Everyday Hassles Research Articles

STRESS MANAGEMENT: A STRATEGY WITH REFERENCE TO HAPPINESS

Stress is a normal human reaction that happens to everyone. In fact, the human body is designed to experience stress and react to it. When you experience changes or challenges (stressors), your body produces physical and mental responses. Stress is the way human beings react both physically and mentally to changes, events, and situations in their lives. People experience stress in different ways and for different reasons. The reaction is based on your perception of an event or situation. If you view a situation negatively, you will likely feel distressed—overwhelmed, oppressed, or out of control. Distress is the more familiar form of stress. The other form, eustress, results from a “positive” view of an event or situation, which is why it is also called “good stress.” Emotional wellbeing is the foundation of happiness. Each one of us experiences multiple emotions in our daily lives. According to experts, negative emotions lead to stress. This can be because of bad interaction with someone or some unpleasant situation, too much work, or even due to too much of everyday hassles like being stuck in long traffic jams. Negative emotions can impact both mental and physical health of people and so it is important to manage these emotions. But how can one deal with negative emotions like stress, ego and fear.

Assessment of Professional Circus Students' Psychological Characteristics at Four Strategic Timepoints over the Scholastic Year: A Longitudinal Study Using the Stress Process Model.

The circus professionalization process entails extensive training to mitigate the high-risk demands which increase stress in artists. In high-risk professions, everyday hassles (challenges) contribute greatly to overall stress. To capture the impact of daily challenges on student-artists, the aim of the current study was to describe the magnitude and pattern of daily challenges as well as their relationships with perceived coping, anxiety, fatigue, and psychological distress. Ninety-two students at École Nationale de Cirque (ENC), in Montreal, Canada, completed the Circus Daily Challenges Questionnaire (CDCQ) and scales assessing perceived coping, state anxiety, and fatigue at four time points over 1 school year. The Kessler 6 Non-Specific Psychological Distress Scale (K6) was implemented at one time point. Findings revealed significant fluctuations in challenge level and management of challenges throughout the school year, with schedule, technical development, artistic expression, physical preparation, and sleep reported as high during the two examination periods. The lowest challenge-level scores were achieved following the extended breaks in the annual calendar. Daily challenge positively correlated to state anxiety and fatigue, and negatively correlated with perceived coping. The student-artists reported higher prevalence of moderate psychological distress to general populations. Befitting the Stress Process Model, a strong interplay between variables was observed, and the life challenges assessment provides a basis for interventions based upon commonalities across the group, as well as individually tailored.

Daily Stress and Microvascular Dysfunction: The Buffering Effect of Physical Activity.

Although often short-lived, emotional responsiveness to daily stressors ( i.e. , routine and sometimes unexpected everyday hassles) is associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD), morbidity, and mortality. Here, we present the novel hypothesis that a disruption of microvascular homeostasis is a key antecedent. In addition, we postulate that physical activity may mitigate the psychobiological consequences of daily stress, thereby limiting pathophysiological CVD-related sequelae.

“Tension” and distress in South Asia: A systematic literature review

This systematic literature review summarizes academic knowledge on “tension” among South Asian and diaspora populations. “Tension” (sometimes transliterated as tenshun) is a term used across South Asia to talk about stress and distress, but the existing literature is dispersed and has never been analyzed synthetically. Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched 8 academic databases and solicited additional contributions from professional listservs. This process led to a final group of 122 records addressing “tension” in South Asian groups. The majority of studies took place in India and focused on mixed-gender adult samples. Many records reported differences in “tension” experience and vulnerability based on gender, while a few addressed differences based on age or socioeconomic group. Across records, “tension” described a wide range of physical and affective symptoms, and reflected distress experiences ranging from everyday hassles up to severe distress or even suicidality. “Tension” was often conceptualized via a hydraulic ethnopsychological model in which pent-up emotion expressed itself through physical or affective symptoms. Tension was often understood as an intermediary state between external stressors and internal states of pathology. People endorsed a variety of internal and external coping strategies, but several emphasized that only meaningful changes in adverse circumstances could solve “tension.” There was no consensus on whether “tension” is best characterized as an idiom of distress or a cultural syndrome, but based on the breadth of results reflected in this literature, we suggest that it is best understood under the umbrella term cultural concept of generalized psychosocial distress. To address gaps in the literature on “tension,” future research could work among populations outside India, could conduct direct comparative studies of how experiences vary by caste, gender, age, and socioeconomic status, and could explore the potential clinical value of “tension” for broaching discussions between patients and providers about distress.

