Showing papers on "Stressor published in 1980"

Aftereffects of stress on human performance and social behavior: a review of research and theory.

Abstract: A review of experimental and correlational studies of the aftereffects of stress on performance suggests that these effects occur as a consequence of a wide range of unpredictable , uncontrollable stressors including noise, electric shock, bureaucratic stress, arbitrary discrimination, density, and cold pressor. Moreover, these effects are not limited to a restricted range of stressful situations that involve a lack of predictabilit y and controllability over a distracting stimulus, but they can also be induced by increased task demand. Interventions that increase personal control and/or stressor predictability are effective in reducing poststressor effects. There is also evidence for poststimulation effects on social behavior that generally involve an insensitivity toward others following stressor exposure, Studies of exposure to environmental stressors in naturalistic settings report effects similar to those found in laboratory settings. Several theories (e.g., psychic cost, learned helplessness, arousal) are examined in light of existing evidence. Although some theories receive more support than others, it is suggested that the reliability and the generality of poststimulati on effects occur in part because of a multiplicity of causes.

Physiological Stress in Birds

Abstract: This quotation and the subsequent publication of the details of the General Adaptation Syndrome (Selye 1937) have become the basis for a vast number of studies on the subject of stress in animals. Despite the fact that the term stress seems imprecise because it means different things to different people, the broad concept has proved to be remarkably robust. In Selyean terminology, stress describes an animal's defense mechanisms, and thus a stress stimulus (stressor) is any situation that elicits defensive responses (Selye 1963). Since the environment is a composite of interacting stressors, a bird's success in coping with it depends on the severity of the stressor(s) and the bird's physiological ability to respond properly. In the broadest sense, the environment includes all combinations of conditions in which the bird lives-external (temperature, light, etc.) as well as internal (disease organisms, parasites). Significant changes in the environment signal regulatory processes to attempt to maintain or reestablish the equilibrium or homeostatic state. There are two general types of regulatory processes: specific and nonspecific. A particular condition will elicit a specific response. For example, when the external environment causes a bird's body temperature to rise, surface blood vessels dilate to permit greater blood flow to the skin for more rapid heat dissipation, and feathers are rearranged to reduce insulation. These are specific responses to the specific environmental stimulus of

Family Adaptation to Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: Response to Crisis.

Abstract: RESULTS show that following this particular stressor event, families are in crisis and adapt by making structural changes. RESULTS raise the question of whether postinjury family dysfunction is due to reliance on previous coping strategies. Language: en

Coping Styles of Chicago Adults: Effectiveness

Abstract: • With a sample of 2,299 Chicago adults, a quantitive exploration is made of the effectiveness of different coping styles in dealing with stressor situations and feelings of distress associated with marriage, parenting, finances, and job; psychiatric symptomatology; and feelings of low self-efficacy. The specific measure of effectiveness is the extent to which one or more coping styles predicts a given dependent variable in a multiple regression analysis. As a group, coping strategies are more predictive of the stressor situation and feelings of personal distress than of psychiatric symptomatology or feelings of low self-efficacy. Also, coping styles relate differentially among the four life areas; they are more predictive of levels of stressors in marriage and parenting than in finances or job. Some coping styles are strongly predictive of low amounts of stressors; this is particularly true of the use of strategies that invoke direct action.

Acculturation and mental disorder in the Inuit.

Abstract: The phenomenon of acculturation stress is described with particular reference to the subsequent development of the transitional role conflict. The adolescent and young adult male Eskimo is especially susceptible to the anxiety generated by the process of acculturation and it is the interaction of this external stress with the bio-psychosocial characteristics of the individual within his ecological group, that may lead to an increased incidence of mental disorder. The clinical picture that develops will depend on the complex interaction of this psychosocial stressor and the level of ego development and its accompanying defence and coping strategies. We see how the development of manifest psychopathology in two young Inuit males was intimately associated with the stresses of acculturation acting upon personalities characterized by a low self-esteem and negative self-image, feelings of emasculation and a state of anomie. Coping and defensive strategies exhibited both similarities (drugs, alcohol, withdrawal, actin out) and differences (psychosis versus dissociation). The value of modified supportive therapy with continuity of care aimed at increasing self-esteem through sublimation, identification, reduction of dependency and encouragement of growth and autonomy is described, as are measures aimed at primary prevention.

Laboratory stress: what causes it?

Abstract: One hundred-fifty questionnaires were distributed to gather specific information about the causes of stress in the hospital-employed medical technologist (MT). Sixty-four percent were returned. The results were analyzed using Friedman's two-way analysis of variance by ranks. Although the causes of stress to the medical laboratorian are many and they are affected by variables within the worker, certain items are more significant causes of stress than others. Physicians, stats, the need for accuracy, lack of communication, errors, and overwork are major causes of stress. These are the stressors that must be controlled or modified to reduce stress to the MT employed in a hospital laboratory.

Patterns of Coping in Divorce

Abstract: Clearly, a central psychological stress for those undergoing a divorce arises from a perception of oneself as “unlovable” or wanting as a spouse or parent. At a less conscious level, perhaps a major stressor is what Rice15 has called “narcissistic injury”—the damage inflicted by the loss of the spouse to one’s primitive fantasies of infantile greatness.