ASSIGNMENT #4               Due: Monday, 2/28/00

Topic: Sources of Stress

Answer each of the following questions in a short paragraph (no more than 50-75 words each, for a total of 2-3 pages double-spaced).  The (*) notation after a question means that it relates to material presented only or mostly in class.

1. List and explain three reasons why it may be helpful to identify and understand specific stressors. (*)

2. What does it mean to say that the relationship between the family and stress is reciprocal?

3. Briefly summarize the factors in Patterson’s model that are assumed to determine a family’s vulnerability to stress.

4. Identify and summarize what is known about one specific factor that may contribute to family violence.

5. Think of a job you have held: identify and briefly describe one specific type of job stress you encountered, and describe one specific type of symptom that you think you experienced as a result of this stress.

6. What is the major source of school-related stress for you right now? (*)

7. Negative effects of stress are usually found more often in people of lower socio-economic status; show how social causation offers a different explanation for this correlation than social drift/social selection.

8. Describe one example of how the SRRS has been used to produce evidence of a link between life-change and illness, and then explain why such evidence is open to criticism.

9. Give one specific example of why it may be necessary to take culture into account when trying to understand the links between society, stress and health and adjustment.

10. What is the difference between emotion-focused and problem-focused coping, and how is that difference relevant to efforts to help victims immediately after some type of disaster? (*)

Copyright ©1998 Beverly J. Volicer and Steven F. Tello, UMass Lowell.  You may freely edit these pages  for use in a non-profit, educational setting.  Please include this copyright notice on all pages.