Challenges for Pastoral Care in Times of COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges have arisen in pastoral care as a result of physical distancing and an increase in social and mental distress. Daily burdens and their consequences have led to an increased need for pastoral support in various fields, for example, hospitals, schools and church congregations. The study analyzes n = 307 pastoral carers in Germany in spring 2020 at the end of the first lockdown. Encounters and media use, interprofessional cooperation, topics of communication and the needs of pastoral carers were assessed for different areas of pastoral care. Results show a drastic decline in face-to-face communication, with significant differences between the various fields of pastoral care. The use of media has increased significantly, with a preference for synchronous interaction via telephone and video. Topics of pastoral care varied from everyday hassles to existential concerns, also including spiritual needs and struggles. Social isolation, the need to just talk to someone and the need for comfort and hope were mentioned the most. During the pandemic, pastoral carers used various media and established new ways to enable encounters and maintain contact. In the future, new methods for enabling pastoral care must be developed, evaluated and reflected on.

The Sharp Spikes of Poverty: Financial Scarcity Is Related to Higher Levels of Distress Intensity in Daily Life

Although income is an important predictor of life satisfaction, the precise forces that drive this relationship remain unclear. We propose that financial resources afford individuals a path to reducing the distressing impact of everyday hassles, thereby increasing one’s life satisfaction. More specifically, we hypothesize that financial scarcity is associated with greater distress intensity in everyday life. Furthermore, we propose that lower perceived control helps explain why financial scarcity predicts higher distress intensity and lower life satisfaction. We provide evidence for these hypotheses in a 30-day daily diary study (522 participants, 13,733 observations). A second study (N = 376) further suggests that, although everyone relies on social support to ease stress, financial scarcity shrinks the sense one can use economic resources to reduce the adverse impact of daily hassles. Although money may not necessarily buy happiness, it reduces the intensity of stressors experienced in daily life—and thereby increases life satisfaction.

Invisibility of Social Privilege to Those Who Have It

Dominant social groups often lack awareness of their own privilege, failing to perceive the extent of discrimination experienced by subordinate groups. We unravel an underlying cognitive process: advantaged social groups suffer from hypocognition—the absence of being schematic—of everyday hassles experienced by non-privileged groups. Right-handers generated fewer handedness-related hassles than left-handers (Study 1). Men generated fewer gender discrimination instances than women, recalled fewer precautions against assault, and showed poorer recognition of gender discrimination examples from a TEDx talk (Studies 2a-2c). Whites generated fewer racial discrimination instances than Blacks and recalled fewer such instances (Studies 3a-3b). Whites also generated fewer discrimination examples than Asians and reacted more slowly when classifying examples as discriminatory (Study 4). Hypocognition of privilege persisted whether privilege was framed as the absence of disadvantages or presence of advantages (Study 5). Whites showed hypocognition whether discrimination was made salient or not, suggesting hypocognition is unlikely fueled by motivated denial (Study 6). After watching a transgender woman describe her discrimination experience living as a woman, both men and women showed increased privilege awareness and discrimination perception (Study 7). Findings suggest that the invisibility of one’s privilege need not solely reflect identity-defensive motivations, but may also stem from cognitive deficits in conceptual knowledge about privilege and discrimination.

Daily uplifts and coping as a buffer against everyday hassles: Relationship with stress reactions over time in military personnel

The aim of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of how daily hassles and uplifts interact with each other and with stress reactions over time in military personnel. Interviews were conducted with 15 Swedish veterans five years after an international peace enforcement mission. The grounded theory method was used and result patterns were generated for six specific time periods distributed before, during, and after the mission. A theoretical model was developed showing that everyday uplifts combined with adaptive coping can be sufficient to limit stress reactions related to daily hassles. The model was supported by the fact that, five years after the mission, none of interviewees had received a PTSD diagnosis or needed professional psychological treatment. The last-mentioned outcome is noteworthy in itself given the severe stress often encountered in peace enforcement missions and previous research observations of high PTSD incidence, suicide rates, criminality, and substance abuse in mission participants.

