Stress is defined as a feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize. It can occur due to environmental issues, ...such as a looming work deadline, or psychological, for example, persistent worry about familial problems. While the acute response to life-threatening circumstances can be life-saving, research reveals that the body's stress response is largely similar when it reacts to less threatening but chronically present stressors such as work overload, deadline pressures, and family conflicts. It is proffered that chronic activation of stress response in the body can lead to several pathological changes such as elevated blood pressure, clogging of blood vessels, anxiety, depression, and addiction.
Organizational Stress Around the World: Research and Practice aims to present a sound theoretical and empirical basis for understanding the evolving and changing nature of stress in contemporary organizations. It presents research that expands theory and practice by addressing real-world issues across cultures and by providing multiple perspectives on organizational stress and research relevant to different occupational settings and cultures. Personal, occupational, organizational, and societal issues relevant to stress identification along with management techniques/approaches to confronting stress and its associated problems at the individual and organizational levels are also explored.
It will be of value to researchers, academics, practitioners, and students interested in stress management research.
Handbook of Work Stress Barling, Julian; Kelloway, E. Kevin; Frone, Michael R
2004, 2005, 2004-09-22
eBook
Questions about the causes or sources of work stress have been the subject of considerable research, as well as public fascination, for several decades. Earlier interest in this issue focused on the ...question of whether some jobs are simply more inherently stressful than others. Other questions that soon emerged asked whether some individuals were more prone to stress than others. The Handbook of Work Stress focuses primarily on identifying the different sources of work stress across different contexts and individuals.
The Handbook of Women, Stress and Trauma focuses on the stresses and traumas that are unique to the lives of women. It is the first text to merge research from the fields of trauma and women's health ...and development. Using a lifespan developmental approach, the text begins by addressing specific issues women face in their lives, drawing upon theories of development and exploring how women's relationships with others buffer - or sometimes cause - stress and trauma. Combining aspects of female development with empirical data from the fields of women's health, family violence and stress and coping, this volume helps sensitive care providers to the specific needs of women exposed to traumatic events.
An expanded and revised edition of the first social work text to focus specifically on trauma, this comprehensive anthology incorporates the latest research in trauma theory and clinical ...applications. It features coverage of the experiences of historically disenfranchised, marginalized, oppressed, and vulnerable groups.
Distress Tolerance Zvolensky, Michael J; Bernstein, Amit; Vujanovic, Anka A
2010
eBook
This state-of-the-art volume synthesizes the growing body of knowledge on the role of distress tolerance-the ability to withstand aversive internal states such as negative emotions and uncomfortable ...bodily sensations-in psychopathology. Prominent contributors describe how the construct has been conceptualized and measured and examine its links to a range of specific psychological disorders. Exemplary treatment approaches that target distress tolerance are reviewed. Featuring compelling clinical illustrations, the book highlights implications of the research for better understanding how psychological problems develop and how to assess and treat them effectively.
The leading clinical reference and text on stress management has now been significantly revised with 60% new material reflecting key developments in the field. Foremost experts review the "whats," ..."whys," and "how-tos" of progressive relaxation, biofeedback, meditation, hypnosis, cognitive methods, and other therapies. Chapters describe each method's theoretical foundations, evidence base, procedures, applications, and contraindications. Assessment and implementation are illustrated with extensive case examples. The volume examines the effects of stress on both mind and body, from basic science to practical implications for everyday life and health care. New to This Edition *Greatly expanded evidence base--every method is now supported by controlled clinical research. *Advances in knowledge about stress and the brain are integrated throughout. *Chapter on children and adolescents. *Chapter on selecting the best methods for individual patients. *Chapter on hyperventilation and carbon dioxide biofeedback. *Chapter on neuroinflammation.
Taking both a historical and contemporary perspective, the book covers the extent of and manner in which traumatic stress manifests, including the way in which exposure to such extremely threatening ...events impacts on people’s meaning and belief systems. Therapeutic and community strategies for addressing and healing the effects of trauma exposure are comprehensively covered, as well as the particular needs of traumatised children and adolescents. Illustrative case material is used to render ideas accessible and engaging. The book also provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of theory and practice in the field of traumatic stress studies, incorporating both international and South African specific findings.
As journalists in Iraq and other hot spots around the world continue to face harrowing dangers and personal threats, neuropsychiatrist Anthony Feinstein offers a timely and important exploration into ...the psychological damage of those who, armed only with pen, tape recorder, or camera, bear witness to horror. Based on a series of recent studies investigating the emotional impact of war on the profession, Journalists under Fire breaks new ground in the study of trauma-related disorders.
