Showing papers on "Stressor published in 1985"

Social factors in psychopathology: stress, social support, and coping processes.

Abstract: Our review has focused centrally on the etiologic significance of social factors in the development of psychopathology. Our implicit assumption has been that social factors in general, and stressors in particular, may play a causal role in the development of psychopathology. Yet the evidence is clear that the vast majority of people who are exposed to stressful life events or to chronic stress situations do not develop significant psychiatric impairments. For this reason, research interest over the past decade has shifted to factors like social support and coping strategies that may ameliorate the impact of stress. We have examined some of the important empirical results from recent studies of stress, support, and coping, and we have discussed ways in which these new understandings have informed long-standing attempts to explain group differences in emotional functioning. In each section of the review we have attempted not only to summarize existing results but also to provide some evaluation of the literature and suggestions for future research. It is important to recognize that the contributors to the work reviewed here do not all share a common research agenda. Some of them are primarily committed to unraveling the psychosocial determinants of a particular clinical disorder. Others are mainly concerned with the effects of a particular stressor. Still others are interested in the processes that link stress to health across a broad array of stress situations and health outcomes. In the face of these diverse interests, it is little wonder that our understanding of social factors in psychopathology is uneven. There is good reason to believe, however that these diverse strands of research are beginning to converge on a common conception of the stress process and on a common research design. The conception at present is only in rough form, but its outlines are nonetheless capable of description. At its center is the notion that stress exposure sets off a process of adaptation. It recognizes that this process unfolds over time, and it acknowledges that this process is modified by structural factors as well as by personal dispositions and vulnerabilities. There is growing recognition that the analysis of this process requires longitudinal methods. Also, it is becoming increasingly clear that experimental interventions are required to unravel the parts of this process that link stress and health. It is too early to know if this nascent convergence will lead to an integrative theory of adaptation, yet it is almost certain to promote methodological and conceptual rigor and facilitate replication and cumulation of findings.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Trends Expected in Stressed Ecosystems

Abstract: The term stress has been widely used for both cause and effect, stimulus and response, or input and output. Although some authors worry about this dual use of the word, I view stress as a syndrome comprising both input and output. One cannot have a response without a stimulus. One can easily identify which part of the syndrome is being singled out by using modifying adjectives, prefixes, or clauses; thus, stress as an input can be designated the stressor as contrasted to stress, the response, or output. (In referring to stress as a syndrome, I do not mean to imply a strict analogy with Selye's [19731 "general stress syndrome," although as recently noted by Rapport et al. 1985, there are interesting parallels between the physiological and community levels.) I believe that common words in everyday language, such as stress, competition, or community should not be given highly technical meanings, since this only serves to confuse the general reader; as already indicated, modifiers can restrict meanings. But we must recognize that these common terms have different meanings, and often different manifestations at different levels of organization. Allen (1984), in discussing hierarchical organization, pointed out that a disturbance detrimental at one level may be beneficial at a higher level. For example, periodic fire in the fire-adapted chaparral is a stress to many organisms

The social dimensions of correctional officer stress

Abstract: Based on a survey of line staff in a southern correctional system, we analyzed how various stressors, coping factors, and status characteristics influenced three types of stress: work stress, job dissatisfaction, and life stress. The stressors of role problems and perceived dangerousness were positively related to multiple forms of stress. While supervisory support mitigated both work stress and job dissatisfaction, the effects of other coping factors were variable. Black and educated officers had higher levels of dissatisfaction, while female officers experienced more stress on the job. Taken together, the independent variables in our framework accounted for a large amount of the variance of work stress, a moderate amount of job dissatisfaction, and a relatively low amount of life stress. Apart from the specific findings, the data suggest that theoretical models of officer stress must incorporate coping factors and specify how the dimensions of an officer's occupational role and personality differentiall...

Habituation to repeated stress is stressor specific.