Highs and lows: Naturalistic changes in mood and everyday hassles over school and vacation periods in adolescents

This study investigated changes in adolescents' mood and everyday hassles across school-terms and vacation periods. 146 (52.7% female) community-dwelling adolescents aged 16.2 ± 1.0 years (M±SD) completed self-report measures on depression, anxiety, and everyday hassles at four time points: during a school vacation, and the start, middle, and end of school-terms. Latent growth modeling showed that the end of a school-term was associated with significantly higher symptoms of depression, anxiety, and hassles; these measures were lower during the vacation. Hassles were strongly associated with more negative mood at all times. Our findings suggest significant fluctuations in adolescent mood and everyday hassles across school-vacation cycles. These findings call for careful consideration and reporting of timing in mood and stress assessment in adolescent research, as school-vacation cycles may have strong influence on both. Naturalistic changes in mood over school-vacation cycles reported are also clinically informative for designing and delivering adolescent wellbeing programs.

Adaptation and Validation of the Inventory of Everyday Hassles of Students in Romanian

Students who are admitted to university have to get accustomed to and then assimilate the codes of their new life, progressively acquiring a new social status and a new identity. There is no tool in Romanian to measure students’ perceived stress. This article presents the results of a series of five studies to validate a scale of Everyday Hassles of Romanian Students. Seven hundred and seventy seven Romanian students enrolled in a university program either in Engineering or the Humanities participated in the studies. The results revealed that the questionnaire of Everyday Hassles of Romanian Students had a six-factor structure. It had acceptable reliability and validity values. With regard to reliability, its scales showed high levels of internal consistency and temporal stability over a time span of three weeks. The results seem equally encouraging in terms of validity. Further investigations, particularly studies of convergence and discrimination, are required to identify more precisely the construct validity of the tool.

"One Flare at a Time": Adaptive and Maladaptive Behaviors of Women Coping With Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

The purpose of this investigation is to study the lived experiences of female postsecondary students diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease and/or irritable bowel syndrome. Nine women between the ages of 18 and 26 years were recruited to participate in this study. Participants completed an informed consent form and background questionnaire before completing a semi-structured one-on-one interview. This interview explored the lived experiences of these individuals in relation to condition management. Three salient themes that emerged from the data included (1) it can add to my life; (2) why me: my condition runs my life; and (3) I'm doing the best I can with what I have. The salient theme of I'm doing the best I can with what I have, the theme addressed in this article, was subdivided into adaptive and maladaptive coping behaviors. Reasons for the use of these behaviors included to avoid triggers or flare-ups/harmful effects, to achieve instant relief/pleasure, to respond to environmental pressures, and to become accustomed to dealing with the everyday hassles of their conditions. Community health nurses may become part of the solution to help women with inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome find more adaptive coping behaviors. Other implications are discussed.

Psychosocial Factors Associated with Subclinical Atherosclerosis in South Asians: The MASALA Study

South Asians have the highest rates of premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease amongst all ethnic groups in the world; however this risk cannot be fully explained by traditional risk factors. Participants from the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America Study were included in this cross-sectional analysis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of psychosocial factors (including anger, anxiety, depressive symptoms, current and chronic stress, and everyday hassles) with carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT). Three multivariate models were examined to evaluate the association between the psychosocial factors and CIMT. Findings suggest that the impact of psychosocial factors on subclinical atherosclerosis is differential for South Asian men and women. For men, anxiety and depression were associated; while for women, stress was associated with common carotid intima media thickness, independent of traditional CVD risk factors, diet and physical activity.

Abstract 584: The Association of Psychosocial Risk Factors with Subclinical Atherosclerosis in South Asians

