PSY 100 – General Psychology
Lecture Guide 12: Stress and Health
Michael L. Thomas, PhD
1 Introduction and Learning Objectives
2 Biopsychosocial Model and Health Psychology
Health psychology studies how biological, psychological, and social factors interact to influence health, illness, and how people respond to medical conditions. This perspective is often called the biopsychosocial model, which emphasizes that health is not determined by biology alone. Instead, physical well-being is shaped by a complex interplay of genetic vulnerabilities, behaviors, thoughts, emotions, social relationships, and cultural factors. For example, stress can trigger physical symptoms, and chronic illness can affect mental health and social functioning. Health psychologists use this model to promote healthy behaviors, improve coping strategies, and help individuals manage chronic diseases and treatment adherence.
Stressors are events that are perceived as harmful, threatening, or challenging. Stress can arise from both life changes, which include significant positive or negative transitions, and from daily hassles, which are everyday occurrences that annoy and upset people. While individual daily hassles might seem minor, their cumulative effects can contribute to long-term physiological illness.
🎥 Watch this!
Follow this link to to watch Jo Marchant’s TED talk, The Science of Mind Over Body.
3 Health Effects of Stress
Stress can have significant impacts on both physical and mental health. It influences health in two primary ways. Indirect effects involve behaviors that jeopardize physical well-being, such as increased use of substances like alcohol or drugs, disruptions to sleep patterns, and difficulty concentrating. Direct effects involve physiological changes in body systems, which can manifest as headaches, muscle tension, gastrointestinal issues, and other physical symptoms.
3.1 The Endocrine System and Stress
One of the primary ways stress affects the body is through the endocrine system, which releases hormones into the bloodstream to coordinate the stress response.
During acute stress, the body starts a fight-or-flight response. Two parts of the adrenal glands are central:
- The adrenal medulla releases adrenaline and noradrenaline (norepinephrine), which make the heart beat faster, raise blood pressure, and promote bronchodilation, helping you breathe more easily.
- The adrenal cortex releases cortisol, which helps the body keep up energy during longer-lasting stress by making more fuel available; it also produces aldosterone (balances salt and water) and androgens.
While helpful short-term, chronically high cortisol can suppress immunity and contribute to high blood sugar, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and mood changes.
3.2 General Adaptation Syndrome and Chronic Stress
The body’s overall pattern of response to prolonged stress is described by Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), which consists of three stages. In the alarm stage, the body experiences intense arousal as it mobilizes resources through catecholamines to face an immediate threat. If the stress continues, the body enters the resistance stage, in which it attempts to adapt to the stressor, relying heavily on the continued release of corticosteroids. Over time, if the stress persists without relief, the body reaches the exhaustion stage, during which its resources become depleted. This leads to increased vulnerability to illness and the development of stress-related disorders.
Chronic stress is particularly harmful because it prolongs the body’s stress response, maintaining elevated levels of stress hormones like cortisol (a specific type of corticosteroid). Persistent high cortisol levels can damage tissues and organs, weaken the immune system, and disrupt important bodily functions. Chronic stress is linked to increased risks of heart disease, hypertension, weakened immune function, and mental health challenges, including anxiety and depression. Understanding this progression underscores the importance of developing effective coping strategies and engaging in activities that help mitigate the harmful effects of prolonged stress.
Stress affects not only individual organs but also the interactions among multiple body systems—a relationship studied in the field of psychoneuroimmunology. This discipline examines how the nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system communicate and influence each other.
🌐 Explore this!
Follow this link to learn more about how stress affects the body from the American Psychological Association.
3.3 Assessing Life Stress and Health Risk
Researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed the Social Readjustment Rating Scale to quantify how much stress various life events create. Each event is assigned a value called Life Change Units (LCUs). The higher your total score, the greater your risk for stress-related illness.
| Life Event | Life Change Units |
|---|---|
| Death of a spouse | 100 |
| Divorce | 73 |
| Marital separation | 65 |
| Imprisonment | 63 |
| Death of a close family member | 63 |
| Personal injury or illness | 53 |
| Marriage | 50 |
| Dismissal from work | 47 |
| Retirement | 45 |
| Marital reconciliation | 45 |
| Change in health of family member | 44 |
| Pregnancy | 40 |
| Sexual difficulties | 39 |
| Gain a new family member | 39 |
| Business readjustment | 39 |
| Change in financial state | 38 |
| Death of a close friend | 37 |
| Change to different line of work | 36 |
| Change in frequency of arguments | 35 |
| Major mortgage | 32 |
| Foreclosure of mortgage or loan | 30 |
| Trouble with in-laws | 29 |
| Child leaving home | 29 |
| Change in responsibilities at work | 29 |
| Outstanding personal achievement | 28 |
| Spouse starts or stops work | 26 |
| Beginning or end of school | 26 |
| Change in living conditions | 25 |
| Revision of personal habits | 24 |
| Trouble with boss | 23 |
| Change in working hours or conditions | 20 |
| Change in schools | 20 |
| Change in residence | 20 |
| Change in recreation | 19 |
| Change in church activities | 19 |
| Change in social activities | 18 |
| Minor mortgage or loan | 17 |
| Change in sleeping habits | 16 |
| Change in number of family reunions | 15 |
| Change in eating habits | 15 |
| Vacation | 13 |
| Major holiday | 12 |
| Minor violation of law | 11 |
To assess your own level of stress, add up the scores for each event that has occurred in your life over the past year. The total number of life change units is thought to predict your likelihood of experiencing a health breakdown within the next two years.
- Score of 300+ → High risk of illness.
