Showing papers on "Stressor published in 1987"

Interaction of cognitive appraisals of stressful events and coping: Testing the goodness of fit hypothesis

Abstract: The present study investigated interactions between cognitive appraisals of, and coping with, stressful life events and their relationship with psychological symptomatology. Specifically, the “goodness of fit” between appraisals of the controllability of events and the use of problem- and emotion-focused coping was assessed for major life events and daily hassles. In relation to major life events, symptomatology was high when there was a poor fit between appraisals and coping (e.g., trying to change a stressor that was appraised as uncontrollable) and low when there was a good fit between appraisals and coping (e.g., palliating one's emotions when a stressor was perceived as uncontrollable). No effects were found in relation to daily hassles. Results were generally consistent with cognitive-transactional models of stress and coping.

Beyond negative affectivity: Measuring stress and satisfaction in the workplace.

Abstract: Stress researchers frequently use self-report measures to assess stress, health, psychological adjustment, and subjective dissatisfaction. We present evidence demonstrating that all of these variables are highly intercorrelated and reflect a common underlying factor of Negative Affectivity (NA). NA is a stable and pervasive personality dimension-high NA individuals report more stress, distress and physical complaints, even in the absence of any objective stressor or health problem. Thus, NA may operate as a substantial nuisance factor in many areas of research. To circumvent its influence, investigators can use non-subjective measures of stress and health. Finally, we present a two-factor model of stress and satisfaction that includes, in addition to NA, the independent factor of Positive Affectivity (PA), a trait reflecting positive feelings about oneself and one's life.

Posttraumatic stress disorder: the etiologic specificity of wartime stressors.

Abstract: The authors examined the effects of wartime stressors in a sample of 69 Vietnam veterans who were psychiatric inpatients in a Veterans Administration hospital. Participation in atrocities and the cumulative exposure to combat stressors, each independently of the other, conferred a significant risk for posttraumatic stress disorder. In contrast, the effect of these war experiences on the onset of panic, major depression, and mania was not significant. The results indicate that extreme stressors are uniquely linked with posttraumatic stress disorder's characteristic cluster of symptoms but challenge DSM-III's implicit assumption that the reexperienced trauma is the stressor responsible for posttraumatic stress disorder. Language: en

Posttraumatic stress disorder. The stressor criterion.

Abstract: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was officially introduced into psychiatric nomenclature in 1980, when it was incorporated into DSM-III. There is as yet little empirical research on the validity of the diagnosis/Literature on disasters, civilian and wartime, and on more ordinary stressful life e

Psychological Stress Experienced by Health Care Personnel

Abstract: Health care personnel consider the challenge of their work to be the principal reason for job satisfaction. Problems of work organization and the small number of personnel cause quantitative overload that has been perceived as problematic by various professional groups in health care units. Role ambiguity and role conflicts are also experienced frequently. Social contacts between patients and personnel, as well as social contacts among the personnel themselves, are sometimes thought to be very problematic. The increase in violent behavior towards health care personnel is a central stressor of their work. The way that work characteristics and strain are experienced, however, is affected by the profession and, especially, by the workplace. Psychological stress reactions are relatively common among health care personnel. The effects of work reorganization, the clarification of responsibilities, increased supplementary training and professional supervision, and the application of directions for the prevention of violence on the stress and strain of health care professionals should be studied as a means to diminish stress and increase well-being and productivity.

A model for assessing the impact of behavioral stress on domestic animals.

Abstract: Animal scientists need a reliable measure of behavioral stress in domestic animals if they are going to be able to assess the stress of various management practices and to answer public concern about the well-being of animals used in agriculture. Popular measures of stress, alterations in behavior or changes in hormone secretion, are not adequate because of a failure to establish any direct correlation between changes in these characteristics with adverse effects on animal well-being. Further complicating the use of these indicators of stress is the variation in their pattern of response to different kinds of stressors. Even the same stressor can elicit divergent responses in different animals because of inter-animal variation in the stress response. To address these problems, a model of animal stress is discussed and tested. From this model it is proposed that the best indicator of an animal suffering from stress is the development of a pre-pathological state; i.e., a stress-related change in biological function that threatens the animal's well-being. Examples of such pre-pathological states would be a suppression of the immune system, the loss of reproductive events critical for normal reproduction, or the development of behaviors that would lead to such undesirable acts as tail-biting or excessive fighting. Although determining the existence of such pre-pathological states is not convenient, their existence is currently the only defensible indicator of an animal suffering from behavioral stress.