Objective: South Asians (individuals from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than other ethnic groups, however this increased risk cannot be explained by traditional risk factors. We investigated the association of psychosocial risk factors with carotid intima media thickness (cIMT), a measure of subclinical CVD, in a community-based cohort of South Asians living in the United States. Methods: A total of 906 individuals from the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) Study, aged 40-83, were included in this cross-sectional analysis. High resolution B-mode ultrasonography was used to measure right and left common cIMT (CCA) and internal cIMT (ICA). Linear regression analyses were done to test the associations of the following psychosocial variables: anger, anxiety, depressive symptoms, current and prior 6-month life stress, social support, and everyday hassles with CCA and ICA. In a multivariable model, results were adjusted for the following traditional CVD risk factors: age, sex, systolic blood pressure, hypertension medication use, education, physical activity, diabetes, BMI, smoking, and total/HDL cholesterol ratio. Interaction effects between sex and psychosocial variables were also tested. Results: In age- and sex- adjusted analyses, current life stress and life stress over the past 6 months were positively associated with CCA [mean difference per 1-SD increase (CI) was 0.014 (0.001-0.028; p=0.042) and 0.015 (0.001-0.029; p=0.031), respectively], but were no longer significant after adjusting for other CVD covariates. There was a significant sex interaction with anxiety (p=0.044). Among men, anxiety was positively associated with CCA [mean difference per 1-SD increase (CI) was 0.021 (0.001-0.041; p=0.04) in age-adjusted analyses, and 0.022 (0.002-0.042; p=0.031) in a fully adjusted model]. ICA was not associated with any psychosocial factor. Conclusion: Compared to results in other ethnic groups, there was no significant association between trait anger and cIMT in South Asians. Anxiety was associated with CCA independent of traditional CVD risk factors in men alone.

Escapism Among Players of MMORPGs—Conceptual Clarification, Its Relation to Mental Health Factors, and Development of a New Measure

Previous studies show that the concept of escapism needs to be clarified and that its relation to problematic online gaming and other factors needs further examination. This study uses well-established, basic learning theory to clarify the concept of escapism, and examines its relation to problematic gaming, psychological distress, and satisfaction with life among players of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). MMORPG players (n=201) answered an online questionnaire where these factors were measured and correlated with a previously developed scale on motivation to play (MTPI), including extra items to cover positive and negative aspects of escapism. Factor analysis and construct validation show that positive aspects of escapism are theoretically and empirically unstable and that escapism is best clarified as purely "negative escapism," corresponding to playing being negatively reinforced as a way of avoiding everyday hassles and distress. Negative escapism had a stronger relationship to symptoms of Internet addiction, psychological distress, and life satisfaction than other variables and other more positive motivations to play. Future studies should use the revised subscale for escapism (in the MTPI-R) presented in the present study, for example when screening for Internet addiction.

Everyday hassles and uplifts among women on long-term sick-leave due to stress-related disorders

A balance between different experiences of occupations in everyday life is important for well-being. The study aim was to describe hassles and uplifts in everyday occupations among women on long-term sick-leave due to stress-related disorders. The sample consisted of 77 women and experiences were collected by the THU-5 instrument. The statements were analysed using quantitative content analysis. Data were categorized into three domains of hassles concerning oneself, doings, and social and physical context. The same domains occurred among the uplifts. Hassles were mostly generated by disturbing people around the women and by their limited body functions. The women were uplifted by supportive social relationships and by performing relaxing and calming occupations. The study illuminates the strong need for social support among women on sick-leave, as well as their low level of energy, which was an obvious obstacle for performing occupations. It is suggested that, in order to increase well-being in the target group, the occupational therapist should meet their need for occupations that match their current level of energy. The challenge for the client is to avoid remaining in a pattern of low-demand occupations without exceeding her/his capacity and returning to an unhealthy pattern of occupations.

Stress management and mind-body medicine: focusing on relaxation and meditation

Stress management is important and various stress management methods are required in the area of clinical preventive services. Although defining stress is somewhat complicated, stress can usually be divided into two concepts, stressors and the stress reaction. Stressors are stimuli that arouse the stress reaction. Examples are disasters, life events requiring changes, and everyday hassles. The stress reaction is often called the ‘fight or flight reaction’ and is mediated by the sympathetic nervous system and various hormones, including cortisol and catecholamine. Stress is closely related with health behaviors and several chronic diseases. Stress is measured using biological tests or self report, including questionnaires and interviews. Psychosocial Wellbeing Index-Short Form, Brief Ecounter PsychoSocial Instrument-Korean version, Global Assessment of Recent Stress Scale, and Symptom Checklist-90-Revised are examples of questionnaires that are widely used in Korea. Stress coping methods are categorized into stimuli-oriented methods, cognitive-behavioral methods, and mind-body interventions. Relaxation and meditation are widely used mind-body medical interventions. Relaxation Response and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction are two of the most widely used meditative programs in the Western mainstream medical system. Abdominal breathing, Progressive Muscular Relaxation, relaxing imagery, Autogenic Training, and biofeedback are other well-known techniques for relaxation and stress management. Relaxation and meditation are effective in improving health behaviors and quality of life, and complement the treatment methods of various chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disorders and cancer. Relaxation and meditation also seem to be effective methods for use in clinical preventive services. Program development, standardization, and further study are necessary for more widespread use of mind-body interventions in the area of clinical preventive services.

