HCC Stress Physiology & Coping 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which physiological system is most directly suppressed during acute stress to conserve energy for immediate survival?
- Musculoskeletal system
- Digestive system (Correct answer)
- Cardiovascular system
- Respiratory system
Correct answer: Digestive system
The digestive system is downregulated during the fight-or-flight response because digestion is non-essential for immediate survival and would divert blood flow from muscles.
Question 2: In Lazarus and Folkman's Transactional Model of Stress, 'secondary appraisal' involves:
- Determining whether a situation is threatening
- Assessing one's available coping resources (Correct answer)
- Identifying the original source of the stressor
- Evaluating the emotional intensity of the stressor
Correct answer: Assessing one's available coping resources
Secondary appraisal is the process of evaluating what coping options are available and whether they are adequate to handle the perceived stressor.
Question 3: The freeze response to stress is neurobiologically driven by:
- Sympathetic nervous system activation alone
- Parasympathetic dorsal vagal shutdown (Correct answer)
- Increased dopamine release in the reward circuit
- HPA axis suppression
Correct answer: Parasympathetic dorsal vagal shutdown
According to Polyvagal Theory, the freeze response is mediated by the dorsal vagal complex, the evolutionarily oldest branch of the vagus nerve, which causes immobilization.
Question 4: A coaching client who journals about their stress to gain perspective is using which type of coping?
- Avoidant coping
- Problem-focused coping
- Cognitive reappraisal (Correct answer)
- Social support seeking
Correct answer: Cognitive reappraisal
Journaling to shift one's interpretation of a stressful event is a form of cognitive reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that changes the meaning assigned to a situation.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes 'eustress'?
- Stress resulting from positive life events that is still adaptive and motivating (Correct answer)
- Chronic low-grade stress with no identifiable trigger
- A pathological stress response requiring clinical intervention
- The physiological baseline state after stress recovery
Correct answer: Stress resulting from positive life events that is still adaptive and motivating
Eustress, coined by Selye, refers to positive stress that enhances performance, motivation, and growth, such as excitement before a presentation.
Question 6: Which heart rate variability (HRV) pattern is associated with healthy stress recovery and vagal tone?
- Low and fixed HRV with minimal beat-to-beat variation
- High HRV with flexible beat-to-beat variation (Correct answer)
- Consistently elevated heart rate above 90 bpm
- Absence of sympathetic nervous system input
Correct answer: High HRV with flexible beat-to-beat variation
High HRV reflects strong parasympathetic (vagal) activity and indicates the nervous system's capacity to flexibly adapt to changing demands, a marker of resilience.
Question 7: The phenomenon where a past trauma causes a disproportionate stress response to a minor current trigger is called:
- Stress inoculation
- Allostatic load accumulation
- Sensitization or trauma activation (Correct answer)
- Stress habituation
Correct answer: Sensitization or trauma activation
Sensitization occurs when prior traumatic experience lowers the activation threshold of the stress response, causing minor triggers to elicit intense reactions.
HCC Stress Physiology & Coping 3
Which physiological system is most directly suppressed during acute stress to conserve energy for immediate survival?