Feinstein opens with an overview of the life-threatening hazards war reporters face—abductions, mock executions, the deaths of close colleagues—and discusses their psychological consequences: post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, deterioration of personal relationships, and substance abuse. In recounting the experiences of reporters who encounter trauma on the job, Feinstein observes that few adequate support systems are in place for them. He tells the stories of media veterans who have seen it all, only to find themselves and their employers blindsided by psychological aftershocks.
The book explores the biological and psychological factors that motivate journalists to take extraordinary risks. Feinstein looks into the psyches of freelancers who wade into war zones with little or no financial backing; he examines the different stresses encountered by women working in a historically male-dominated profession; and he probes the effects of the September 11 attacks on reporters who thought they had sworn off conflict reporting. His interviews with many of this generation's greatest reporters, photographers, and videographers often reveal extraordinary resilience in the face of adversity.
Journalists under Fire is a look behind the public persona of war journalists at a time when the profession faces unprecedented risk. Plucking common threads from disparate stories, Feinstein weaves a narrative that is as fascinating to read as it is sobering to contemplate. What emerges are unique insights into lives lived dangerously.
Although it has long been recognized that what we eat and how we deal with stress play a major role in disease prevention and treatment, it is only recently that the scientific basis of this ...relationship has been aggressively studied. In Nutrients, Stress, and Medical Disorders, prominent researchers from academia, industry, and medicine survey current clinical findings on the complex interactions between diet, mental health, and stress, and their impact on disease states. The authors consider specific nutrients (fatty acids, glucocorticoids, herbal products, and alcohol), the effects of food, and stress, taking into account even environmental influences other than diet and their effects on stress and central nervous system functions. They give special attention to the influence of stress on physical health, mental health, and cognitive function, including the critical effects of maternal nutritional status and stress levels on fetal physical and mental development, the role of lipids in the development and treatment of depression, the role of fish oil in the development of aggressive behaviors, and the consequences of obesity on stress and the development of eating disorders. Additional chapters examine the effects of stress on chronic disorders, women, and cardiac function, and the influence of inflammation on diet, neurological functions, disease incidence, and cognitive functions. Authoritative and up-to-date, Nutrients, Stress, and Medical Disorders offers health professionals in many areas of research and practice not only an easy-to-understand benchmark review of the importance of nutrition in reducing stress-related chronic diseases and optimizing health, but also insight into exciting possibilities for drug development, the design of therapeutic programs, and future research opportunities.
Introduction
Prenatal maternal distress has a negative impact on the course of pregnancy, fetal development, offspring development, and later psychopathologies. The study aimed to determine the ...extent to which the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic may aggravate the prenatal distress and psychiatric symptomatology of pregnant women.
Material and methods
Two cohorts of pregnant volunteer women were evaluated, one that was recruited before the COVID‐19 pandemic (n = 496) through advertisements in prenatal clinics in Quebec, Canada, from April 2018 to March 2020; the other (n = 1258) was recruited online during the pandemic from 2 April to 13 April 2020. Prenatal distress and psychiatric symptomatology were measured with the Kessler Distress Scale (K10), Post‐traumatic Checklist for DSM‐5 (PCL‐5), Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES‐II), and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS).
Results
The 1754 pregnant women (Mage = 29.27, SD = 4.23) were between 4 and 41 gestational weeks (M = 24.80, SD = 9.42), were generally educated (91.3% had post‐high‐school training), and financially well‐resourced (85.3% were above the low‐income cut‐off). A multivariate analysis of covariance controlling for age, gestational age, household income, education, and lifetime psychiatric disorders showed a large effect size (ES) in the difference between the two cohorts on psychiatric symptoms (Wilks’ λ = 0.68, F6,1400 = 108.50, P < .001, partial η2 = 0.32). According to post‐hoc analyses of covariance, the COVID‐19 women reported higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms (ES = 0.57), dissociative symptoms (ES = 0.22 and ES = 0.25), symptoms of post‐traumatic stress disorder (ES = 0.19), and negative affectivity (ES = 0.96), and less positive affectivity (ES = 0.95) than the pre‐COVID‐19 cohort. Women from the COVID‐19 cohort were more likely than pre‐COVID‐19 women to present clinically significant levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms (OR = 1.94, χ21 = 10.05, P = .002). Multiple regression analyses indicated that pregnant women in the COVID‐19 cohort having a previous psychiatric diagnosis or low income would be more prone to elevated distress and psychiatric symptoms.
Conclusions
Pregnant women assessed during the COVID‐19 pandemic reported more distress and psychiatric symptoms than pregnant women assessed before the pandemic, mainly in the form of depression and anxiety symptoms. Given the harmful consequences of prenatal distress on mothers and offspring, the presently observed upsurge of symptoms in pregnant women calls for special means of clinical surveillance.
PDF
