Deck 12: Stress, Health, and Coping

Question 1

Mrs. Smith responded to the loss of her spouse with anger, started questioning her religious beliefs, and felt that she was being punished. Mrs. Smith is responding with _____ in trying to deal with her grief.

A) negative religious coping
B) distancing
C) positive religious coping
D) escape-avoidance

Answer 1

negative religious coping

Question 2

Gertrud participated in a research study at her nursing home, where she was given many choices over her daily activities, including what to eat, which activities to attend, and so forth. According to research by Judith Rodin and Ellen Langer, Gertrud is likely to:

A) become ill because of the increased stress associated with having to make so many decisions.
B) be healthier than nursing home residents in a matched control group who were not given the opportunity to make choices about their daily activities.
C) change her coping style from emotion-focused to problem-focused.
D) suffer from the stress contagion effect because of difficulties in adapting to her new living conditions.

Answer 2

be healthier than nursing home residents in a matched control group who were not given the opportunity to make choices about their daily activities.

Question 3

According to your text, which of the following is the BEST definition of stress?

A) a frustrating or extremely negative situation
B) annoying or challenging circumstances, including everyday hassles or minor problems
C) a negative emotional state that occurs when events are perceived as exceeding a person's resources or ability to cope
D) the alarm stage of the general adaptation syndrome, as defined by Hans Selye

Answer 3

a negative emotional state that occurs when events are perceived as exceeding a person's resources or ability to cope

Question 4

The relationship between psychological factors and illness, stress, and coping are all topics that are studied in the field of _____, which is guided by the _____ model.

A) health psychology; psychoneuroimmunology
B) health psychology; biopsychosocial
C) biopsychosocial psychology; psychoneuroimmunology
D) psychoneuroimmunology ; general adaptation

Question 5

Regarding the Type A behavior pattern, most health psychologists today would agree that:

A) the Type A behavior pattern has little or no relationship with physical health.
B) competitiveness and achievement motivation seem to be strongly linked to the development of heart disease.
C) a sense of hostility is strongly linked to the development of heart disease, while time urgency, competitiveness, and achievement motivation are not.
D) competitiveness and time urgency are strongly linked to poorer immune system function, while hostility seems to be linked only to the risk of psychological problems, such as major depressive disorder.

Question 6

According to your text, a person who lacks cultural and psychological contact with both her traditional cultural group and her new, adopted culture is using what pattern of adaptation?

A) assimilation
B) separation
C) integration
D) marginalization

Question 7

Brenda forgot to set her alarm clock, overslept, missed her train, and was late to work. When she got to her office, she realized that she'd left the power adapter for her laptop at home. By afternoon, Brenda had a mountain of work on her desk and a tension headache. Brenda's high level of stress:

A) is due to her Type B behavior pattern.
B) can best be explained as the cumulative effect of daily hassles.
C) can best explained by the social contagion effect.
D) is due to the release of the hormone oxytocin by the adrenal medulla.

Question 8

Angie's husband, Hal, was badly injured in a motorcycle accident. For the first few weeks after the accident, Angie spent virtually every waking hour at the hospital as Hal hovered between life and death in intensive care. Angie seemed to be handling the stress well. At this point, Angie is probably in the:

A) alarm stage of the fight-or-flight response.
B) exhaustion stage of the general adaptation syndrome.
C) resistance stage of the general adaptation syndrome.
D) resistance stage of the fight-or-flight response.

Question 9

Prolonged stress, or chronic stress, triggers the production of _____ by the _____.

A) corticosteroids; adrenal cortex
B) adrenocorticotropic hormones; adrenal medulla
C) catecholamines; adrenal medulla
D) adrenaline and noradrenaline; adrenal cortex

Question 10

In one study on the effects of stress, dental students received one small puncture wound on the roof of their mouth during their summer vacation and a second wound three days before their first major exam during the fall term. The researchers found that:

A) on the average, wounds inflicted during summer vacation took three days longer to heal than wounds inflicted just before the major exam.
B) telomeres increased in length and telomerase activity decreased.
C) on the average, wounds inflicted just before the major exam took three days longer to heal than the wounds inflicted during summer vacation.
D) telomeres decreased in length and telomerase activity increased.

Question 11

Mary has a large and diverse network of social relationships. She may be vulnerable to some of the problematic aspects of social support because:

A) women in general are more likely than men to suffer from the stress contagion effect.
B) women with many different types of relationships are less likely than men to become upset about what happens to their friends and relatives.
C) women with diverse social networks tend to rely on a close relationship with their spouse, place less importance on relationships with other people, and therefore be less prone to the stress contagion effect.
D) women with diverse social networks experience greater susceptibility to infections, cardiovascular disease, and stroke than those who have smaller social networks.

