Linking Stress, Health and Social Behaviour

Abstract

Stress has been systematically linked to adverse health outcomes. Epidemiological research has empirically shown that stress affects health both directly (through dysregulation of various physiological systems) and indirectly (e.g. via unhealthy coping behaviors). Stress literature typically distinguishes between different kinds of stress (and, therefore, different kinds of associated stressors). Stressful events vary in terms of their frequency; their ability to affect health depends on where in the individual life trajectory they occur. Chronic stress is considered more detrimental for health than acute stress. The impact of chronic stressors on health has received much research attention but its mechanisms are still not fully understood. While stress exposure does not uniformly translate into diseases, understanding the range of factors that make its consequences more insidious is important to develop a better understanding of how the psychosocial stress works to instigate pathology.

This lecture is free and open to all. Registration is not required to attend in person.