Transitory Impact of Life-Event Stress on Psychological Symptoms in Older Adults

Abstract: A probability sample of 1,429 adults aged 55 and older was interviewed in their homes three times at six-month intervals. Measures of symptoms, social support, and education were obtained before measures of life-event stress. A LISREL analysis of three waves and two intervals of data yielded a goodness offit of .989 between the data and the model. For both intervals, increases in stress led to increases in symptoms, which supported the Dohrenwend hypothesis of a normative stress reaction. This reaction typically did not persist beyond six months unless there was high stress over both intervals. Contrary to Dohrenwend's resource mediation hypothesis, social support and education did not influence either the reaction to or the recovery from stress. Symptoms were very stable over the one-year period. Overall, the results depict older adults as quite consistent and resilient. Because life events were correlated over time and were predicted by person characteristics, they should not be considered as independent of person factors. A panel of stress researchers from both the biomedical and the behavioral sciences conducted a critical assessment of the state of the sciences related to stress, health, and disease (Elliott and Eisdorfer 1982). This panel developed a conceptual framework to organize its review of findings and its recommendations. The framework included activators, reactions, consequences, and mediators. Activators are potential stressors in the environment that can prompt a reaction in the individual; the reaction may or may not lead to a more permanent condition, a consequence. Mediators act at each

Efficiency of Coping with a Real‐Life Stressor: A Multimodal Comparison of Aerobic Fitness

Abstract: The mediating effects of aerobic fitness on the psychological and physiological responses to a real-life psychological stressor (rappelling) were examined. Subjective anxiety, heart rate, nor epinephrine, epinephrine, and cortisol were monitored in IS male novice rappellers at various intervals before and following the rappel task. Results showed that high fit compared to low fit subjects maintained overall lower heart rate levels. Aerobic power was associated with faster recovery from subjective anxiety and a more efficient recovery for relative plasma epinephrine measures. Norepinephrine, heart rate, and cortisol did not parallel this recovery pattern. These results provide some support for the research which indicates that high levels of aerobic power are associated with greater coping efficiency.

Exploring the Impact of a Natural Disaster on the Health and Psychological Well-being of Older Adults

Abstract: The failure of researchers to consider the temporal dimensions of the stress process may be at least partially responsible for the disappointing empirical findings from research on stress and health. We argue that careful consideration must be given to the time lag between the occurrence of a stressor and initial symptom development, as well as the length of time that is required for symptoms to abate. Using a synthetic cohort design, we examine the length of time needed for symptoms to dissipate following a natural disaster (Hurricane Alicia). Findings from a random community survey of older adults suggest that the major effects of the storm diminish in about 16 months. Significant gender differences were found in this adjustment process. The implications of these findings for stress research are discussed.

Influence of a brief aerobic training program on heart rate and subjective response to a psychologic stressor

Abstract: An experiment was conducted to determine whether a brief program of aerobic exercise would reduce the heart rate and subjective responses of high- and low-fit subjects to a psychologic stressor. Thirty-four high-fit and 34 low-fit subjects were exposed to a moderate stressor (recall of digits backwards test) while their heart rates and subjective responses were monitored. Approximately half of the high- and low-fit subjects then participated in a 13-week aerobic exercise training program, whereas the other subjects did not. After the 13-week period, the subjects were again exposed to the stressor. Results indicated that a) in the pretest the low-fit subjects showed a greater heart rate response to the stressor than the high-fit subjects, b) the training program was effective for increasing subjects' levels of aerobic fitness, and c) the training program was effective for reducing the heart rate response to the stressor of low-fit subjects. These findings provide support for the relationship between fitness and the response to psychologic stressors and they suggest that aerobic training may be an effective way of helping low-fit persons deal with psychologic stressors.

Stress Management in the Process of Occupational Stress Reduction

Abstract: A growing number of studies have demonstrated the efficacy of worksite stress management training for reducing worker psychophysiological arousal and subjective reports of anxiety, depression, and somatic complaints. The role of stress management in the larger context of occupational stress reduction, however, has not been addressed. An application of stress management as one component of an organisational stressor reduction programme is described. Other components in the process which have been completed include the formation of a stress reduction committee and conduct of a stress assessment survey. Future plans include the formulation and implementation of recommendations for reducing organisational stress and repeated evaluations of their efficacy. The purpose is to depict element of the overall process and to report progress to date in this effort.

Team stress in palliative/hospice care.

Abstract: Using data gathered as part of a larger study of occupational stress, the subset of hospice providers was analyzed to ascertain the stressors and manifestations of stress they encountered in their ...

Correlates of dental student stress.

