Strain In Stress

           Stress in aspects of ones life such as work and family can put strain on the body and mind in many ways. Many studies have been done, looking at the ways that different stressors affect the body in a variety of ways. Each study focuses on different types of stress, either acute or chronic. Also each study uses a different scale to measure stress. Because of this there are a lot of different results, which cause a lot of discrepancies when trying to discuss the results and come up with one solid hypothesis on the effects of stress and the strain it can cause.

            The study of how stress can cause strain on a person’s health focuses mainly on job related stressors, whether long or short term. By looking at different studies that have been conducted one can compile enough information to see how severe the effects of stress can be. One should also compare how the studies differ in how they measure stress, because different scales can be used. Stressors at home and in the work place can cause physical and psychological strain that can be short or long term and needs to be brought to attention and studied in a more accurate and consistent way.

The study of the strain that stress can put on the body and mind is inconsistent and varies enough to cause discrepancies among those who research it. Peter Y. Chen and Paul E. Spector (1991) examine two different studies conducted on work related stress and discuss how the difference in the way they set up their experiments affected the results that they were getting. In their journal article “Negative Affectivity as the Underlying Cause of Correlations Between Stressors and Strains” they look the experiments done by a variety of psychologists and other professionals that differ in the scales they used to measure stress and the type of stress they tested for.

One possible reason for discrepancy between Brief et al.'s (1988) results and Jex and Specter's (in press) was the use of different measures of NA. Brief et al. (1988) used the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (TMAS; Taylor, 1953), whereas Jex and Spector (in press) used the Trait Anxiety scale (TAS) from Spielberger's (1979) State-Trait Personality Inventory (STPI). Watson and Clark (1984) identified both scales as alternative measures of NA (p. 399).

After looking at the different scales that have been used, Paul and Spector (1991) found that a lot of what was on the scales over lapped which could mean that the scales used was not what caused the differences in the results, “We closely examined the instruments used in these two studies and noticed that there was considerable item overlap between the TMAS and the other scales used by Brief et al. (1988)” (Chen, 1991, p. 399). What most likely was the main difference was whether chronic or acute stressors were being tested. “There were two reasons why chronic job stressors were included in this study. First, chronic job stressors have been the major target of study in the job-stress literature (Beehr & Franz, 1987; Brief et al., 1988; Eden, 1982; Keenan & Newton, 1984). Second, the effects of chronic stressors tend to be long term (Barling, Bluen, & Fain, 1987), whereas the effects of acute stressors are more transitory (Loo, 1986)” (Chen, 1991, p. 399).

            Although the studies are not consistent with each other the results that come out of them are helpful. A study reported by Gann (2012) on ABC News looked at how a stressful job was putting strain on women’s hearts. The study focused on women in the health field in particular, “Albert and her colleagues at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston studied more than 22,000 women in the health care field – nurses, doctors and other professionals who were part of the decade-long Women's Health Study” (Gann, 2012). The study found that many women who said that their jobs were stressful were more likely to have strain put on their hearts, causing heart disease, “women who said their jobs were highly demanding and stressful were 38 percent more likely to have a heart problem” (Gann, 2012). Dov Eden, a professor at Tel Aviv University in Israel conducted research on acute stressors in the work place the relief caused by vacation. Eden (1990) is one the few to study acute stressors because most study is focused on chronic stress. “Investigation of episodic acute stress caused by critical job events (CJEs) that place excessive, transient demands on individuals has been rare (Adams, 1978; Caplan & Jones, 1975; Eden, 1982; Parkes, 1982)” (Eden, 1990, p. 175). In the study, Eden (1990) looked at the stress of critical job events (CTE), general work stress, and vacation time. “Both CJEs aroused levels of subjective stress that were higher than the chronic level measured during routine work, and the vacation provided enough of a respite from demands to evoke still lower reports of stress” (Eden, 1990, p. 189). Another point that Eden (1990) makes is that while stress decreased during vacation, chronic strain remained. “The level of strain measured during both routine work and vacation, in the absence of acutely stressful events, may be the baseline, or chronic level of “background strain” experienced until some critical episode, whether work- or non-work related, produces sufficient stress to increase strain” (Eden, 1990, p.191).

