Two Key Studies of Sociocultural Explanations of Stress (HL IB Psychology)

Key study one: Brunet et al. (2013)

Aim: 

• To examine if social support resources mediate the relationship between stress and physical activity in adolescents and young adults following treatment for cancer

Participants:

• 64 adolescents and young adults aged between 15 and 39 years (mean 28.8 years)

• Most of the participants were female, single and Caucasian (of white European background)

• They had either an undergraduate degree or higher degree from a university

• Most of the participants were employed either full time or part time. 

• The mean time since their diagnosis was 2.9 years

• All participants had completed their cancer treatment

Procedure: 

• An online questionnaire collected data on demographic and cancer-specific variables (type and stage of cancer, age at diagnosis, and types of treatment)

• Participants also completed:

  • a ten-item perceived-stress scale

  • questions on perceived social support and social support group involvement

  • questions on physical activity

Results:

• Stress was negatively correlated with perceived social support and also with social support group involvement

• Stress was also negatively correlated with physical activity for those not in a social support group

• There was no correlation between stress and physical activity for those in a social support group 

• Perceived social support did not have the same effect on physical activity

Conclusion:

• Establishing social support groups may help to reduce stress and promote an active lifestyle in adolescents and young adults treated for cancer

Social support groups can reduce stress in young people after cancer treatment

Evaluation of Brunet et al. (2013)

Strengths

• Brunet et al’s findings were based on careful operationalisation of ‘social support’ and therefore this research had internal validity, based on construct validity

• The results of this study can be applied to cancer care programmes, increasing support groups to help reduce the negative impact of stress and contribute to positive lifestyle changes

Limitations

• Data on the nature and quality of the support groups was not collected and so the extent the support they provided is unknown, lowering the validity of the results

• The online-recruited volunteer sample of mainly white females may not represent the target population of adolescents and young adults who have been treated for cancer

Key study two: Cohen et al. (2014)

Aim: 

• To examine the role of perceived social support in the form of receiving hugs in buffering against interpersonal stress-induced susceptibility to infectious disease

Participants: 

• A volunteer sample of 406 participants who were part of two earlier studies

• Participants were aged between 18 and 55 years (mean age  = 33.5 years)

• The total sample was 46.3% female (53.7% male) and 38.4% non-White 

Procedure: 

• Before the study participants underwent:

  • a physical exam and blood tests for baseline immunity to the common cold virus, to exclude those who had high immunity from a previous cold

  • a questionnaire collecting demographic details of age, gender, general health 

  • a telephone questionnaire completed each evening to measure perceived social support, tension, stressors and the number of hugs received daily

• Participants were exposed to the common cold virus via a nose spray 

• 5 or 6 days later participants’ virus levels were measured in nasal secretions to see if they had become infected

• One month later, more blood tests were taken: antibodies of four times or more the baseline measurement confirming infection

Results:

• 78% of participants became infected with the cold virus, and 31% of these met the criteria for clinical illness

• Participants perceiving low social support and few hugs had a higher rate of infection after the viral exposure

• Participants perceiving higher levels of social support, as shown through daily hugs, had a lower rate of infection

• The lower rate of infection with perceived social support remained even if participants also reported tension and stressors

• Those with perceived social support also had fewer cold symptoms

Conclusion:

• Perceived social support, especially in the form of physical hugs, can act as a buffer against stress and subsequent illness

Evaluation of Cohen et al. (2014)

Strengths

• The findings have important implications for understanding the roles of stress, support, and hugs in response to other viral illnesses

• This was a well-controlled study, as only participants with low levels of immunity to the cold virus prior to viral exposure were accepted, and so the findings have internal validity

Limitations

• Even though the participants were quarantined immediately after exposure to the cold virus, a third variable (such as their personal reaction to this isolation) could have increased or decreased likelihood of infection

• The study used self-report measures to identify tenson, stressors and number of daily hugs and so the data may have been subject to social desirability bias, reducing the validity of the findings