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to identify correlates of dental student stress. Associations between characteristics of dental students and their stress levels are examined, along with the association of stress with drug use and health problems. A total of 300 out of 315 dental students completed a questionnaire that measured the frequency and stressfulness of 31 stressors; drug use; health problems; and student characteristics including Type A behavior, career commitment, demographics, and lifestyle variables. Characteristics that were associated with a higher stress level were a higher level of Type A behavior and lower level of career commitment. Greater stress was also associated with a greater frequency of health problems. The results suggest an interactional stress model in which the personalities and attitudes of students are important mediators of the stress response.

Occupational class, psychosocial stress and morbidity.

Abstract: The association between stress and morbidity was studied in an industrial population, which consisted of both white-collar and blue-collar workers (n = 902). Information about living and working conditions, health behaviour, mental well-being and morbidity were obtained by questionnaires, interviews, clinical examinations, and physiological and biochemical measurements. The same cohort was re-examined after five and ten years. Comparison of occupational classes showed consistently that living and working conditions, psychosocial stress, and health and sickness behaviour were more deleterious among blue-collar workers and their morbidity and mortality rates were higher than among white-collar workers. The effect of stress on health was examined both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Psychosocial stressors at work were related to mental strain, perceived health, and absenteeism. Stress symptoms were strongly associated with perceived health, locomotor symptoms, smoking, drinking, and absenteeism. None of the stress indicators were related to blood pressure. In the follow-up the baseline indicators of stress predicted future chronic illness and angina pectoris, but not hypertension or myocardial infarction. Blood pressure changes were not related to psychosocial factors. Stress did not predict mortality in the ten year follow-up. The study suggests that psychosocial stress is mostly related and may be causally linked to such indicators of morbidity as perceived health, bodily symptoms and sickness behaviour. The aetiological contribution of stress to biologically defined morbidity may be weak.

Physiology of stress: a behavioral review

Abstract: Stress is viewed as a general biological and usually functional response to environmental and bodily demands. This paper summarises recent findings on interactions between environment, individual behavioral and physiological characteristics and the properties of stressors, stress states (responses) and organ systems in determining health or disease.

Stress in student teachers during real and simulated standardized lectures.

Abstract: This study describes and compares the intensity of stress responses, both psychologically and physiologically, to a real and a simulated stressor. The real stressor involved lecturing to a class of students in a post-secondary institution during a practice teaching course. The simulated stressor was a simulated, standardized lecture given in a lecture room to 6 fellow students and 2 members of the university staff. To gain insight into the intensity of the stress responses, the measurements took place before, during, and after lecturing. The adaptation to the stressor after a teaching practice period in which the student teacher gave at least 20 lectures was also studied. Subjective anxiety scores were obtained in both situations from 26 subjects. For 12 of these subjects, heart rate responses were also obtained. The psychological and physiological data indicated that lecturing imposes a severe load on the student teacher, especially at the beginning of the teaching experience. At the end of the practice course, all stress indices showed lower values. Heart rate and subjective anxiety scores indicated that the standardized lecture is experienced as more ego threatening than the real lecture.

Stressor and coping response inventories for children.

Abstract: Inventories of stressful situations (daily hassles and major events) and coping responses were developed from open-ended discussions about stress and coping conducted in Grades 4 and 7. Item content and format were designed to elicit a child's perception of the experienced stress rather than an adult's perception of the child's experience. Inventories showed strong content, concurrent, and construct validity. Testing across a 2-wk. interval showed strong reliability for the report of major events; items with weak reliability were eliminated. As expected, reliability for hassles occurring during different weeks was weaker, in particular for Grade 4 children. The relation between experienced stress in an individual situation and total stress was stronger for daily hassles than major events. The choices of coping response by children in both grades showed high reliability.

Comparative Stress Levels in Part-Time and Full-Time Social Work Programs

Abstract: A survey of 119 graduate social work students revealed higher levels of stress among part-time students than among full-time students. Off-campus, part-time students reported higher levels of stress than either on-campus, part- or full-time students. Thirty-eight variables, representing three major groupings of stressors (program factors, external factors, and stress indicators), were examined and analyzed to compare the perceived stress level of students from full-time and part-time programs.

Organ Change and Damage during Stress — Morphological Diagnosis —

Abstract: In pathology, stress research comprises the influence and action of stressors on organ structures. If the influence of stressors is in balance with the organism’s predisposition the stressor is compensated by the adaptability of the organism and stress reactions develop. The morphological diagnosis is based upon the differentiation of two types of reactions. First the nonspecific reaction with the general adaptation syndrom (GAS), and secondly the specific reaction caused by the direct attack of the stressor, with the possibility of lower resistance of organs against stressors. The different kinds of stress reactions are demonstrated in the problem of gastric and pyloric ulcers in pigs and calves, with the paralytic myoglobinuria in horses, and with the porcine stress syndrome.