Outline

Stress in •Sources of Stress in Emerging Adulthood & College Life

University Study •Stress and Stress Responses

•Psychological Moderator of Stress
Prepared by TSUI, Chak-sum •Effective Management of Stress

1 2

Try to list
somethings that WHAT IS STRESS ?
cause you
stressful feelings •‘Anything that taxes our adaptive responses’ (Selye, 1956).
in your daily
life. vHighly individualized
vDepending on your appraisal of that events,
vi.e. we feel stressful because we interpret it as stress

3 4
5 6

7 8
 Lacking Personal Space & Over-Crowding
9 10

Social
Readjustment
Rating Scale
(Holmes & Rahe, 1967)

Cross cultural among US and Japanese

Male finding similar basic attitudes Positive Events could be
towards life events Masuda & Holmes
(1967) STRESSFUL
11 12
 . Lazarus (1993) describes distress as the appraisal of stressors as (potential) sources of harm or threat, and
eustress as the appraisal of stressors as opportunities or challenges that the individual feels confident about

Model for Frustration & Conflicts overcoming by effectively mobilizing and using coping resources (Simmons & Nelson, 2007). Similarly, Selye
(1974) differentiated between distress associated with negative feelings and disturbed bodily states and eustress
related to positive feelings and healthy bodily states.
13 14

Eustress & Distress How do you

know you are
•Lazarus (1993) – Appraisal Process under
• Distress as sources of danger, harm or threat stress? What
• Eustress as chances or challenges that the one have faith to overcome by taking effective actions and utilizing adaptive indicators
coping resources
you have
•Selye (1974) – Feeling & Body States
noticed?
• Distress links with negative feelings and disturbed bodily states
• Eustress associates to positive feelings and healthy bodily states.

15 16
 Fight-or-Flight
Responses Change in appetite

Physical Symptoms
Oversleeping or Insomnia
Headache, Shoulder Pain, Muscle Tension, Get Sick Easily
Restlessness, Nervousness, Pain Attack
Cooper and Cartwright (1995)

17 18

19 20
 Make more mistakes, Being careless, having more
accident

Behavioral Indicators
Addictive Behaviors e.g. Cigarette smoking, alcoholic
drinking, drug use
Having poor output at work

Cooper and Cartwright (1995), Goeders (2003)

21 22

Irritability, Angry Hostility, Suppression of Anger, Anxiety

Psychological Symptoms

Apathy, Large Mood Swing,

Poor Concentration, Difficulty in Decision Making,

Social Withdrawal, Lack Empathy/Sympathy to others, Losing Humor

Cooper and Cartwright (1995)

23 24
 Depressio
n

25 26

Beck’s Depression Triad (1963)

Negative Views Learned

about the World Helplessness
Model

Negative Views Negative Views

about Future about Oneself
(Seligman 1975)

27 28
 Irrational Believes (Albert Ellis 1913-2007)

Activating Events Beliefs Consequences

29 30

Irrational Believes (Albert Ellis 1913-2007) Irrational Believes (Albert Ellis 1913-2007)

1. You must have the sincere love and approval of almost everyone who is important to you almost all the time
2. You must succeed in virtually everything you attempt in order to feel that you are a competent person
3. Things must go the way want them to go or life is just awful
4. Other people must treat everyone fairly and justly, and you can’t stand it when they don’t
5. When there is danger or fear in your world, you must be preoccupied with it and be continually upset by it
31
6. People and things should turn out better than they do. Its awful and horrible when you don’t find quick
solutions to life's hassles.
7. Your emotional misery stems from eternal pressures that you have little or no ability to control. Unless these
external pressures change, you must remain miserable
8. It is easier to evade life’s responsibilities and problems than to face them and undertake new challenges
9. You past has determining influence on your feelings and behaviors today
10. You can achieve happiness by inertia and inaction
32
 Self Efficacy Expectation
Psychological
Moderator of
Stress beliefs about one’s ability to
exercise control over oneself and
their environment

(Montpetit & Bergeman, 2007)

33 34

Commitment Hardy
People
• Better Coping with stress, better
Psychological Hardiness immune system response, feeling less
depressed (Dolbier et al., 2001; Taylor
et al., 2013)
Control Challenge • Better Grade in university students
(Sheard & Golby, 2007)
Kobasa et al., 1994

35 36
 Please be as honest and accurate as you can throughout. Try not to let your response to one statement Please be as honest and accurate as you can throughout. Try not to let your response to one statement
influence your responses to other statements. There are no "correct" or "incorrect" answers. Answer according influence your responses to other statements. There are no "correct" or "incorrect" answers. Answer according
to your own feelings, rather than how you think "most people" would answer. to your own feelings, rather than how you think "most people" would answer.
1 = I agree a lot, 2 = I agree a little, 3 = I neither agree nor disagree, 4 = I disagree a little, 5 = I disagree a lot 1 = I agree a lot, 2 = I agree a little, 3 = I neither agree nor disagree, 4 = I disagree a little, 5 = I disagree a lot

1. In uncertain times, I usually expect the best. 6. It's important for me to keep busy.
2. It's easy for me to relax. 7. I hardly ever expect things to go my way.
3. If something can go wrong for me, it will. 8. I don't get upset too easily.
4. I'm always optimistic about my future. 9. I rarely count on good things happening to me.
5. I enjoy my friends a lot. 10. Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me than
bad.
37
1. In uncertain times, I usually expect the best. 6. It's important for me to keep busy.
2. It's easy for me to relax. 7. I hardly ever expect things to go my way. (R)
3. If something can go wrong for me, it will. (R) 8. I don't get upset too easily.
4. I'm always optimistic about my future. 9. I rarely count on good things happening to me. (R)
5. I enjoy my friends a lot. 10. Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me than
bad.
38

Optimism Benefits to be Optimistic

• Optimism is found to be link with lower level of pain reported by heart disease and cancer patience (Bjerklie,
2005; Carver et al., 2005; Trunzo & Pinto, 2003)

• For Pregnant Female, optimistic mum gives birth of BIGGER and H e a v i e r babies (Lobel et al., 2000)
• Heathier, Live Longer, having satisfying intimate relationship and successful in career (Assad, Donnellan &
Conger, 2007; Carver, 2013; Hernandez et al., 2015)
• Pessimistic people reported greater emotional distress (e.g. depression and anxiety, Hardin & Leong , 2005)

39 40
 Sense of
Humor
Mesmer-Magnus, Glew & Viswesvaran (2012) – Review
Study (k = 49, N = 8532)
• Better job performance, satisfaction, workgroup cohesion,
health, coping effectiveness,
• alleviated burnout, stress and work withdrawal
Zhao et al. (2018) – Review Study (k = 10, N = 814)
• Laughter and humor interventions are effective in
alleviating depression, anxiety and improve sleep quality

41 42

Social Supports
buffer stress by
1. Emotional Concern
2. Instrumental Aid
3. Information
4. Appraisal
Sports & Exercise 5. Socializing
Taylor et al. (2007), Wills & Filer Fegan (2001)

43 44
 Expressing one’s Feeling & Experiences

Meditation &
Mindfulness Practices

45 46