- General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
- Selye's (1936, 1950) three-stage model of the body's nonspecific response to prolonged stress: alarm (SAM activation, initial resistance drop) → resistance (HPA-sustained adaptation, depleting reserves) → exhaustion (resource depletion, immune collapse, disease). The key insight: diverse stressors produce the same biological pattern.
- Sympathomedullary (SAM) pathway
- The fast stress-response axis: threat → amygdala/hypothalamus → sympathetic nervous system → adrenal medulla → adrenaline and noradrenaline into bloodstream. Activates within seconds. Produces the fight-or-flight response (increased heart rate, bronchodilation, glucose mobilisation). Repeated SAM activation contributes to cardiovascular disease through endothelial damage and hypertension.
- HPA axis
- The slower stress-response axis: stressor → hypothalamus (CRH) → anterior pituitary (ACTH) → adrenal cortex → cortisol. Peaks at 15–30 minutes. Cortisol mobilises energy, suppresses immune and inflammatory responses, and enhances memory consolidation of emotional events. Negative feedback: rising cortisol suppresses CRH and ACTH. Chronic stress impairs this feedback, producing sustained cortisol elevation.
- Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
- Holmes and Rahe's (1967) self-report measure listing 43 life events each weighted in life change units (LCUs). Total LCU score over 12 months predicts illness probability. Key weakness: assigns fixed LCU values ignoring individual appraisal; conflates positive and negative events; retrospective; modest correlations with health outcomes (r ≈ 0.12–0.30).
- Hassles & Uplifts Scale
- Kanner et al.'s (1981) alternative to life-event measurement: 117 everyday hassles (losing keys, traffic, arguments) rated for frequency and intensity, plus 135 uplifts (pleasant daily events). DeLongis et al. (1982) found hassles predicted somatic and psychological health outcomes better than major life events, supporting Lazarus's argument that chronic micro-activation is more pathogenic than infrequent major events.
- Demand–control model
- Karasek's (1979) model of occupational stress: health risk is greatest in "high-strain" jobs combining high psychological demands with low decision latitude (control). Active jobs (high demand/high control) are challenging but not pathogenic. Extended by Siegrist's (1996) effort–reward imbalance (ERI) model: high effort combined with low reward (pay, esteem, security) violates the social contract of work and drives stress.
- Immunosuppression
- The suppression of immune function by chronic stress. Cortisol binds glucocorticoid receptors on immune cells, reducing T-cell proliferation, NK cell activity, cytokine production, and antibody secretion. Key studies: Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (1984) — lower NK cell activity in medical students during exams; Cohen et al. (1991) — higher stress scores predicted clinical cold development after deliberate rhinovirus exposure (dose-dependent).
- Type A behaviour pattern
- Friedman and Rosenman's (1959) personality cluster: time urgency, competitive drive, and free-floating hostility. The WCGS (Rosenman et al., 1975) found Type A men had ~2× CHD rate over 8.5 years. Refinement: Miller et al. (1996) meta-analysis showed cynical hostility — not global Type A — is the "toxic ingredient" that independently predicts CHD.
- Hardiness (Kobasa)
- Kobasa's (1979) personality buffer against stress: three Cs — Commitment (engagement with life vs alienation), Control (belief that actions affect outcomes vs helplessness), Challenge (appraising change as opportunity vs threat). Identified in 837 Illinois Bell executives during AT&T divestiture. Critique (Funk, 1992): hardiness scales overlap substantially with low neuroticism; discriminant validity is contested.
- Stress-buffering hypothesis
- Cohen and Wills's (1985) model in which functional social support specifically protects against health effects of high-stress events by redefining the stressor as less threatening (appraisal stage) and/or providing coping resources (response stage). Distinct from the main-effects model (social integration is beneficial regardless of stress level). Strongest evidence for buffering when support is measured functionally and stress is high.
- Stress Inoculation Training (SIT)
- Meichenbaum's (1977) CBT-based stress management protocol. Three phases: (1) Conceptualisation — client learns about stress and appraisal; (2) Skills acquisition — relaxation, cognitive restructuring, coping self-statements, problem-solving; (3) Application — graduated exposure to stressors to practise skills under pressure. Effective for PTSD, medical procedure anxiety, anger management, and occupational stress.
- Biofeedback
- A technique providing real-time information about a physiological signal (skin conductance/GSR, muscle tension/EMG, heart rate variability, peripheral temperature) to enable operant conditioning of normally involuntary autonomic responses. Used in stress management to teach sympathetic downregulation. Strongest evidence: EMG biofeedback for tension headaches, HRV biofeedback for anxiety and hypertension, thermal biofeedback for Raynaud's syndrome.