Stress, Stressors and Models of Stress

Stress is the non-specific response of the body to any demand placed upon it. This lesson covers types of stress and stressors, and three models of stress.

1. Types of stress (Selye, 1936; 1983)

• Eustress — a positive psychological response to a stressor that improves performance and motivation.
• Distress — a negative psychological response to a stressor that inhibits performance or becomes overwhelming.

2. Stressors

Types of stressors: psychological, environmental, social and cultural. Their characteristics vary by source (internal or external), duration (acute or chronic) and strength/intensity.

3. Models of stress

Stress as a response — General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) (Selye, 1936, 1983):

• Alarm (shock, then counter-shock) — the initial sympathetic "fight or flight" response; heart rate increases.
• Resistance — the body copes; heart rate decreases gradually but stays elevated above the initial level.
• Exhaustion — the body's resources become depleted; heart rate declines significantly, potentially below the initial level.

Stress as a stimulus: the Social Readjustment Scale (Holmes and Rahe, 1967) assesses the impact of stressful life events on health — each event requires change or coping, whether positive or negative.

Stress as a transaction — Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984): stress arises from the interaction between individual and environment. It involves cognitive appraisal (primary — is this a threat?; secondary — can I cope?) and methods of coping: problem-focused and emotion-focused.

Work through these together.

Eustress or distress?

For each, decide as a class whether it is most likely eustress or distress:

• Feeling energised before a sports final.
• Feeling overwhelmed by competing deadlines.
• Excitement before performing in a concert.

Identifying the GAS stage

Using a heart-rate-over-time pattern, label the stage each describes:

Answer independently, using examination-style directive verbs.