson et al. (2000) investigate? What did they find?
Measured hostility and looked at the response to a stressful task and how that effects participants' blood pressure (BP)
Stressful task = asked Ps to recall an event that made them angry
Result = the task raises the BP more in high hostility individuals
- African Americans also showed longer-lasting blood pressure reactivity to anger
- Stronger connection for people with type A personality
Paper: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Helms3/publication/12454475_Hostility_Predicts_Magnitude_and_Duration_of_Blood_Pressure_Response_to_Anger/links/0deec528a2d1c6f058000000.pdf
What did Carmack et al. (1999) find?
= Interesting, not just about how fit you are – it’s all about participation to buffer the effects of stress
--> The researchers go into a Distractor Hypothesis to explain why
---> Look into whether team sports combat stress better than individual sports
What could reduce stress? What result could this have?
- has some success in reducing coronary heart disease (Johnson 1989, 1992) and in reducing current cold and flu in children (Hewson-Bower and Drummond, 2001)
(p. 240 Ogden textbook)
What are 2 problems with a purely chronic model of the stress-illness link?
2. Stress can explain the accumulative damage to the cardiovascular system. However, this chronic model does not explain why coronary events occur when they do
(in light of these problems, Johnston (2002) argues for an acute model
(p. 240 - 41 Ogden textbook)
How does stress cause changes in sympathetic activation?
--> the prolonged production of adrenalin and noradrenalin can result in:
- blood clot formation
- increased blood pressure
- increased heart rate
- irregular heart beats
- fat deposits
- plaque formation
- immunosuppression
= these changes can increase the chances of heart & kidney disease and leave the body open to infection
(p. 244 Ogden textbook)
How does stress cause changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical activation?
---> the prolonged production of cortisol can result in:
- decreased immune formation
- damage to neurons in the hippocampus
= these changes can increase the chances of infection, psychiatric problems and losses in memory & concentration
(p. 244 Ogden textbook)
What type of stress is more likely to involve HPA activation and the release of cortisol?
---> this results in the slower process process of atherosclerosis and damage to the cardiovascular system
(p. 244 Ogden textbook)
What is a limitation of a cross-sectional design? What design could you use instead?
Some researchers therefore use a prospective design
(p. 245 Ogden textbook)
What happens when the body recovers from reacting to stress?
(p. 245 Ogden textbook)
Some research indicates that rate of recovery from stress may relate to a susceptibility to stress-related illness. How does cortisol production fit in with this?
(p. 245 Ogden textbook)
Who came up with the concept, 'allostatic load'? What is this?
The allostatic load is "the wear and tear on the body" which grows over time when the individual is exposed to repeated or chronic stress. It represents the physiological consequences of chronic exposure to fluctuating or heightened neural or neuroendocrine response that results from repeated or chronic stress
(p. 246 Ogden textbook)
What is psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)?
--> more info p. 246-250 Ogden textbook
What factors moderate the stress-illness link?
2. Coping styles -> may mediate the stress-illness link and determine the extent of the effect of stress on their health
3. Social support -> has been related to a decreased stress response and a subsequent reduction in illness
4. Personality -> this has been studied with a focus on type A personality and the role of hostility
5. Actual or perceived control -> control over the stressor may decrease the effects of stress on an individual's health status
(p. 255 Ogden textbook)
Wills (1985) defined several types of social support, what are they?
2. Support -> whereby other people are available to offer advice
3. Companionship -> involves support through activities
4. Instrumental support -> involves physical help
(p. 259 Ogden textbook)
What 2 hypotheses explain the role of social support in health?
2. Stress buffering hypothesis
(p. 260 Ogden textbook)
What is the main effect hypothesis?
--> This suggests that social support mediates the stress-illness link, with its presence reducing the effect of the stressor and its absence acting as the stressor
(p. 260 Ogden textbook)
What is the stress buffering hypothesis?
(p. 260 Ogden textbook)
What did Fredrickson et al. (2000) find in regards to hostility?
--> hostility and stress reactivity seem to be closely linked
(p. 263 Ogden textbook)
Through what 3 pathways does hostility link to health?
2. Unhealthy behaviours e.g. smoking, alcohol intake, caffeine consumption and poorer diet
3. Moderating factors e.g. hostile individuals may avoid social support and refuse to get any help when they are stressed
(p. 264 Ogden textbook)
What 4 theories explain how control influences health and mediates the stress-illness link?
2. Control and behaviour following illness--> high control enables the individual to change behaviour after illness
3. Control and physiology--> control directly influences health via physiological changes
4. Control and personal responsibility --> high control can lead to a feeling of personal responsibility and consequently personal blame and learned helplessness. These feelings could either lead to no behaviour change or to unhealthy behaviours resulting in illness
(p. 266 Ogden textbook)
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