Question 12

_____ is to acute stress as _____ is to prolonged stress.

A) The fight-or-flight response; the general adaptation syndrome
B) The general adaptation syndrome; the fight-or-flight response
C) Psychoneuroimmunology; health psychology
D) Health psychology; psychoneuroimmunology

Question 13

After Clarissa broke her foot during a karate tournament, her friend Emma drove her to the clinic for doctor's appointments, brought her home-cooked meals and groceries, helped her make up the class work she'd missed, and called her at least once a day just to keep Clarissa's spirits up. Emma is:

A) providing informational social support.
B) providing tangible and emotional social support.
C) demonstrating the tend-and-befriend response.
D) probably suffering from the stress contagion effect because she is using an emotion-focused coping strategy to help her friend.

Question 14

According to Martin Seligman, people who exhibit _____ are more likely to _____.

A) a pessimistic explanatory style; experience the stress contagion effect
B) an optimistic explanatory style; use internal, stable, and global explanations for negative events
C) a pessimistic explanatory style; use external, unstable, and specific explanations for negative events
D) an optimistic explanatory style; be healthier and persist despite setbacks

Question 15

When you are confronted with a threatening event, you will experience stress if:

A) the event or situation rates above 75 life event units on the Social Readjustment Rating Scale.
B) you think you are unable to cope with the event or situation.
C) you use external, unstable, and specific explanations for the threatening event or situation.
D) you lack social support.

Question 16

According to _____, the _____ response is adaptive and increases the chances of survival when an organism is threatened.

A) Hans Selye; stress contagion
B) Richard Lazarus; general adaptation
C) Martin Seligman; psychoneuroimmunological
D) Walter Cannon; fight-or-flight

Question 17

According to psychologist Shelley Taylor, the hormone _____ is higher in females than males and may promote the _____ response to threats.

A) oxytocin; tend-and-befriend
B) cortisol; fight-or-flight
C) catecholamine; tend-and-befriend
D) oxytocin; fight-or-flight

Question 18

People in collectivistic cultures tend to use _____, and people in individualistic cultures tend to use _____.

A) problem-focused coping strategies; emotion-focused coping strategies
B) distancing as a way of coping; positive reappraisal as a way of coping
C) planful problem solving coping strategies; escape-avoidance coping strategies
D) emotion-focused coping strategies; problem-focused coping strategies

Question 19

A positron emission tomography study that was featured in the Focus on Neuroscience box "The Mysterious Placebo Effect" demonstrated that a placebo painkiller:

A) does not relieve pain and does not seem to affect brain regions.
B) relieves pain, but activates different brain areas than genuine painkillers.
C) actually increases the sensation of pain.
D) activates the same brain areas as genuine painkillers.

Question 20

Walter Cannon identified an endocrine pathway involving _____ in the stress response, and Hans Selye identified an endocrine pathway involving _____ in the stress response.

A) the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone; secretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline
B) the adrenal cortex; the adrenal medulla
C) the adrenal medulla; the adrenal cortex
D) the release of corticosteroids; the secretion of catecholamines

Question 21

According to the cognitive appraisal model of stress, whether we experience stress depends largely on our cognitive evaluation of events and situations and the resources we have to deal with them.

A) True
B) False

Question 22

Which of the following are the four emotion-focused coping strategies discussed in your textbook?

A) denial, planful problem solving, confrontive coping, and seeking social support
B) seeking social support, denial, distancing, and planful problem solving
C) denial, distancing, seeking social support, and positive reappraisal
D) confrontive coping, denial, distancing, and positive reappraisal

Question 23

As compared to members of individualistic cultures, members of collectivistic cultures are more likely to _____ to cope with stress.

A) seek social support and use emotion-focused coping strategies
B) resort to confrontive coping and planful problem solving
C) seek social support and use problem-focused coping strategies
D) assume personal responsibility and use multiple coping strategies

Question 24

Investigating the relationship between stress and susceptibility to the common cold, psychologist Sheldon Cohen and his colleagues found that:

A) it is a myth that stress is associated with greater susceptibility to the common cold and respiratory infections.
B) when people are under chronic or long-term stress, their immune system functioning responds strongly, reducing susceptibility to the common cold and other infections.
C) the higher a person's level of stress, the higher the rate of respiratory infections and colds.
D) those with a pessimistic explanatory style are more susceptible to the common cold than those with an optimistic explanatory style.

Question 25

Wesley and Jonathan have just been informed that the corporation they work for has been bought, their jobs have been eliminated, and they are both being laid off. Jonathan immediately begins to work on his résumé, while Wesley heads for the nearest bar and spends the evening drinking with his buddies. Jonathan's coping style can be described as _____, whereas Wesley's coping style can be described as _____.

A) problem-focused; distancing
B) emotion-focused; seeking social support
C) problem-focused; escape-avoidance
D) emotion-focused; escape-avoidance

Question 26

Which of the following statements regarding gender differences in the effects of social support is TRUE?

