Due to the increasing amount of time people spend in the paid labor force, there has been widespread interest in the impact that stress at work can have on health. This field identifies job stressors and their effects on individuals and families, investigates the processes that link job stress to health and the sources of
Stress exerts complex effects on eyewitness memory. On the whole, it has a negative effect, but this can be quite variable depending on the level of stress and the aspect of the witnessed event that one is trying to remember. Stress operates similarly in affecting person recognition (i.e., lineup performance) and recall of event details.
Stress management is the use of psychological interventions to reduce physical reactions (such as muscle tension, high blood pressure, insomnia, and gastric discomfort) to demanding environmental situations. These uncomfortable reactions may be associated with negative states such as anxiety, depression, anger, pain, or illness. Reduction of discomfort may be achieved by directly counteracting the stress
This entry briefly examines the history of the diagnosis of PTSD, the current symptoms that characterize this syndrome, risk factors for PTSD, and evidence about the prevalence of this disorder in relation to specific traumas. It also summarizes the debate about the expression of PTSD in children and other special populations and discusses the ongoing
This entry defines police stress and describes its consequences, origins, and the individual and organizational methods to control it. Controlling stress can enhance the delivery of police services and guide officers toward healthy lifestyles. One definition of stress is the wear and tear our bodies and minds experience as we react to physiological, psychological, and
Postraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by the development of a constellation of cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and physiological difficulties following exposure to a traumatic event or experience. PTSD is a relatively common, recurrent, and debilitating disorder and is the focus of considerable ongoing clinical and research attention. This entry reviews the signs
The Parenting Stress Index (PSI), developed by Richard Abidin in 1976, is a screening and diagnostic assessment tool commonly used to measure the magnitude of stress in the parent-child system. Abidin describes several potential uses of the PSI including screening for the early identification of parenting and family characteristics that fail to produce normal development
Litigation stress is best understood as consisting of negative physical and psychological reactions to being involved in a legal action. Indeed, litigation itself is mentioned specifically as a stressor in the multiaxial Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Text Revised (fourth edition), in Axis IV (Psychosocial and Environmental Problems). A variety of physical and emotional
Stress is an experience that disrupts a person’s emotional and physical state, such as having too much work that causes someone to become overtired or getting into an argument with a coworker that results in anger. Life itself is inherently stressful, so it should be no surprise that stress is an integral part of the
Although ubiquitous in life, stress is rather difficult to define. Stress reactivity is a dynamic process involving context-dependent, interactive factors subject to personal interpretation that dictate subsequent individual response patterns. Stress is an extremely influential element of any engagement in sport or exercise participation. The present entry provides an overview of stress. It discusses each