            By looking at different studies done by different professionals one can see there can be strain put on the body because of stress. It is also clear from Eden (1990) that stress can cause chronic strain that affects a person even when they take a vacation. Chen (1991) examined the different studies done on stress causing strain and one can see the that the studies done are not consistent and that results vary greatly. Over all one can conclude that stress does put some amount of strain on a person and more research should be done to better understand it.

-Chris Carter

References

Chen, P. Y., & Spector, P. E. (1991). Negative affectivity as the underlying cause of correlations between stressors and strains. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(3), 398-407. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.76.3.398

Eden, D. (1990). Acute and chronic job stress, strain, and vacation relief. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 45(2). Retrieved April 15, 2013.

Gann, C. (2012, July 18). Stressful Jobs Put Strain on Women’s Hearts, Study Says. ABC News. Retrieved April 15, 2013.

Panic

Everyone can most likely relate to a situation where you do not know what to do when something is going wrong. Since being a college student, this would be an example that applies. An exam for a class is coming up, so the process to begin studying starts up and you are feeling confident with the material that is being reviewed. The exam day finally comes and the questions are getting answered pretty quickly, and then this happens. A question comes up that you can recall from the all of the hard work and studying that was completed, but the only problem is you do not remember the answer. Some may start to get restless and others may feel the heart racing and immediate stress coming in. By having this feeling it may affect some answers to the other questions on the exam because of the stress making its way in. Does this sound familiar? Well, the scenario here that was mapped out portrays an example of panicking.

What is panic? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, panic is a sudden overpowering fright (Merriam-Webster, 2013). Branching off of just panicking, panics can lead to more frightful events that can change someone’s life. Being in a panic feels almost like an “out of body” experience that people try to avoid, but sometimes they just happen and there is really not much someone can do about it. What is so interesting about all of this is that it can all start from stress, and there is more to stress than most people know about. Panics may lead to panic disorders and panic attacks.

Now that you know a basic background of panicking, here is one of many problems that are caused from panic. A “Panic disorder is characterized by un-expected and repeated episodes of intense fear accompanied by physical symptoms that may include chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness or abdominal distress” (National Institutes of Health, 1999). Some may say this sounds like the symptoms of having a heart attack, but the both go hand in hand with each other and can lead to a lot of other bad news to come. Lately, Panic Disorder has been paramount with research and controversy as well. “Though biological conceptualizations have been predominant, psychological theorists have recently advanced conditioning, personality, and cognitive hypotheses to explain the etiology of panic disorder” (McNally, 1990). “Many people with panic disorder develop intense anxiety between episodes. It is not unusual for a person with panic disorder to develop phobias about places or situations where panic attacks have occurred, such as in supermarkets or other everyday situations. As the frequency of panic attacks increases, the person often begins to avoid situations where they fear another attack may occur or where help would not be immediately available. This avoidance may eventually develop into agoraphobia, an inability to go beyond known and safe surroundings because of intense fear and anxiety” (National Institutes of Health, 1999).

Another problem from panicking is panic attacks. “A panic attack can only be described as a comprehensive emotional nightmare. Some people with panic feel like they are in an escalating cycle of catastrophe and doom and that something bad is going to happen to them in a certain particular moment” (Richards, 2013). As we know, stress can cause panic, but sometimes panic attacks can even happen out of nowhere. According to Dr. Thomas A. Richards, there are people that do not even approach their doctors once they have had an attack. Personally, I do not know why someone would not want to take care of themselves if an event like this happened in someone’s life. On the bright side, there are treatments now for panic attacks and disorders. After a panic attack has taken its toll, there is a mental and physical pain that takes place which leads to not feeling like help is anywhere in site, or depression.

