Stress and Resilience

[McLaughlin 2009] o This article mainly focuses on stress and resilience in relation to racial/ethnic minorities o Resilience is the successful adaption to stressful experiences It occurs in the face of 1) heightened vulnerability and 2) it involves adaptation or typical development o Resilience vs. Recovery Recovery involves symptoms and then getting better, while resilience is characterized by the person being asymptomatic o Theories of Resilience Article states that Garmezy, Masten, and Tellegen (1984) were the ones that identified the three models, and that they are not sure how well it translates to racial/ethnic minority issues. Compensatory Model Direct quote: "posits that exposure to stressors decreases competence and that certain personal attributes function additively to raise competence. The compensatory factors, or personal attributes, work independently on the outcome to bring about adaptation, and those without this personal variable will experience lower adaptation compared to those with it" Protective Factor Model Personal attributes act as a buffer against the stressors Challenge Model Basically states that the stress creates a challenge, which provides you with the opportunity to grow and adapt. This adaptation will make you stronger and therefore better equipped to face even more severe stressors. Garmezy [1984] o Stress Resilience "Was defined as the manifestations of competence in children despite exposure to stressful events o Theories Compensatory Model There are three variables: Attributes this is what you have Stress These are the stressors that are acted upon you or that you face Competence How you fare in response to the stressors Relationships Holding attributes constant competence covaries negatively with stress Holding stress constant competence covaries positively with attributes Protective Factor Model Personal attributes modulate the impact of stress as a variable. This modulation can be in the form of dampening or amplifying. Therefore personal attributes can either provide protection/immunity or can cause you to be more vulnerable.

Challenge Model Same as what was said above [Tugade, Fredrickson 2004] o Psychological Resilience Definition: " is defined by flexibility in response to changing situational demands, and the ability to bounce back from negative emotional experiences" Characteristics of Resilient Individuals They are 'characterised by high positive emotionality" They 'have the capacity to rebound from negative circumstances despite threats to (themselves)" Benefits of Positive Emotions After the arousing of negative emotions (as per the study), the individuals were able to recover to the psychological baseline faster For trait-resilient individuals, the experience of positive emotions is related to accelerated speed in rebounding from the cardiovascular activation generated by negative emotion

Works Cited

Garmezy N, Masten AS, Tellegen A. The Study of Stress and Competence in Children: A Building Block for Developmental Psychopathology. Child Development. 1984 Feb 1;55(1):97 111. McLaughlin AA, Doane LS, Costiuc AL, Feeny NC. Stress and Resilience. In: Loue S, Sajatovic M, editors. Determinants of Minority Mental Health and Wellness [Internet]. Springer New York; 2009 [cited 2012 Sep 20]. p. 116. Available from: http://www.springerlink.com/content/x2l347n06885237v/abstract/ Tugade MM, Fredrickson BL, Feldman Barrett L. Psychological Resilience and Positive Emotional Granularity: Examining the Benefits of Positive Emotions on Coping and Health. Journal of Personality. 2004;72(6):116190.