Abstract: Rats were exposed to 15 min of restraint or footshock or forced running in an activity wheel once a day for 10 days. Control groups were handled only. On the 11th day, rats from each stressor group and controls were exposed to 15 min of one stressor in a crossed design such that all combinations of one chronic stressor and one acute stressor were performed. Rats were sacrificed immediately following removal from their home cage or after 15 min stressor exposure on the 11th day and plasma corticosterone and prolactin and pituitary cyclic AMP levels were determined. There were no measured differences in these stress indices among groups of rats sacrificed immediately upon removal from their home cage on day 11 regardless of previous history on days 1 through 10. Plasma corticosterone and plasma prolactin and pituitary cyclic AMP levels were elevated in all rats exposed to any of the three stressors immediately prior to sacrifice as compared to all rats not exposed to stress immediately before sacrifice. However, plasma prolactin and pituitary cyclic AMP responses to each of the 3 stressors were attenuated in rats which had previous exposure to that specific stressor as compared to rats which had previous experience with a different or no stressor. We conclude that habituation results from behavioral experience with a particular stressor rather than biochemical adaptation resulting from repeated challenge to hormonal and neurochemical systems responsive to stress.

Stressful events, stressors and psychological strains in young professional engineers

Abstract: The majority of survey studies of occupational stress have required respondents to focus on a broad, unspecified, time period and to report on 'typical' conditions at work. The emphasis has been on chronic work stress rather than on particular stressful events occurring in a person's day-to-day work. Although life events research (Holmes and Rahe, 1967) does provide information on acute stress, it is difficult to assess how this work on stress in life generally relates to acutely stressful incidents at work. As far as the life events research is concerned, there is some suggestion from a study conducted by Konner, Coyne, Schaefer and Lazarus (1981) that life events and chronic stress have different relationships to well being and chronic stress have different relationships to well being and psychological outcomes. However, as suggested above, it is not clear how far, if at all, these findings would generalize to work-related stress. The present study was intended as an exploratory investigation of the nature and consequences of acute stressors encountered in everyday working life amongst a sample of young professional engineers. Since the study of acute work stressors is at an early stage, it seemed appropriate to use a self-report method, based largely on open-ended format items. However, in the case of strain-reactions to the stressors, Likert type measures were also employed in the study.

Ethnic Minorities Life Stress, Social Support, and Mental Health Issues

Abstract: This article examines the various types of life stresses that members of racial minority groups experience A model of the life stress process is presented, and several hypotheses are offered to describe the situation of members of ethnic minority groups with respect to life stress Propositions leading toward a cross-cultural theory of life stress, ethnicity, and culture are presented A dominant theme is that culture forms the context in which stressful life events derive their meaning Each culture has its own barometer for measuring the stressfulness of any life event There are culturally patterned ways of viewing and responding to stressor stimuli The Stress, Resistant, Delivery (SRD) model is presented as a theoretical framework for counseling members of ethnic minority groups

Coping, Stress, Stressors and Health Consequences

Abstract: The conventional sequence of stressful event (stressor) causing stress (biochemical and physiological changes) which, in turn, causes pathological consequences (diseases) is examined. A number of experiments are described which show that biochemical, physiological and/or pathological changes in an organism do not seem to be caused by the aversive or noxious nature of the stressor but by the ability or inability of the organism to deal with this stressor. If an individual can cope successfully with the environmental challenge, little or no stress is experienced, the challenge is viewed as only minimal stressful and no major health consequences seem to arise. If an individual cannot cope or needs a great deal of effort to cope, stress is experienced, the environmental event becomes stressful and major health consequences seem to arise. Thus, coping strategies available to and employed by an individual will determine whether or not stress is experienced, whether or not an event becomes stressful and whether or not pathological consequences will occur.

The effect of stress on udder health of dairy cows.