Erholungseffekte sportlicher Aktivitäten in stadtnahen Wäldern, Parks und Fitnessstudios | Restorative effects of sports activities in suburban forests, parks, and fitness centres

Three field studies concerning leisure activities, restoration and stress reduction in urban parks and close-to-the-city forests as well as in fitness centres are presented. Study 1 analyzes restorative effects of training in the forest and in fitness centres. In the questionnaire study, which was accomplished in four fitness centres and four forest sites, 269 persons participated. A clear improvement of well-being was observed after sports activities in both environments. Persons that were training in the forests, however, reported a somewhat stronger reduction of everyday hassles and a higher improvement of mental balance, while those who were training in fitness centres reported somewhat stronger stress reduction and a clearer improvement of their physical well-being. A second questionnaire survey (N = 164) addressed restoration and stress reduction in forests and parks and compares the effects of different activities performed in these green environments (Study 2). The participants felt on average clearly less stressed and more balanced after the visit in the greenspace than before. Practicing sports activities in the green showed a better effect on well-being than other activities. A further field survey (N = 80) compares restoration and stress reduction of joggers and persons taking a walk in parks and in suburban forests (Study 3). The physically more active joggers reported a stronger stress reduction. Thus, the studies 2 and 3 indicate that sports activities in green areas are particularly favorable for mental well-being. No significant differences between visiting forests and parks regarding the effects on well-being resulted from these two studies.

Communicating social support

When stresses and hassles challenge our abilities to cope, we frequently turn to family, friends, and partners for help. Yet social support from close relational partners does not uniformly benefit recipients or their relationships. By probing the communication processes that link enactments of social support to participants' reactions, this book provides new explanations for when and how receiving social support will be evaluated as helpful and relationally satisfying. The author's research addresses a variety of types of relationships and stresses, including young adult friends and romantic partners coping with the stresses of university life; adult friends, family and spouses responding to everyday hassles' and married couples coping with chronic health conditions. This innovative program of research combines qualitative and quantitative methods to develop a distinctive communication-based framework for understanding why the content, form, style, and sequence of talk matter for our evaluations of the help we receive from others.

Differential effects of everyday stress on the episodic memory test performances of young, mid-life, and older adults

This research explored the differential association of everyday stress with the episodic memory test performances of young, mid-life, and older adults. Participants included 98 community-dwelling adults ranging in age from 19–89 years. Everyday stress was assessed via the Perceived Stress Scale and the Elder Life Stress Inventory. A brief battery of episodic memory tasks was administered which included tests of Logical Memory, Verbal Paired Associates, Digit Symbol Substitution, and Digit Symbol Incidental Learning. Results suggest that everyday hassles and irritations as well as the accumulation of challenging life events may exacerbate age-related decline on episodic memory tests that require greater executive resources and more integrated and elaborative processing. The functional relationship between affective status and risk for dementia is discussed, and consideration of individual differences in everyday stress is suggested so as to allow more sensitive interpretation of episodic memory tests commonly used to discern mild cognitive impairment.

Ordinary and recurrent dream recall of active, past and non-recurrent dreamers during and after academic stress.

The role of stress in the onset and frequency of recurrent dreams was investigated by comparing dream recall of students undergoing naturalistic stress conditions. Thirty nine students in active, past and non-recurrent dream groups (n = 13) recorded frequency of nights per week involving overall and recurrent dream recall in the week prior to mid-term examinations and in a neutral study week in second semester. Self-report measures of everyday hassles and uplifts, anxiety and positive and negative affect experienced during these conditions were also collected. Anxiety and negative affect were reported as significantly higher in the pre-examination week. Overall the groups reported dreams on significantly more nights in the pre-examination week than the post examination week. Recurrent dream nights increased during the stress week for the active recurrent dream group but there was no change in recurrent dream recall for the other groups. These findings are consistent with theories that the experience of emotional stress is a critical factor in the onset and persistence of recurrent dreams.