- Score of 150–299 → Moderate risk of illness (about 30% lower than highest risk).
- Score below 150 → Slight risk of illness.
💡 Important Caveat: Not all stress is harmful. Research shows that consistently avoiding stress can also have negative consequences, though for different reasons. For example, recall our earlier discussion of a growth mindset, which refers to a person’s belief in their ability to learn and improve through effort and challenges. In other words, if you’re never willing to expose yourself to stressful situations, it becomes difficult to develop the skills and attitudes—such as persistence, flexibility, and adaptability—that are essential for personal growth and success. Psychologists often distinguish between distress, which is harmful and overwhelming, and eustress, which refers to positive, manageable stress that can motivate growth and resilience.
5 Personality Types and Stress
Researchers have long been interested in how personality traits influence stress and health. The concept of Type A and Type B personality styles was originally developed by cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman, who believed that people with a Type A personality had a higher risk of developing coronary heart disease. Although later studies and controversies, the work of Friedman and Rosenman was highly influential.
Type A Personality
- Time urgency
- Intense ambition and competitiveness
- General hostility
- Associated with higher risk for heart disease
Type B Personality
- More easygoing
- Less urgency and competitiveness
- Not associated with increased risk of heart disease
Modern experts generally agree that hostility — not the entire Type A pattern — is the personality trait most strongly linked to heart disease. The strict division into Type A and B is viewed as overly simplistic, and personality is better understood as a set of traits that can influence health in complex ways (we’ll cover this in a future lecture).
❤️ Important Takeaway: Research has shown tha traits like hostility and anger are the Type A traist most strongly linked to heart disease—not being timely and ambitious!
6 Social Support and Stress
Social support refers to the resources provided by other people during times of need. Having strong social support can help individuals reappraise stressful situations, making them feel less threatening. It can also decrease the intensity of physical reactions to stress and reduce the likelihood of experiencing negative emotions.
🐶 Fun Fact: Pets can be powerful sources of social support! Their companionship helps reduce stress and boost overall well-being.
However, social isolation is a significant predictor of poor health. People who lack supportive relationships are at higher risk for both physical and mental health problems.
🎥 Watch this before continuing!
Research suggests that gender norms may influence how individuals experience and respond to stress. On average, women are more likely to seek and provide social support, which can sometimes lead to emotional strain from taking on others’ stress. Men, on the other hand, often maintain smaller social networks and may be at greater risk for social isolation, particularly in times of stress or transition.
Recognizing the importance of social connections can be a key factor in managing stress and promoting better health outcomes. Research consistently shows that strong, supportive relationships can buffer the effects of stress, boost immune function, and even lengthen lifespan. Surrounding yourself with people you trust creates a safe environment to express your thoughts, share your challenges, and gain perspective.
At the same time, it’s equally important to set healthy boundaries with individuals who contribute to chronic stress or negativity. Constant exposure to “toxic” relationships—those marked by manipulation, criticism, or emotional exhaustion—can undermine your well-being. Finding the right balance means nurturing relationships that uplift you while minimizing the impact of those that drain you. In doing so, you create a more resilient and emotionally healthy support system.
7 Coping Strategies
People use a variety of strategies to cope with stress. Problem-focused coping involves taking direct action to address the stressor, such as creating a plan, seeking solutions, or gathering information to tackle the problem. In contrast, emotion-focused coping focuses on managing the emotional distress associated with the stressor rather than trying to change the situation itself. This might include seeking comfort from others, engaging in distraction, or using humor.
Beyond these broad approaches, other helpful strategies for reducing stress include practicing relaxation techniques, engaging in meditation, and using techniques like expressive writing to process emotions and experiences. Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and guided imagery can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, helping the body return to a calm state. Meditation and mindfulness practices encourage individuals to focus on the present moment without judgment, which can reduce rumination and promote emotional regulation. Expressive writing, such as journaling about stressful or traumatic experiences, has been shown to improve mood, decrease anxiety, and enhance immune functioning by helping individuals make sense of their thoughts and feelings. Incorporating these strategies into daily routines can be an effective way to manage stress, enhance self-awareness, and promote long-term mental health and resilience.
8 Transactional Model of Stress and Coping
🎥 Watch this before continuing!
As the Lazarus and Folkman’s Transactional Model suggests, there’s real value in approaching stressful situations rather than avoiding them. When we practice managing perceived threats, we build skills, broaden our coping repertoire, and strengthen a sense of control (self-efficacy). Those successful encounters shift appraisals from “threat” to “challenge,” which lowers physiological reactivity and makes similar situations feel more manageable next time. The key is fit: use problem-focused strategies when you have control, emotion/meaning-focused strategies when you don’t, and approach stressors gradually (not recklessly) with support.
🎥 Watch this before ending!
4 Social Conditions and Stress
Certain social conditions can increase stress, often called social determinants of health. These include things like social network size, poverty, housing instability, social fragmentation, food insecurity, racism, and crime. People living in stressful environments often experience a state of constant stress. Individuals with low socioeconomic status (SES) tend to have the highest levels of stress.
Cultural conflict can also contribute to elevated stress levels, as seen among refugees and immigrants. Acculturative stress refers to the stress experienced while adapting to a new culture. Different approaches to acculturation are associated with varying levels of stress.
John Berry’s model defined acculturation style based on two key questions:
The combination of “yes” or “no” responses to these questions leads to the four acculturation styles:
Yes
No
Yes
Low stress
High stress
No
Moderate stress
Highest stress
Although the model is often discussed in the context of migrant populations, it has far-reaching implications for many situations in which a person is confronted with a dominant culture, ranging from integration with high school cliques and sports teams to workplace dynamics.