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Managing Stress

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Managing Stress The Theories/Studies Cognitive: SIT (Michenbaum 1975) Behavioural: Biofeedback. (Budzynski 1973) Social: social support (Waxler-Morrison 2006) – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Managing Stress


1
Managing Stress
  • The Theories/Studies
  • Cognitive SIT (Michenbaum 1975)
  • Behavioural Biofeedback. (Budzynski 1973)
  • Social social support (Waxler-Morrison 2006)

2
Approaches
  • The social, behavioural and cognitive approaches
    all view the physiological symptoms of stress as
    caused by different aspects
  • Cognitive
  • Behavioural
  • Social

3
Meichenbaum
Managing stress
  • Cognitive
  • Stress inoculation therapy
  • What does inoculation mean?

4
Background
  • Meichenbaums 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 and so the aim of the therapy is to train
    people to cope more effectively with stressful
    situations.

5
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 clients 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.

6
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?

7
Methodology
  • Field experiment
  • Participants 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.

8
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.

9
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.

10
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.

11
Issues
  • Generalisability/External Validity
  • Ecological validity
  • Usefulness
  • Ethics
  • Replicability
  • Validity

12
Debates
  • Psychology as science
  • Determinism vs Free will
  • Reductionism vs Holism

13
  • January 2011
  • Describe one cognitive technique for managing
    stress. (10)

14
Budzynski
  • BehaviouralBiofeedback

15
Background
  • Biofeedback is a means for gaining control of our
    body processes to increase relaxation, relieve
    pain and develop healthier and more comfy life
    patterns.
  • Biofeedback gives us information about ourselves
    by the means of external instruments, for example
    thermometers.
  • Biofeedback familiarises ourselves with the body
    processes and so can help us to learn to control
    them to relieve stress.

16
Aim
  • To see if biofeedback was effective in reducing
    tension headaches or whether it is due to the
    placebo effect.

17
Methodology
  • Experimental method with participants trained in
    a lab.
  • Data was collected using muscle tension
    measurements with an electromyography.
  • Psychometric tests for depression.
  • Questionnaires on headaches.
  • Independent measures with participants randomly
    assigned to 3 groups.

18
Procedure
  • 18 participants replied to a newspaper advert, 2
    males and 16 females.
  • Screened by telephone and then had psychological
    and medical examinations to ensure there were no
    other reasons for their headaches.
  • Group A Real biofeedback training with
    relaxation
  • Group B Biofeedback training but false feedback
  • Group C Used as a control group
  • All groups kept a diary of their headaches for 2
    weeks.

19
Results
  • After 3 months, group As muscle tension was
    significantly lower than the other two groups.
  • Reported headaches in group A fell significantly
    compared to their baseline measurements, this did
    not happen in the other two groups.

20
Conclusions
  • Biofeedback is an effective way to reduce stress
    levels by reducing tension.
  • By giving visible or audible feedback on the
    state of the body it is assumed that we would be
    more likely to repeat the method of reducing
    stress. These headaches are thought to be caused
    by sustained contraction of the scalp and neck
    muscles. Which is associated with stress,
    therefore by relaxing the muscles (reducing the
    stress response), the headaches should be
    reduced.
  • Biofeedback is not a treatment. Rather,
    biofeedback training is an educational process
    for learning specialized mind/body skills.
    Learning to recognize physiological responses and
    alter them is not unlike learning how to play the
    piano or tennis - it requires practice. Through
    practice, we become familiar with our own unique
    psychophysiological patterns and responses to
    stress, and learn to control them rather than
    having them control us.

21
Issues
  • Low ecological validity
  • Ethics
  • Objectivity
  • Usefulness
  • Validity
  • Generalisability
  • Reliability

22
Debates
  • Psychology as science
  • Reductionism vs holism
  • Determinism vs Free-will
  • Usefulness

23
Waxler-Morrison
  • Social
  • Relationships and cancer survival

24
Background
  • A strong, social support network can be critical
    in helping individuals through stressful
    situations.
  • It has been shown that cancer growth is amplified
    by stress and therefore by reducing this stress,
    there are positive outcomes on the cancer.

25
Aim
  • To look at how womens social relationships
    influence her response to breast cancer and
    survival.

26
Methodology
  • A quasi experiment where women were already
    diagnosed with breast cancer.
  • Used questionnaires and 18 interviews plus an
    examination of medical records.
  • The women naturally fell into categories based on
    social support networks.

27
Procedure
  • 133 women all under 55 years old who were
    referred to a clinic in Vancouver after being
    diagnosed with breast cancer.
  • Mailed questionnaires to gather information about
    their demography and existing social networks.
  • Questions included education level, who they were
    responsible for- children- contact with friends
    and family and perceived support from others.
  • Details of their diagnosis were taken from their
    medical records as were their survival and
    recurrence rates.

28
Results
  • 6 aspects of social networks were significantly
    linked with survival
  • Marital status
  • Support from friends
  • Contact with friends
  • Total support
  • Social networks
  • Employment
  • Qualitative data showed that practical support,
    such as childcare, were the concrete sources of
    support.

29
Conclusions
  • Several characteristics of women's social
    networks are significantly linked with survival
    rates.
  • So, the more social support networks, the higher
    the rate of survival in breast cancer patients.

30
Issues
  • Ecological validity
  • Demand characteristics
  • Subjective

31
Debates
  • Individual vs Situational
  • Reductionism vs Holism
  • Determinism vs Free-will
  • Usefulness

32
  • January 2012
  • Outline the social approach to managing stress.
    (10)

33
Evaluation Exam Questions
  • January 2011
  • Discuss whether stress should be managed by
    treating the individual or their situation. (15)
  • January 2012
  • Compare the techniques for managing stress. (15)
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