Recall the earlier example about the exam with a basic example of panicking. Yes, we never want to think about having a feeling like that, but it happens to everyone. Seeing major differences between that example and the disorders and attacks that occur with people hopefully can give some awareness about panics. They are not to be played with and should be taken seriously because of the affects that it has 

-Anthony Capaldi

                                           Sources

(1999). In Facts About Panic Disorder. Retrieved April 11, 2013, from http://www.healingwell.com/library/anxiety/info5.asp

(2013). In Panic. Retrieved April 11, 2013, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/distress

McNally, R. J. (1990). Psychological approaches to panic disorder: a review.Psychological Bulletin, 108(3), 403.

Richards, T. A. (2013). In Basic Facts About Panic Attacks. Retrieved April 11, 2013, from http://www.anxietynetwork.com/content/basic-facts-panic-attacks

Sleep and Stress

                Sleep is important to every human because it is a time to relax and shut down the mind and body. Stress causes an increase in physical and mental activation as a response to an increase of demands that are in the environment (Âkerstedt, 2006). The certain hours of sleep that are required for your health depend on which type of age group you are in. Infants are recommended to receive 14-15 hours, toddlers are to receive 12-14 hours, school-age children are to receive 10-11 hours, and adults are to receive 7-9 hours (Morgenthaler, 2012). A good night of sleep can make you more alert, energized, and focused to take on a day where there are many tasks that need to be completed. One thing can be in the way of a great night of sleep, and that factor is stress.

As we all know, stress can either have a positive or negative impact, and these types of stress are called eustress and distress. Generally, a lack of sleep can be caused by the negative types of stress called distress. The proper amount of sleep is so crucial for being able to function at a high level on a daily basis, but it just doesn’t happen that way where we can get that amount of sleep every night. Stress is our reaction to daily life, and too much of it can make it hard to sleep while you are lying in bed. It may be very hard to when there are plenty of things running through your mind. Some of these thoughts may be work related, school related, and the list can go on and on.

            According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, seven out of every ten adults in the United States say that they experience stress that interferes with their daily life (ADAA, 2010-2012). About one-third say that they receive some type of panic attack from the high levels of stress, and about seven of those ten adults claim that the stress leads to sleep troubles (ADAA, 2010-2012). The ADAA report that a big portion of adults experience a sleep problem at least once a week, and about half of the adults claim that they experience this problem several times a week (ADAA, 2010-2012). Sleep deprivation has caused many of the stress levels in these adults worsen due to the fact that they can’t sleep that well a few days a week. 52% of men and 42% of women say that they have a hard time staying focused the next day after a bad night of sleep due to stress (AADA, 2010-2012). In 2005, it was reported that 67% of adults claim that they would receive at least 7 hours of sleep four days during the week. The numbers have gone down by about 6% since then according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (AADA, 2010-2012).

            There are several tips that have been displayed for adults with stress and sleep issues to try out. Establishing 7-9 hours of sleep on a daily basis is very important to attain. Routines before going to bed may be a way that you can get a good night of sleep. Some routines could be listening to some soft music, reading, and just doing breathing exercises. Avoiding chocolate, coffee, and soda before bed is a reasonable tip because these types of things can keep you up. A quiet, cool, and dark room is a great place to sleep. That definitely sounds obvious, but there are people who sleep with the television on and do other miscellaneous things that may lead to keeping a person up at night. Exercising is great, but it is recommended to not do it right before bed (ADAA, 2010-2012). A tough day’s work may make you tired and a nap may be desired, but according to the ADAA, you should avoid taking naps all the time because this could be a reason to keep a person up at night.

            Sleep and stress have a direct relationship on performance, and that is why getting the proper amount of sleep is vital for a human. Being able to perform at your best in the academically, athletically, or in the working world is based on preparation. A great way to be prepared is to get that amount of sleep on a daily basis. Even though it is tough to achieve the goal of 7-9 hours, it is something that every person should look to reach because it is a tool to relieve stress. Following some of the tips by the ADAA have worked for others, and hopefully they could work for you too if you are experiencing a negative relationship between stress and sleep.

-Thomas Capaldi

Sources

Âkerstedt, T. (2006). Psychosocial stress and impaired sleep. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 493-501.