A) Men with few or no social contacts are less likely to suffer negative effects than women with few or no social contacts.
B) Men are more likely to be distressed by negative events that happen to their friends and relatives, while women are more likely to be distressed only by negative events that happen to their husbands and children.
C) The health benefits of being married are greater for women than they are for men.
D) Women are more likely to suffer from the stress contagion effect.

Question 27

Stress is a negative emotional state that occurs in response to events that are perceived as taxing or exceeding a person's resources or ability to cope.

A) True
B) False

Question 28

Health psychologists are guided by the biopsychosocial model, which holds that health and illness are determined by the complex interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors.

A) True
B) False

Question 29

According to Martin Seligman, people who use stable, internal, and global explanations for negative events:

A) have a strong immune system response to stress, with high levels of lymphocytes, T-cells, and helper T cells.
B) have an optimistic explanatory style.
C) are prone to the stress contagion effect.
D) have a pessimistic explanatory style.

Question 30

Richard Lazarus is known for his description of the fight-or-flight response, which involves the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine system.

A) True
B) False

Question 31

Creating a gratitude list involves conjuring up mental images of people, circumstances, or items for which you are thankful.

A) True
B) False

Question 32

According to the textbook's suggestions for providing effective social support, you are most likely to be perceived as helpful if you:

A) pretend to be cheerful and downplay the other person's situation by saying something like, "I wouldn't worry about it because I'm sure everything will turn out okay."
B) talk about yourself and problems you have experienced in the past.
C) tell the person, "I know exactly how you feel."
D) ask questions in a way that encourages the other person to express his or her feelings and emotions.

Question 33

Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed the cognitive appraisal model of stress.

A) True
B) False

Question 34

You know that your friend Jeffrey's wife has left him and that a big corporation has just bought his company, putting his job in jeopardy. You stop over at Jeffrey's apartment after work one evening and notice that he is gulping coffee and chain-smoking cigarettes. He explains that the stress is getting to him and that he's had trouble sleeping. Because you've read the advice in "Minimizing the Effects of Stress," you know that common stimulants like nicotine and caffeine:

A) will probably make Jeffrey feel better, because they can temporarily relieve stress.
B) can help Jeffrey compensate for the sleep deprivation that he's experiencing.
C) should be avoided, because they cause physiological arousal and will only increase his feelings of nervousness and stress.
D) can reduce feelings of anxiety and depression, which explains why they are commonly used by people who are under a great deal of stress.

Question 35

Psychologist and stress researcher Richard Lazarus developed a scale to measure the effect of major life events on health and well-being.

A) True
B) False

Question 36

The most damaging component of the Type A behavior pattern appears to be:

A) time urgency and impatience.
B) lack of personal control.
C) hostility.
D) competitiveness.

Question 37

Research has generally found that people who have many friends, a large social network, and frequent contact with others are:

A) more likely to get sick because they are exposed to more germs than people who have few social contacts.
B) less likely to develop a serious illness than people who have little contact with others.
C) more likely to develop a serious illness because they experience more daily hassles as a result of the demands involved in having a large social networks.
D) more likely to experience the stress contagion effect and have lower resistance to infections and a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Question 38

An interdisciplinary field that studies the interconnections among psychological processes, nervous and endocrine system functions, and the immune system is called health psychology.

A) True
B) False

Question 39

Health psychology is the branch of psychology that studies how biological, psychological, and social factors influence health, illness, medical treatment, and health-related behaviors.

A) True
B) False

Question 40

Stressors are events or situations that are perceived as harmful, threatening, or challenging.

A) True
B) False

Question 41

Research has confirmed the idea that particular life events, whether positive or negative, have exactly the same impact on people, and this impact can be quantified in terms of a specific number of life change units.

A) True
B) False

Question 42

Research shows that fewer than 30 percent of those who experience major disasters-such as floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes-develop posttraumatic stress disorder.

A) True
B) False

Question 43

Resilience refers to perceiving events as taxing and exceeding the ability to cope.

A) True
B) False

Question 44

Daily hassles are everyday minor events that annoy and upset people.

A) True
B) False

Question 45

In contrast to the view of Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe, most people weather major life events without developing serious physical or psychological problems.

A) True
B) False

Question 46

Posttraumatic stress disorder is a disorder that involves intrusive thoughts of a traumatic event, emotional numbness, and symptoms of anxiety, such as nervousness, sleep disturbances, and irritability.

A) True
B) False

Question 47

Richard Lazarus developed the Social Readjustment Rating Scale in an attempt to measure the amount of stress people experience.

A) True
B) False

Question 48

Cumulative adversity is the total amount of negative events experienced over a lifetime.

A) True
B) False

Question 49

People who have accumulated more than 150 life change units within a year, as measured by the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, are almost certain to experience a physical illness in the following year.

