Abstract
The notion that one’s psychosocial environment, lifestyle, and attitudes are linked to disease is by no means a new idea, as discussed in Chap. 1. In a scholarly meta-analysis, Tower (1984) reviewed 523 published reports investigating the relationship between psychosocial factors and disease. Ultimately selecting 60 of those studies on the basis of design considerations, she then submitted the data to a meta-analysis. The results supported the conclusion that there exists a strong relationship between psychosocial factors and illness. She notes, “Psychological well-being appeared to be most strongly associated with coronary heart disease and infectious processes … although it was significantly associated with all diseases [investigated] except complications of pregnancy” (p. 51). To assess the power of her findings, Tower calculated the number of fugitive studies required to reject the findings of her meta-analysis. The results of this analysis of outcome tolerance revealed that over 28,000 fugitive studies would be required to reject the conclusion that psychosocial factors are related to disease. More recently, researchers have studied the link between psychosocial factors and heart disease (Low, Thurston, & Matthews, 2010), depression (Bonde, 2008) and even musculoskeletal pain (Macfarlane et al., 2009).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alexander, F. (1950). Psychosomatic medium. New York, NY: Norton.
Benson, H. (1975). The relaxation response. New York, NY: Morrow.
Benson, H. (1987). Your maximum mind. New York, NY: Times Books.
Benson, H. (1996). Timeless healing: The power and biology of belief. New York, NY: Scribner.
Bonde, J. P. E. (2008). Psychosocial factors at work and risk of depression: A systematic review of the epidemiological evidence. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 65(7), 438–445.
Chavat, J., Dell, P., & Folkow, B. (1964). Mental factors and cardiovascular disorders. Cardiologia, 44, 124–141.
Doane, B. (1986). Clinical psychiatry and the physiodynamics of the limbic system. In B. Doane & K. Livingston (Eds.), The limbic system (pp. 285–315). New York, NY: Raven Press.
Everly, G. S., Jr. (1985b, November). Biological foundations of psychiatric sequelae in trauma and stress-related “disorders of arousal.” Paper presented to the 8th National Trauma Symposium, Baltimore, MD.
Everly, G. S., Jr. (1986). A “biopsychosocial analysis” of psychosomatic disease. In T. Millon & G. Kierman (Eds.), Contemporary directions in psychopathology (pp. 535–551). New York, NY: Guilford.
Everly, G. S., Jr., & Benson, H. (1989). Disorders of arousal and the relaxation response. International Journal of Psychosomatics, 36, 15–21.
Everly, G. S., Jr., Welzant, V., Machado, P. & Miller, K. (1989). The correlation between frontalis muscle tension and sympathetic nervous system activity. Unpublished research report.
Freeman, G. L. (1939). Toward a psychiatric Plimsoll Mark. Journal of Psychology, 8, 247–252.
Gellhorn, E. (1967). Principles of autonomic-somatic integrations. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Goddard, G., & Douglas, R. (1976). Does the engram of kindling model the engram of normal long-term memory? In J. Wads (Ed.), Kindling (pp. 1–18). New York, NY: Raven Press.
Gray, J. (1982). The neuropsychology of anxiety. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Greengard, P. (1978). Phosphorylated proteins and physiological affectors. Science, 199, 146–152.
Harris, T. (1991). Life stress and illness: The question of specificity. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 13, 211–219.
Kraus, H., & Raab, W. (1961). Hypokinetic disease. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Lacey, J., & Lacey, B. (1958). Verification and extension of the principle of autonomic response-stereotype. American Journal of Psychology, 71, 50–73.
Lacey, J., & Lacey, B. (1962). The law of initial value in the longitudinal study of autonomic constitution. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 98, 1257–1290.
Lachman, S. (1972). Psychosomatic disorders: A behavioristic interpretation. New York: Wiley.
Lader, M. H. (1969). Psychophysiological aspects of anxiety. In M. H. Lader (Ed.), Studies of anxiety (pp. 53–61). Ashford, Kent, UK: Headly Brothers.
Lehrer, P. M., Carr, R., Sargunaraj, D., & Woolfolk, R. L. (1994). Stress management techniques: Are they all equivalent, or do they have specific effects? Biofeedback and Self-Regulation, 19(4), 353–401.
Lehrer, P. M., Woolfolk, R. L., & Sime, W. E. (2007). Principles and practice of stress management (3rd ed.). New York, NY: The Guildford Press.
Levi, L., & Andersson, L. (1975). Psychosocial stress. New York: Wiley.
Low, C. A., Thurston, R. C., & Matthews, K. A. (2010). Psychosocial factors in the development of heart disease in women: current research and future directions. Psychosomatic Medicine, 72(9), 842–854.
Macfarlane, G. J., Pallewatte, N., Paudyal, P., Blyth, F. M., Coggon, D., Crombez, G., … van der Windt, D. (2009). Evaluation of work-related psychosocial factors and regional musculoskeletal pain: results from a EULAR Task Force. Annals of Rheumatoid Disorders, 68, 885–891.
Malmo, R. B., & Shagass, C. (1949). Physiologic study of symptom mechanisms in psychiatric patients under stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 11, 25–29.
Malmo, R. B., Shagass, C., & Davis, J. (1950). A method for the investigation of somatic response mechanisms in psychoneurosis. Science, 112, 325–328.
Mason, J. W. (1971). A re-evaluation of the concept of “non-specificity” in stress theory. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 8(3–4), 323–333.
Moos, R., & Engel, B. (1962). Psychophysiological reactions in hypertensive and arthritic patients. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 6, 222–241.
Post, R. (1986). Does limbic system dysfunction play a role in affective illness? In B. Doane & K. Livingston (Eds.), The limbic system (pp. 229–249). New York: Raven Press.
Post, R., & Ballenger, J. (1981). Kindling models for the progressive development of psychopathology. In H. van Pragg (Ed.), Handbook of biological psychiatry (pp. 609–651). New York: Marcel Dekker.
Rosenman, R., & Friedman, M. (1974). Type A behavior and your heart. New York: Knopf.
Schnore, M. M. (1959). Individual patterns of physiological activity as a function of task differences and degree of arousal. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 58, 117–128.
Schwartz, G. (1977). Psychosomatic disorders and biofeedback: A psychobiological model of disregulation. In J. Maser & M. Seligman (Eds.), Psychopathology: Experimental models (pp. 270–307). San Francisco: Freeman.
Schwartz, G. (1979). The brain as a health care system. In C. Stone, F. Cohen, & N. Adler (Eds.), Health psychology (pp. 549–573). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Selye, H. (1936). A syndrome produced by diverse noxious agents. Nature, 138, 32–33.
Selye, H. (1956). The stress of life. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Selye, H. (1974). Stress without distress. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Sternbach, R. (1966). Principles of psychophysiology: An introductory text and readings. Oxford, England: Academic Press.
Stoyva, J. M. (1976). Self-regulation and stress-related disorders: A perspective on biofeedback. In D. I. Mostofsky (Ed.), Behavior control and modification of physiological activity. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Stoyva, J. M., & Budzynski, T. H. (1974). Cultivated low-arousal: An anti-stress response? In L. DiCara (Ed.), Recent advances in limbic and autonomic nervous systems research (pp. 369–394). New York: Plenum Press.
Tower, J. F. (1984). A meta-analysis of the relationships among stress, social supports, and illness and their implications for health professions education. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Everly, G.S., Lating, J.M. (2013). The Link from Stress Arousal to Disease. In: A Clinical Guide to the Treatment of the Human Stress Response. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5538-7_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5538-7_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5537-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5538-7
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)