Morgenthaler, T. (2012, August 10). Adult Health. In Mayo Clinic. Retrieved April 11, 2013.

Stress and Anxiety Interfere With Sleep. (2010-2012). In Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). Retrieved April 11, 2013.

Types of Stressors

Stress is defined as a psychological response to demands that possess certain stakes and that tax or exceed a person’s capacity or resources (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 144). One question I had when researching stress was what are these demands that define stress? These demands that cause people to experience stress are called stressors (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 144). . There are two types of stressors, hindrance and challenge. Hindrance stressors are stressful demands that are perceived as hindering progress toward personal accomplishments or goal attainment (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 145). Challenge stressors are defined as stressful demands that are perceived as opportunites for learning, growth, and achievement (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson 145). Being able to distinguish the different types of stressors that are influencing ones stress level is a great start when deciding on a coping mechanism.

Hindrance stressors are broken down into two different categories, work and nonwork. Work hindrance stressors are sorted into role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, and daily hassles. Role conflict takes place when a co-worker does not have the same expectations for yourself as you do. One of the most common forms of hindrance stressor employees’ face is role ambiguity (Cavanaugh et al., 2000 and LePine et al., 2004). Role ambiguity stems from uncertainty or lack of clarity concerning one’s duties, functions and responsibilities (e.g., Ilgen and Hollenbeck, 1991 and Peterson et al., 1995). Role overload occurs when a task that is too large for an individual is assigned, and in order to meet the dead line the quality of the work suffers. The last work hindrance stressor is daily hassles. These are simple tasks that must be done, but interfere with productivity because there are a countless number of them. Nonwork hindrance stressors are stressful demands that take place outside of a work environment. These stressors include work-family conflict, negative life events, and financial uncertainty. Work-family conflict is when either work or family consumes more time than anticipated and is dramatically affecting the opposing setting. For example, the spouse of a married person is unhappy or feels neglected because of the absence home life due to work related tasks. Negative life events are tragic incidents that affect the achievement of life goals such as death, divorce, or criminal actions. The last nonwork hindrance stressor is financial uncertainty. This causes much unwanted stress to many people, especially in tough economic times.

Challenge-related stressor stems from demands or circumstances that have associated potential gains for individual, challenge stressors are stimuli such as high workload, time pressure, and high levels of responsibility (Liu 2). These stressors are also broken down into work and nonwork categories. High workload is a burden that was placed on an employee that was too much for them to handle, and working on a large assignment under large amounts of stress takes a toll on the quality of the final product. Time pressure is defined as the perception that there is not enough time to complete a given amount of work (Cooper, Dewe, & O’Driscoll, 2001). The last stressor that Liu mentioned was high level of responsibility. This refers to the obligations that one person has toward a certain amount of people. Many managers have very high stress levels because they have to oversea all of the work completed by their inferiors and make sure everything is done correctly and in a timely manner. Lastly, in our discussion, are the nonwork challenge stressors. These stressors include family time demands, personal development, and positive life events. Family time demands is the time allocated to the to participate in family functions such as reunions, vacations, or home improvements.  Personal development is the activities that one devotes time to better themselves such as education programs, physical training, or some sort of lesson. Finally, positive life events are the last nonwork challenge stressor. These events include graduation, marriage, or the birth of a child.

Both challenge and hindrance stressors pose great challenges in many peoples lives. It is important to determine what type of stress is affecting you so the proper coping strategy can be implemented. Reviews of research on popular work stressors suggest that stressors are negatively related to job attitudes that are associated with retention and positively related to propensity to leave and turnover (Fisher & Gitelson, 1983; Griffeth et al., 2000; Jackson & Schuler, 1985). Other recent research has found that although all stressors appear to cause strain, different types of stressors are associated with different affective and behavioral responses (Clarke) There has been numerous research studies to see how these stressors positively and negatively affect people in the workplace and in nonwork environments. It has been proven that these stressors greatly affect the overall well being on an individual, which is why it is extremely important to resort to multiple coping strategies.