Abstract: The appropriate literature has been reviewed for the purpose of defining the phenomenon of stress in lactating dairy cattle, establishing a baseline concept of lactation stress and emphasizing the most significant aspects of the natural mammary defence mechanisms. Data on the general adaptation syndrome (GAS) make it clear that stress is essentially the rate of wear and tear of the biological system affected by a stressor either eliciting stress of the organism as a whole or partly so. Owing to the variety of stressors which may affect the dairy cow at physiological and pathological levels, a definition of stress in the broad sense is indicated. This is essential from the point of view of the anti-homeostatic effects (metabolic and immunological) of lactation stress, aggravated by anti-homeostatic effects elicited by superimposed other types of stress (e.g. heat stress). The lactating cow, as a ruminant in a state of sustained stress, requires a special profile of hormonal mediators. In high yielding cows, for example, acute and sustained heat stress promotes increased activities of prolactin, progesterone and catecholamines. Compared with the mainly glycogenic/glycogenolytic metabolism of non-ruminant mammals, the lipogenic/lipolytic and glycogenic/glycogenolytic metabolism of the dairy cow depends on hormonal mediators which differ from those of the former not so much in their nature but in their magnitude and ratios. Stressors induce the development of GAS reactions in the dairy cow. These enable the cow to create and maintain homeostasis of its integrated 3 main physio-pathological systems and thus to endure the stressor(s). The cow's compensating adjustments to a stressor are therefore the effects of stress. This means that natural lactation is the effect of the lactation stress induced by the cow's progeny (i.e. the natural lactation stressor). Artificial lactation stressors (e.g. removal of milk by hand and machine) may affect the lactation stress in magnitude but not necessarily in nature. Likewise, a range of behavioural, physiological, lactational and lacteal changes related to other stressors are the effects of different types of stress. Lactation stress, like other types of stress, shows 3 stages of development, i.e., an overcompensating alarm phase (= lactogenesis), resistance phase (= galactopoiesis) and exhaustion phase (= regression). They facilitate adjustments of the cow's homeostasis from the level of involutional homeostasis (= no lactational activity) to that of lactational homeostasis. Like other tissues in a state of stress, the lactating mammary epithelium requires a greatly increased supply of glucose.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Stress and fertility. A review.

Abstract: The effect of both environmental and management related stressors on fertility is discussed. While environmental heat as a stressor is significant in disrupting normal reproductive cyclicity, management induced stress is becoming more important when related to the requirements of modern production methods. Deviations in hormonal patterns are noted, and the clinical manifestations brought about by these changes are described. Since reproduction is the ultimate measure of an animal's ability to adapt to an ever changing external milieu, as well as forming the basis of life-time productivity, research should be aimed at obtaining greater clarity of the hormonal interactions involved. The role of neurotransmitters in these physiological mechanisms should not be overlooked. Psychobiological studies must be extended so as to provide a positive input into management procedures that should be used in intensive production units for optimal fertility and productivity.

Cognition and adjustment among children of separated or divorced parents

Abstract: The current study tested the hypothesis that coping with stress is associated with the individual's cognitive appraisals of the stressor and of their resources for coping with the stressor. Fifty-two children between 8.5 and 12 years of age who were experiencing the separation or divorce of their parents were given a measure of appraisals of divorce and a measure of appraisals of coping options. Their parents and teachers filled out behavior checklists, and teachers reported their classroom grades. For boys, appraisals of divorce situations were related to behavior in the home but not in the school. Boys' adaptive appraisals tended to be more strongly associated with behavior than were maladaptive appraisals. Their appraisals of coping options were related to personal adjustment in both the home and the school, but not to academic performance. For girls, only a few of the relationships between cognition and psychosocial adjustment were significant, possibly because of their restricted range of grades and scores on the behavior checklists. These findings provide partial support for the prediction that coping is related to appraisals of stressful events and of one's resources for coping with the events.

Childhood stress: Perceptions of children and professionals

Abstract: An assessment instrument was developed to measure children's perceptions of stressors in their lives, as well as their experiences and emotional reactions to these stressors. Two approaches from the adult literature, major life events and daily hassles, were compared for children. In addition, a comparison between children's and professionals' ratings of the severity of various stressors was made, as well as an examination of the relationship of experience and self-reported reaction to children's ratings. Results indicate that children's ratings of the severity of stressors do differ from adults', particularly when children have experienced the stressor. Further investigation in the study of childhood stress incorporating children's perceptions is proposed.

Seeking urgent pediatric treatment: factors contributing to frequency, delay, and appropriateness.

