Self-Reported Processing Bias and Naturally Occurring Mood: Mediators between Personality and Stress Appraisals

Although past research has shown that neuroticism and extraversion predict stress appraisals, how these traits affect appraisals is not known. In the present study, mood and two processing biases were predicted to mediate between personality and appraisals. Participants (N = 236) completed measures of personality, mood, appraisals for five hypothetical stressors, and whether they relied (when making appraisals) on the positive or negative features of those events. Three months later, participants also made appraisals of a recent stressful event. As predicted, the negative and positive processing biases mediated between neuroticism, extraversion, and appraisals of the hypothetical events and mediated between neuroticism and appraisals of the real-life stressor. Indirect effects also were found from positive mood to appraisals. Because appraisals affect stress responses, these findings have wide implications for adaptational outcomes.

Cortisol as a marker for improvement in mindfulness-based stress reduction

While much attention has been devoted to examining the beneficial effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programs on patients' ability to cope with various chronic medical conditions, most studies have relied on self-report measures of improvement. Given that these measures may not accurately reflect physiological conditions, there is a need for an objective marker of improvement in research evaluating the beneficial effects of stress management programs. Cortisol is the major stress hormone in the human organism and as such is a promising candidate measure in the study of the effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programs. In conjunction with other biological measures, the use of cortisol levels as a physiological marker of stress may be useful to validate self-reported benefits attributed to this program. In the current manuscript, we review the available literature on the role of cortisol as a physiological marker for improvement with regards to mindfulness practice, and make recommendations for future study designs.

PERSONALITY CORRELATES OF HEALTH OUTCOMES IN SUDANESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Individual differences play a salient and vital role in the person's responses to different stressors. Hence, various individuals are expected to differ in health outcome resulting from encountering stressful situations. This study aimed at identifying personality traits in Sudanese university students and investigating the nature of the relationship between these traits and psychological disturbances measured by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28-item version, Goldberg & Williams, 1988). The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R, 48 items, Eysenck, Eysenck,& Barrett, 1985) was used to assess personality traits. One hundred psychology students (mean age 23.7) participated in the study. The majority (80%) of the students were females. The results revealed a strong positive relationship between neuroticism (N) on one hand and somatic symptoms, anxiety and depression on the other hand. Extraversion (E) was negatively related to anxiety, depression, somatic symptoms and social dysfunction. No significant sex or age difference was found in psychological disturbances measured by the GHQ or in personality traits – apart from a positive association between E and age. Unlike studies carried out in other countries which showed females to be more anxious and more neurotic, the present study did not find sex differences in anxiety and neuroticism. When a cutoff point of 4 was used, 20% of the students were classified as psychiatric cases. This may indicate the widespread prevalence of psychological disorders amongst Sudanese university students.

Coping with stress: Basic conceptual and theoretical questions from the standpoint of the transactional theory

The main aim of this paper is to review basic conceptual and theoretical questions in the field of coping with stress. Some of the questions are: how can we define coping and distinguish it from similar phenomena, and what are the most prominent categories of coping behavior. The contribution of personality and situation factors in shaping coping behavior, i.e. the issue of coping determinants, is also considered. Finally, question is raised of coping efficacy. In this paper coping is seen from the perspective of transactional theory of stress. According to the transactional theory, stress and its consequences are not connected directly, but indirectly, via coping. Theoretical and practical importance of coping, defined as stress mediator, is also discussed in this article.

The Psychological Effects of Pre-Competitive Stress on Elite Divers — A Review

Stress occurs when appraisal of the demands of a situation exceed the available resources under conditions where failure to meet the demand is perceived as having negative consequences. Stress is neither considered to be merely an event or response but rather a complex interaction of interrelated constructs and processes reflecting the relationship between intrapersonal and stituational variables. Although, the identification of general categories of stress is possible; it is important to acknowledge the significance of individual differences, especially with respect to cognitive evaluation procedures. The concurrent responses considered in this paper are self-confidence and state anxiety; both of which are related to potential pre-competitive performance stress. Antecedents and consequences are examined with respect to elite competitive springboard divers. Recommendations for future research propose continuous assessment strategies.

Ego strength and stress reaction in Kuwaiti students after the Iraqi invasion

Correlations between scores on the Barron Ego Strength Scale and a checklist of 18 Symptoms of stress reactions were calculated for two responses from 503 undergraduate Kuwaiti students (225 men and 278 women). Using total scores on both measures for all students the correlation was -.42, so students with higher ego strength scores tend to have fewer stressful symptoms. rs by symptoms ranged from -.33 to -.11.

Which stress matters? The examination of temporal aspects of stress

In this study, the impact of past experiences, present stressors, and expectations of future stress on psychological distress were explored. Participants were 38 male and 41 female spouses of patients hospitalized with non-life-threatening diseases. Participants completed questionnaires on which they appraised past, present, and future stressors and described their levels of psychological distress. Five models of the relationships between appraisals of past, present, and future stressors with psychological distress were examined. Only one model was confirmed by the data. It suggests that an appraisal of past stressors affects the appraisal of present stressors only indirectly, through its effect on the appraisal of future stressors. This model also maintains that only the appraisal of present stressors affects psychological distress directly. The implications of these findings for stress research are discussed.