- Kyle Lachowicz

Sources

Clarke, S. (2012). The effect of challenge and hindrance stressors on safety              behavior and safety outcomes: A meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17(4), 387-397. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0029817

Dege Liu; Kan Shi, "Challenge and hindrance stressors: Relationships with employees' work engagement," Web Society (SWS), 2010 IEEE 2nd Symposium on , vol., no., pp.490,493, 16-17 Aug. 2010

Pearsall, Matthew J. "Coping with Challenge and Hindrance Stressors in Teams: Behavioral, Cognitive, and Affective Outcomes." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes (2009): 1-18.

Colquitt, Jason, Jeffery A. LePine, and Michael J. Wesson. "Chapter 5 Stress." Organizational Behavior: Improving Performance and Commitment in the Workplace. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2011. N. pag. Print.

Distress

            Stress is a small word, but it can have a paramount effect on people who have problems handling it. As we all know, stress can affect people physically and most importantly mentally. Stress usually is known only for a negative reason, falling into the category of distress, which is the topic of this post. Also, there is eustress and that is more of a positive stress that most people do not realize. Since stress is pertained to more of a negative aspect, distress would be the more recognizable stress out of the two. The goal of this blog post is to give a background on distress, and to give people a better understanding of this certain type of stress.

            What is distress? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Distress is pain or suffering affecting the body or the mind (Merriam-Webster, 2013). Imagine having problems that affect the way we can feel, think, or act. The problems that can change the way we do everyday activities may derive from distress. What does this interfere with most, Well, it can destroy how someone feels about life, relationships, and even can have its toll on work (ADEC, 2003). Looking at the grand scheme of things, there are many causes of distress and emotional problems. Problems that people deal with on an everyday basis is what most people would believe would be a major cause of distress. That is definitely correct, but chemical imbalances in the brain and exposure to distressing experiences that were severe are causes that can contribute to making the distress appear. An interesting fact is that research shows that distress is inherited in some cases because there are so many factors that go in (ADEC, 2003.) The book, Social Causes of Psychological Distress by John Mirowsky and Catherine E. Ross has a statement in the book that summarizes distress. “The misery, demoralization, or distress a person feels is not the problem. It is a consequence of the problem” (Mirowsky, Ross, 2003.) If someone were to look at this statement, it is a bold and very true. The problems that occur do not come from nowhere. There is always something that triggers the problem and that is exactly what Mirowsky and Ross were covering.

            What are the main types of mental distress? Main types of mental distress are Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Schizophrenia, and Manic Depressive Distress. With Anxiety Disorders, it can range from high blood pressure, having problems sleeping, restlessness, and tension regarding muscles. Everyone in their life has depression, but not major depression, meaning feeling not worthy, suicidal thought, weight loss, and the list can go on. The depression that everyone has is mild depression. An example of mild depression is feeling sad for a family member’s death. Schizophrenia is a common type of psychotic state people may be familiar with. Noticing if someone may have this type of disorder is seeing confusion and depression. Other symptoms include hearing voices of people who no one else can hear, or voices that are not present at the time (ADEC, 2003). Speaking from a family member who had Schizophrenia, it is quite sad and frustrating watching the actions of a loved one act in a way that you are not familiar with was very tough. “Recent research on schizophrenia has demonstrated that in this disorder the brain is not, strictly speaking, normal. The findings suggest that nonspecific histopathology exists in the limbic system, diencephalon, and prefrontal cortex, that the pathology occurs early in development, and that the causative process is inactive long before the diagnosis is made. If these findings are valid and not epiphenomena, then the pathogenesis of schizophrenia does not appear to fit either traditional metabolic, posttraumatic, or neurodegenerative models of adult mental illness” (Weinberger, 1987). Now after seeing causes of distress, there are some parts that are controllable and some parts that are uncontrollable. Since research has shown that it mental disorders can be hereditary, this makes it aspect that people cannot do much about and need to maintain as best as possible. In scenarios that get out of hand, and you can feel yourself getting out of your normal state, we must try to the best of our abilities to not let things get to us as bad as it can. By limiting this, most people can stay a calm state and have a less chance for problems that can cause anxiety disorders.        