Abstract: The present study explored the factors that contribute to mothers' decisions to seek urgent medical attention for their children when symptoms are not of a traumatic nature. One hundred mothers seeking treatment for their children at a prepaid clinic completed a questionnaire eliciting their expectations regarding the course of their children's problems, seriousness of the problems, perceived responsibility for the symptoms, and extent to which a variety of factors contributed to their decisions to seek treatment. Demographic data and information about each child's symptoms and medical history were also obtained. Four major "reasons for seeking treatment" factors were identified: family history of the presenting complaint, worry regarding the symptoms, situational variables, and the extent of the child's illness behavior. The appropriateness of the visit, delay in seeking treatment, and frequency of mothers' use of the pediatric clinic were predicted by the nature of the presenting symptoms (particularly the presence of fever), the ages of the mother and child, and two of the reasons for seeking treatment factors (i.e., family history and child's illness behavior). The present study suggests that mothers pay more attention to presenting symptoms and to the children's behavior than to psychosocial stressors in deciding to seek urgent care.

Organizational Stress Among Teachers

Abstract: Even though the concept of stress has received much attention in the popular press, in research, and in teacher workshops, the actual sources of work-related stress among Canadian teachers remain far from clearly established The major purpose of this study was to obtain from teachers their perceptions of major sources of work-related stress and to assess the degree to which these stressors accounted for the overall stress on the job This was achieved by controlling for the selected background variables of sex, age, level of education, grade level taught, years of teaching experience, size of the school, and perceived personallife stress Major findings showed that four identifiable job-related factors accounted for a significant part of teacher work-related stress, and that the selected background variables failed to account for significant variation in job-related stress levels The four factors which made the most substantial contribution to overall job-related stress of teachers were Role Overload, Relationships with Students, Work Load, and Relationships with Colleagues

Staff Stress in the Care of the Critically III and Dying Child

Abstract: This chapter has provided a theoretical model of staff stress in the care of critically ill and dying children. The stress that staff members experience is a reflection of stressors inherent in the patient care environment as well as those mediating factors which the individual brings into the work setting from his or her personal life. These factors may either strengthen the individual in a stressful situation or may make the caregiver more vulnerable to a stress reaction. Stress may be manifested in physical or psychological symptoms or in difficulties in the person's social, family or occupational life. Specific suggestions were given for coming with some of these manifestations of stress.

Coping: conceptual and methodological issues.

Abstract: Nursing research has begun to explore the ways in which patients cope with the deleterious effects of physiological and psychological stressors, but the complexity of the construct of coping has been understated in such investigations. Clinical research in this area should reflect an appreciation of the multidimensionality of coping; the change that occurs in coping and its outcomes over time and across contexts; the salient variables that can affect the coping process, including stressor characteristics, environmental resources, and personal characteristics; and, the reciprocal nature of the relationship between coping and its adaptational outcomes.

The Effect of Muscle Contraction Headache Chronicity on Frontal Emg (Psychophysiology, Tension Headache).

Abstract: SYNOPSIS

Treatment variables and the use of hypnosis in the brief therapy of post-traumatic stress disorders.

Abstract: This paper describes treatment variables in the use of hypnosis in the brief treatment of 4 post-traumatic stress disorder cases. The number of sessions varied with the length of time between trauma and treatment, severity of stressor, and the personality of the patient. Individual differences in response to treatment are reported, as well as considerations for differential diagnosis to prevent misdiagnosis.

The framingham Type A Scale: Cardiovascular and cognitive-behavioral responses to interpersonal challenge

Abstract: Most of the primary measures of Type A behavior have been found to be associated with physiological reactivity to stressors, as well as coronary heart disease (CHD). While it does predict CHD, the Framingham Type A Scale (FTAS) has not been conclusively linked to physiological reactivity. Similarly, in contrast to other Type A measures, little is known concerning the cognitive behaviors associated with the FTAS in stressful situations. The present study was conducted to evaluate the cardiovascular and cognitive-behavioral responses to interpersonal challenge of Type A versus Type B subjects, as classified by the FTAS. Type A's evidenced increased systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity and a greater degree of negatively toned cognitive activity than did Type B's. The SBP findings are consistent with those obtained with other measures of Type A behavior, and with the hypothesis that neuroendocrine reactivity mediates the link between the behavior pattern and CHD. The somewhat unique cognitive-behavior findings, however, may reflect important psychological differences among the various Type A measures.

A School-Based Approach to Stress Management Education of Students

Abstract: Stress in children and adolescents has been linked to a variety of physical and emotional problems as well as to poor school performance. Because of these negative effects, school-based special services providers need to implement stress management education programs it optimal learning and development are to occur. Behavioral and cognitive-behavioral coping skills training have been effective in helping students deal with school-related stressors. An approach for stress management education is presented which addresses curriculum content, target trainees, environmental supports, and identification of trainers.

