Deck 3: Stress, Coping, and Health

Question 1

________ introduced the concept of a General Adaptation Syndrome.

A) Charles Darwin
B) Walter Cannon
C) Hans Selye
D) Walter Cannon

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Within his description of a General Adaptation Syndrome, Hans Selye distinguished between ________.

A) distress and eustress
B) formal and informal stress
C) adaptive and maladaptive stress
D) acute and chronic stress

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The most accurate statement below is: ________.

A) Stress is always harmful
B) The response to stress is very stereotyped, i.e. there is only one type of stress
C) The response to stress is quite primitive in evolutionary terms
D) Stress primarily affects the cardiovascular system

Answer 3

C

Question 4

________ refers to dwelling on the events that caused acute stress so that the stress becomes chronic.

A) Conceptualization
B) Preoccupation
C) Contemplation
D) Rumination

Question 5

________ is not a discriminating factor between "acute" and "chronic" stress.

A) Temporal duration of the stimulus
B) Repetition of the stimulus
C) Inclination of the subject to ruminate on the stimulus
D) Inclination of the subject towards depression

Question 6

A longitudinal study demonstrated that, compared to a control group, the blood pressure of nuns living in a secluded order in Umbria ________.

A) rose slightly over the span of the study
B) remained the same over the span of the study
C) lowered significantly over the span of the study
D) lowered slightly over the span of the study

Question 7

Several studies have indicated that high effort/low reward jobs ________.

A) increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease
B) have no effect on the risk of developing cardiovascular disease
C) lower the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, but only if control over the pace of work is allowed
D) have no effect on the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, but only if control over the pace of work is allowed

Question 8

The following statement of the relationship in a given work activity between level of demand, level of control, and the resulting stressful outcome is not true: ________.

A) Considered in isolation, neither demand nor control can predict levels of stress
B) The ratio of demands to control has a low predictive value
C) The ratio of demands to control has a high predictive value
D) The ratio of demands to control predicted both sleeping and waking diastolic blood pressure

Question 9

The Social Readjustment Rating Scale is a tool designed to measure ________.

A) a person's ability to adjust to major life changes
B) a person's ability to recover from a chronic illness
C) the amount of stress in a person's life
D) a person's level of physical activity

Question 10

In the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, the scores for each life event were calibrated off ________, which was set at 50 points.

A) divorce
B) marriage
C) death of a close friend
D) death of spouse

Question 11

Caregivers of people with ________ seem particularly affected by caregiver stress.

A) dementia
B) cancer
C) cardiovascular disease
D) traumatic brain injury

Question 12

The consequences of caregiver stress include ________.

A) an elevation in mortality risk
B) higher risk for dementia
C) reduced demand for medical services due to withdrawal
D) reduced mortality risk

Question 13

New Yorkers are at higher risk of cardiovascular death compared to control populations. When a New Yorker leaves the city, this risk ________.

A) immediately disappears
B) drops to a point about halfway down to the population level
C) persists unchanged for a long time
D) initially grows, then declines steadily

Question 14

Compared to men, women ________.

A) endure less stress in the workplace
B) experience stress from dual roles at home and in the workforce
C) higher blood pressure levels
D) have a shorter lifespan

Question 15

According to Szanton and colleagues, reports of discrimination on the grounds of ________ are associated with red blood cell oxidative stress, which involves free radicals damaging DNA and other cellular components.

A) gender
B) religion
C) socio-economic status
D) race

Question 16

Negative affectivity characterizes people prone to ________.

A) a negative outlook on life
B) a higher risk of suicide
C) poor health
D) negative emotions

Question 17

Franz Alexander proposed in 1939 that people who channel their hostile anger inward activate their autonomic nervous system and are likely to develop ________.

A) hypertension
B) cancer
C) diabetes
D) ulcers

Question 18

The ________ model suggests that the experience of stress depends not only on effortful situations, but also on the individual seeing events as excessive or feeling out of control.

A) effort-stress
B) effort-depression
C) effort-distress
D) effort-irritation

Question 19

According to Richard Lazarus, ________ involves a determination of the magnitude and nature of the threat that the situation presents.

A) primary appraisal
B) secondary appraisal
C) preliminary appraisal
D) subsequent appraisal

Question 20

According to Richard Lazarus, secondary appraisal of a perceived threat is ________.

A) a determination of the magnitude of the threat
B) a determination of the resources available to deal with that threat
C) a determination of the funds available to deal with that threat
D) a determination of the nature of the threat

Question 21

Compared with other forms of coping, avoidant coping is not associated with ________.

A) increased substance abuse
B) worse physical health outcomes
C) unchanged health outcomes
D) worse mental health outcomes

Question 22

Social support does not include ________.

A) appraisal support
B) instrumental support
C) influential support
D) emotional support

Question 23

Married people are ________.

A) less likely to survive a heart attack
B) less likely to recover from cancer
C) more likely to get sick
D) less likely to relapse after remission from cancer

Question 24

The ________ model suggests that social support is generally beneficial to health and well-being, whether we are carefree or stress-ridden.

A) buffering
B) effort-distress
C) social care
D) main effects

Question 25

According to Taylor and colleagues, a ________ response may be the best way for females to respond to stress in order to survive and pass on their genes.

A) tend-and-befriend
B) fight-or-flight
C) come-and-go
D) reap-and-sow

Question 26

Briefly describe, with specific examples, the main strategies used for coping with stress.

Question 27

Further to question 1, describe (a) the health outcome(s) of each strategy, and (b) the possible causal relationships between strategy and outcome.

Question 28

Briefly describe two different theories that explain why seeking social support in the case of stress is beneficial to our health.

Question 29

Describe one clear experimental example using human subjects in support of the buffer hypothesis.

Question 30

Discuss a possible mechanistic cascade of biological events that may place oxytocin at the centre of the stress response in women.

Question 31

Compare and contrast the effects of support groups in various situations, and the likely reason that makes this type of support effective primarily for more serious conditions.

Question 32

Briefly present and discuss the experimental evidence that emotional disclosure with oneself (such as keeping a diary) may lead to positive health outcomes.

Question 33

Briefly evaluate the evidence about the role of exercise in reducing the effects of stress.

Question 34

Based on the knowledge you have acquired so far, discuss post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a severe example of a chronic mental problem caused by stress.

Question 35

Based on the knowledge you have acquired so far, discuss why behavioural approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be effective in treating the effects of stress.

Question 36

Discuss in detail one example illustrating the view that social support has a direct positive effect on health, and another in favour of the complementary theory that social support buffers the effects of stress.

Question 37

Describe the approach to stress by women ("tend-and-befriend"), and then discuss in detail the likely evolutionary reason that makes it very different from that of men.

Question 38

Within the tend-and-befriend hypothesis, describe and then discuss in detail the available behavioural evidence.

Question 39

Within the context of the discussion on the quality of social life and the health response to stress, briefly present and discuss how spousal visits affect the outcome of coronary patients in the hospital.

Question 40

Briefly discuss the likely reason that makes men as vulnerable to the effects of divorce, in term of stress, as women-despite the fact that women are otherwise more sensitive to the effects of failing social relationships.