Stress HEALTH & CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY a. Causes of Stress b. Measuring Stress c. Stress Management...
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Transcript of Stress HEALTH & CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY a. Causes of Stress b. Measuring Stress c. Stress Management...
Think about the following scenarios – what would you recommend to these people?
Seb is applying for a demanding University course and he is also the Head Boy at his school. Alongside this, his Mum works late hours and he has to cook dinner for his little sister. Sometimes he feels overwhelmed by it all.
Isla is an A&E doctor. She works under extreme pressure, and very long hours. Sometimes she sees distressing things. She’d like to find a way to manage the stress she is under better.
John has been unwell for a while and is finding it difficult to manage his work and family commitments, coupled with the anxiety he experiences as a result of his illness. Sometimes he just wants to talk.
Managing Stress
The Theories/Studies
Cognitive: SIT (Michenbaum 1975)Behavioural: Biofeedback. (Budzynski 1973)Social: social support (Waxler-Morrison 2006)
Approaches
The social, behavioural and cognitive approaches all view the physiological symptoms of stress as caused by different aspects:
Cognitive – Faulty thoughtsBehavioural – Associations or consequencesSocial – People around you
Background
Meichenbaum’s assumption is that stress is caused by the faulty processing of information.
Therefore, stress inoculation therapy assumes that some people find situations stressful because they think about them in catastrophising ways
The aim of the therapy is to train people to cope more effectively with stressful situations.
Background:Stress Inoculation Therapy, SIT, has 3 stages:
Cognitive preparation; Therapist and client identify the sources of stress. Encouraged to keep a diary of stressful events so the therapist can challenge some of the client’s appraisals of stressful situations if they seem exaggerated.
Skill acquisition and rehearsal; Training the individual to cope with their stress using different techniques for different stressors. I.e relaxation techniques.
Application and follow through; Therapist guides the client through progressively more stressful situations.
Aim
To compare effectiveness of standard behavioural methods with cognitive techniques.
Cognitive methods aimed to enable people to identify their stressors and change their mental processes when under stress.
What would a behavioural therapy concentrate on?
Methodology
Field experimentParticipants put into three groups; SIT, standard
desensitisation, control.Tested using anxiety questionnaires and grade
averages before and after treatment.Single Blind study- people assessing did not
know which condition they had been in.Matched pairs design with gender controls and a
random allocation to a group.
Procedure
21 students aged 17-25 responded to an advert about treatment of test anxiety.
The SIT group received 8 therapy sessions giving them insight into their thoughts. They were then given some positive statements to say and progressive relaxation training whilst imagining stressful situations.
The systematic desensitisation group was also given 8 therapy sessions with only progressive relaxation training whilst imagining stressful situations.
The control group were told that they were on a waiting list for treatment.
Results
Performance in tests from the SIT group improved the most in comparison to the other two groups.
Both therapy groups improved more in comparison to the control group.
Participants in the SIT groups showed more reported improvement in their anxiety levels, although both therapy groups showed an improvement over the control group.
Conclusions
SIT is an effective way of reducing anxiety in students who are prone to anxiety in test situations and more effective than simply behavioural techniques when a cognitive component is added.
Evaluation
ISSUES
Generalisability
Ecological Validity
Usefulness
Ethics
Reliability
Internal Validity
DEBATES
Psychology as a Science?
Think about methods, but also how the therapy is perceived.
Determinism vs. Freewill
Reductionism vs. Holism
Exam Focus
For now, let’s focus on what makes a good ten mark answer.
Please read the sample answers and mark using the mark scheme.
NB:
Homework
FOR NEXT LESSON:
RESEARCH:
Using the internet (you may like to have a go at using Google Scholar):
What is biofeedback?Research evidence that biofeedback is an
effective method of stress management