The interactive patterns of occupations and workers in predicting excessive occupational stress

Abstract: A rural hospital was selected for this research. Respondents (n = 330) completed questionnaires which collected biographical/occupational characteristics and perceptions regarding five dimensions of occupational stress. A two-way ANOVA procedure indicated that substantial interactive effects existed between a number of respondent characteristics and their departmental affiliation with regard to predicting elevated stress perceptions in four of the five categories.

Urinary Catecholamines in Behavioral Research on Stress

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the links between stress and the adrenal medulla, and the methodologic problems associated with measuring this activity. It reviews research documenting the effects of a number of stress-relevant variables on catecholamine (CA) secretion and also discusses the implications of this research. When confronted with danger, the ability of an organism to fight or flee is quickly readied through increased release of epinephrine (E) and overall sympathetic arousal. E, which is secreted by the adrenal medulla, and norepinephrine, a sympathetic neurotransmitter and adrenal medullary hormone, stimulate heart rate, increase blood pressure, selectively constrict blood vessels to channel blood to the appropriate organs, and otherwise support sympathetic arousal. This arousal, in turn, prepares the organism for fight or flight confrontations with stressors. As a result, the organism can meet the stressor at full strength or retreat quickly. In general, the adrenal medullary response is induced by events or situations that deviate from one's habitual environment.

On Coping with the Stresses of Teaching

Abstract: Introduction Stress is a concept which is much talked about but little understood. We are exposed to it every day of our lives and our response to it often determines the quality of our life and health. Hans Selye (1976), the acknowledged father of stress research, defines stress as the nonspecific response of the body to any demand and a stressor as an agent which produces stress at any time. The stressor may be a demand for physical activity or an environmental exposure to potential toxins such as heat or noise. It may be an emotional difficulty that produces distorted perceptions of ordinary circumstances or the psychological impact of such significant events as the death of a loved one. Social stressors may arise out of an individual's work, family roles or interpersonal relationships with others.

Stress management education: A life skills approach for health promotion professionals

Abstract: Stress is an inevitable and necessary component of life--to a degree. Excessive stress can become a disease promoting agent and constitutes a major health concern today. While some stressors can be avoided and others need to be confronted, in the end, a good balance of stress in one's life can be healthy, and growth promoting in terms of one's physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development. Life skills can be taught to assist individuals successfully deal with stressful life events, even before they occur. Successfully coping with stressful events at an early age can minimize the acquisition of unhealthy stress coping responses which could promote illness and disease. This paper will address the basic concept of life span intervention, discuss some life skills related to stress coping, and provide example points of intervention.

Death Experience and Politics: A Research Note'

Abstract: Humans coexist with death each day of their lives. Pervasive as it is, individuals often find it possible to deny this inevitable biological phenomenon (Kiibler-Ross, 1969; Schulz, 1975). However, experience with death has potent effects on people (Kubler-Ross, 1969) and serves as a stressor. As such, might death experience influence sociopolitical attitudes and behavior? That is the question which I address here.

Living and learning in a hectic world: Students' perceptions of stress

Abstract: Two of the primary aims of education about stress are to help studentslearn about stress, as well as helping them tocope with stress in their lives. The majority of students in this study saw stress as a demanding environmental condition (i.e. a stressor), less frequently as the individual's reaction to it, and even less frequently as a complex and on-going process of interaction between the individual and his or her environment. Thus the individual and the interactionist aspects of stress need to be address and both aspects of stress, positive and negative should be included. This study highlights not only the areas in which students' understanding of stress can be broadened, but also it provides a rich source of students' experimental knowledge on which new learning can be based. Stress management resources such as self-help literature, television programs, and community-based courses have been available to the adult population for several years. More recently stress management courses are being offered to college students in the USA (Allen, 1981). Researchers in the USA are now beginning to look at stress management units in high school health education programs (Richardson et al, 1983), but such courses are largely absent from Australian schools. Given that stress is an inescapable part of modern life with considerable implications for individual and social health and well-being, knowledge about stress-its causes, effects, and means of management-should be available to all people.