Stress-Defining Moment

Life stressors as common as work pressure or as obscure as being zapped with electricity while running in a maze, all activate the stress response. With such varying sources from which stressors emerge, stress is a holistic phenomenon with emotional, biological, cognitive, and coping aspects.

Research into the stress response touches a variety of scientific disciplines. Theorists from the fields of physiology, endocrinology, psychiatry, psychology, and sociology have made major contributions to understanding the biological response evoked by stress. Their theories that describe stress all tie together, building on each other’s constructs to better explain stressors, stress, and the stress response. The first paradigm by physiologist Walter Cannon and endocrinologist Hans Selye considered stress a stimulus. Stress happened to the individual. However, stressors can be internally generated with worry or fear. Revealing the impact of stress as detrimental to physical well-being, the Life Stressor Assessment developed by psychiatrists Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe identifies stressful life events that may predict stress reactions. Also, recent work by sociologist Aaron Antonovsky and psychologist Richard Lazarus describes stress more as a process. In viewing the “Stress Response” handout, notice that there are continuous interactions between the person and the environment, influencing the impact of the stressor through cognitive, emotional, and behavioral pathways. Traditionally, stress has been viewed as an adaptive function with a set of physiological responses to a stressor. Present thinking supports a more holistic understanding. As a result, perspectives have changed to include cognitive, environmental, and social elements in a more holistic understanding of the stress response.

For this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resources, including the “Defining the Stress Response Across Multiple Scientific Disciplines” handout. Then take the Holmes and Rahe stress assessment. Finally, consider any insights you had or conclusions you drew after completing the Holmes and Rahe self-evaluation.

With these thoughts in mind:

By Day 3

Post by Day 3 your definition of stress. Then explain why your perceptions of stressors might be relevant to Richard Lazarus’s appraisal model. Finally, explain any insights you had or conclusions you drew after completing the Holmes and Rahe self-evaluation. Be specific.

Required Readings

Course Introduction

Contrada, R. J. (2011). Stress, adaptation, and health. In R. J. Contrada & Baum (Eds.), The handbook of stress science: Biology, psychology, and health (pp. 1–9). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.

Dhabhar, F. S. (2011). Effects of stress on immune function: Implications for immunoprotection and immunopathology. In R. J. Contrada & A. Baum (Eds.), The handbook of stress science: Biology, psychology, and health (pp. 47–63). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.

Lovallo, W. R. (2005). Behavioral medicine and biomedicine. In Stress and health: Biological and psychological interactions (2nd ed., pp. 1–10). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.
Stress and Health: Biological and Psychological Interactions by Lovallo, W. Copyright 2005 by Sage Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Inc., via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Lovallo, W. R. (2005). Psychosocial models of health and disease. In Stress and health: Biological and psychological interactions (2nd ed., pp. 11–28). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.
Stress and Health: Biological and Psychological Interactions by Lovallo, W. Copyright 2005 by Sage Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Inc., via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Lovallo, W. R. (2005). History of the concept of stress. In Stress and health: Biological and psychological interactions (2nd ed., pp. 29–40). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.
Stress and Health: Biological and Psychological Interactions by Lovallo, W. Copyright 2005 by Sage Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Inc., via the Copyright Clearance Center.

American Psychological Association. (2006). Stress weakens the immune system: Friends, relaxation strengthen health. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/research/action/immune.aspx

Goh, Y. W., Sawang, S., & Oei, T. P. S. (2010). The revised transactional model (RTM) of occupational stress and coping: An improved process approach. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Organisational Psychology, 3(1), 13–20.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Academic Search Complete database.

Kelso, T., French, D., & Fernandez, M. (2005). Stress and coping in primary caregivers of children with a disability: A qualitative study using the Lazarus and Folkman Process Model of Coping. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 5(1), 3–10.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.

Medline Plus. (2011). Stress. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/stress.html

Murphy, L., Denis, R., Ward, C. P., & Tartar, J. L. (2010). Academic stress differentially influences perceived stress, salivary cortisol, and immunoglobulin-A in undergraduate students. Stress, 13(4), 365–370.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Academic Search Complete database.

National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearing House. (n.d.). Resources. Retrieved from http://mhselfhelp.squarespace.com/res-idx

Segerstrom, S. C. (2010). Resources, stress, and immunity: An ecological perspective on human psychoneuroimmunology. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 40(1), 114–125.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Academic Search Complete database.

Wilson, D. R. (2006). Life stressor assessment. Adapted from Holmes, T., & Rahe, R. (1967). The social readjustment rating scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11(2), 213–218.
The Social Readjustment Rating Scale by Holmes, T., & Rahe, R. In the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11(2). Copyright 1967 by Elsevier Health Science. Reprinted by permission of Elsevier Health Science via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2012). Defining the stress response across multiple scientific disciplines. Unpublished document

Laureate Education, Inc. (2012). The body’s micro-response to stress. Unpublished document.

McCance, K. L, & Huether, S. E. (2010). The stress response [Figure]. In Pathophysiology: The biologic basis for disease in adults and children (6th ed., pp. 340–341). Maryland Heights, MO: Elsevier.
This article was published in Pathophysiology: The Biologic Basis for Disease in Adults and Children, McCance, K.L., & Huether, S. E. Pages 340-341. Copyright 2010 Elsevier.

Wilson, D. R. (n.d.). Primary appraisal and coping.
Used with permission from Dr. Debra Rose Wilson, PhD. All rights reserved.

The American Institute of Stress. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.stress.org/
*Students may browse the Home page and the Topics of Interest tab without subscribing or logging into the webpage.

Required Media

National Institute of Mental Health. (Producer). (2009). Stress in the animal kingdom: What we can learn [Video webcast]. Available
from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/media/2009/sapolsky.s…

Optional Resources

PSYC 8745: Health Psychology Resources

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Anxiety disorders. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., pp. 189-234). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. Retrieved from the Walden Library.

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Trauma- and stressor-related disorders. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., pp. 265-290). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. Retrieved from the Walden Library.