A) True
B) False

Question 50

One large survey of college students found that 85 percent reported having been exposed to a traumatic event during their lifetime.

A) True
B) False

Question 51

Confirming the views of Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe, researchers have found that positive or desirable events can be just as stress-producing as negative or undesirable events. Change in itself is stressful and potentially damaging to one's health.

A) True
B) False

Question 52

Daily hassles are events or situations that are negative, severe, and far beyond our normal expectations for everyday life or life events.

A) True
B) False

Question 53

Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed the Social Readjustment Rating Scale in an attempt to measure the amount of stress people experience.

A) True
B) False

Question 54

People who have experienced a moderate level of cumulative adversity are happier and better able to cope with recent misfortune than are people who have experienced either very high or very low levels of cumulative adversity.

A) True
B) False

Question 55

Witnessing or surviving a violent attack and experiences associated with combat, warfare, or major disasters are examples of the types of events that are typically considered to be traumatic events.

A) True
B) False

Question 56

Richard Lazarus and his colleagues developed the Daily Hassles Scale to measure the occurrence of everyday annoyances, such as being stuck in traffic or being inconvenienced by bad weather.

A) True
B) False

Question 57

Both very high and very low levels of cumulative adversity are associated with poor health outcomes.

A) True
B) False

Question 58

Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed the Daily Hassles Scale in an attempt to measure the amount of stress people experience.

A) True
B) False

Question 59

The Social Readjustment Rating Scale is based on the assumption that the impact of life events, as measured in life change units, varies according to how people cognitively appraise the event or situation.

A) True
B) False

Question 60

Traumatic events are events or situations that are negative, severe, and far beyond our normal expectations for everyday life.

A) True
B) False

Question 61

Daily hassles do not contribute to the stress produced by major life events.

A) True
B) False

Question 62

Suzanne feels overloaded at work and feels that she lacks control over her work environment. This has led to exhaustion, cynicism, and a sense of failure or inadequacy. It is likely that Suzanne is experiencing a phenomenon called burnout.

A) True
B) False

Question 63

People in the lowest socioeconomic levels of society tend to have higher levels of psychological distress, physical illness, and stress hormones than those in higher-status groups.

A) True
B) False

Question 64

Although racism and discrimination can create social problems, they are not significant sources of ongoing or chronic stress for those who are discriminated against on the basis of their race.

A) True
B) False

Question 65

When work stress is prolonged and becomes chronic, it can produce a stress response called generalized anxiety disorder.

A) True
B) False

Question 66

Daily hassles can contribute to the stress produced by major life events, because major life events, whether negative or positive, can create a ripple effect, generating a host of new daily hassles.

A) True
B) False

Question 67

The number of daily hassles that people experience is a better predictor of physical illness and symptoms than the number of major life events.

A) True
B) False

Question 68

People in the highest socioeconomic levels of society tend to have the highest levels of psychological distress and physical illness.

A) True
B) False

Question 69

The daily hassles that we all experience can be annoying and irritating, but there is no evidence that their effects are cumulative and can have consequences for health and well-being.

A) True
B) False

Question 70

Crowding, crime, poverty, low socioeconomic status, and substandard housing are social problems people cope with every day and are not significant sources of stress.

A) True
B) False

Question 71

Racism and discrimination are important sources of chronic stress for many people.

A) True
B) False

Question 72

People in the highest socioeconomic levels of society tend to have the lowest levels of psychological distress and physical illness.

A) True
B) False

Question 73

Social conditions such as crowding, crime, low socioeconomic status, poverty, and substandard housing are associated with increased stress.

A) True
B) False

Question 74

Following the development of the original daily hassles scale, variations of the scale were developed for different groups, including one for children and one for college students.

A) True
B) False

Question 75

People in lower socioeconomic groups, who have low incomes, low education levels, low-status occupations, and so on, experience more health problems and more incidents of violence than people in higher-status groups.

A) True
B) False

Question 76

One explanation as to why daily hassles take a toll on health and well-being is that these minor irritations, which are relatively unimportant by themselves, are cumulative, and the effects add up.

A) True
B) False

Question 77

In a survey about racism, more than three-quarters of African American adolescents reported being treated as incompetent or dangerous-or both-on the basis of their race.

A) True
B) False

Question 78

People in lower socioeconomic groups, who have low incomes, low education levels, low-status occupations, and so on, experience fewer health problems than people in higher-status groups.

A) True
B) False

Question 79

"People think I'm shy, when I really just have trouble speaking English" is an example of an item from the Acculturative Daily Hassles Scale for Children.

A) True
B) False

Question 80

Because scores on the Daily Hassles Scale had virtually no predictive value, plans for developing variations of the scale for children, college students, and other groups, were dropped.

A) True
B) False