-Anthony Capaldi

Sources

ADEC. (2003, August). What is Mental Illness. Retrieved March 26, 2013, from http://ethnomed.org/patient-education/mental-health/mental-english-rev.pdf

(2013). In Distress. Retrieved March 26, 2013, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/distress

Mirowsky, J., & Ross, C. E. (2003). Social causes of psychological distress. Aldine de Gruyter.

Weinberger, D. R. (1987). Implications of normal brain development for the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Archives of general psychiatry, 44(7), 660.

Eustress

            According to most people, stress is automatically presumed to be negative.  Stress may increasingly arise for students when work is becoming too demanding while trying to get through school at the same time. Another example is when there are multiple tests, projects, and homework assignments due within a short amount of time. Once all of the studying has taken place and the exam scores are posted, a student may see that they did well on the exam. One might assume that all of the studying led to the success of doing well on the exam, but that may not be the only factor to contribute because of a beneficial type of stress that has taken place.

            Eustress can be defined as positive and healthy form of stress (Kirch, 2008). This type of stress is necessary to take place in a person’s life because without it, a person may become depressed and see no meaning in life (Scott, 2012). Simple examples of eustress that take place in everyday life could be the stress that takes place before going on a roller coaster at an amusement park or seeing a scary movie (Scott, 2012). Although these types of events are much different than taking a test in school, they still fall into the stress category because of a certain feeling that takes place. Due to the fact that eustress is such an exhilarating type of stress, it may only be very beneficial in the short-term because of the energy levels getting up. For athletes, an example of eustress could be right before opening kick-off of a football game.  This build up can be eustress because it can help focus levels into useful energy. Too much eustress can do damage to your system though if there is too much of it taking place within the body (Scott, 2012). Being able to balance stress and have time to just relax is crucial to habitual life.

            Eustress is everywhere in everyday life. Athletes experience types of eustress in many shapes, sizes, and forms. Athletics may be viewed to some as just a game, but stress is felt by most athletes and coaches. It is seemed to believe that eustress takes place in sports due to the emphasis on wanting to win so badly (Sports-Related Stress in Adolescents, 2013). Sports that take place can cause great situations for the athlete to learn. Certain situations may cause eustress because of the environment around them. For example, a baseball player may come up to the plate with a man on 3^rd base with less than 2 outs in a game- winning scenario. The situation may be that the game is tied, and the person on 3^rd base is the winning run. Eustress could most likely arise for the winner because of the possibility of winning the game, and the thought of that excitement could cause eustress for the hitter. Although it is great excitement, the hitter may tremble a little bit and feel like their heart is going to beat out of their chest. The short lived adrenaline may cause the hitter to settle in and focus that much more to try and achieve the successful outcome. All of the sudden, the pitch is thrown and the hitter lines a ball up the middle for the team to win the game. That is a desirable type of result that an athlete could possible face. There are many types of scenarios in other sports as well for an athlete to feel this type of excitement.

            Benefits of eustress are extremely helpful in an everyday life of a human because the right amount of eustress can keep a person healthy (Mikulin, 2013).Those that are able to manage stress and achieve eustress can view stressors more as a challenge instead of seeing them as a threat (Mikulin, 2013). As stated earlier, eustress can be harmful on the body, but the body can differentiate between the two because of the different impacts that they can have on the body. Hopefully, most of us out there will start to view distress, negative stress, as more of a challenge because this shows that the outlook on the scenario is in a positive manner. It is definitely easier to just say it, but it is a challenge that most people should look forward to achieving. Healthiness and happiness will be the reward for taking on a challenge like this.

           

- Thomas Capaldi

Sources

Eustress. (2008). In W. Kirch (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Public Health (Vol. 1, p. 411). Retrieved March 26, 2013.

Mikulin, R. (2013). Eustress Facts. In Life123. Retrieved March 26, 2013.

Scott, E. (2012, October 23). Eustress. In Stress Management. Retrieved March 26, 2013.

Sports-Related Stress in Adolescents. (n.d.). In Northern Illinois University College of Education. Retrieved March 26, 2013.