the list of stressors does provide a way to consider how adolescents react on a
physical level to various potentially stressful events in their lives.
Finally, stress can produce reactions that go beyond internalizing disorders,
the kind of physical and psychological problems that primarily affect oneself, such as
depression and anxiety, that we discussed in Chapter 13. Stress can also be at the
root of externalizing disorders, the problems directed outward, toward others, such as
aggression, fighting, destructiveness, and other conduct disorders.
Of course, not everyone reacts to stressors identically. For example, men and
women respond in a different ways to certain kinds of stressors. In one experiment,
when newlyweds engaged in a 30-minute discussion, women responded more
strongly on a psychological level than men at points when the actions of the spouse
were negative or hostile (Kiecott-Glaser et al., 1996; Robles & Kiecolt-Glaser, 2003).
Responses to stress also vary across cultures. One of the most extreme
examples of this phenomenon is the Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome
(SUNDS) that afflicted male Southeast Asian Cambodian Hmong refugees in the
United States. In the disorder, apparently healthy males died in their sleep without
warning. Victims made gurgling noises, thrashed about in bed, and rapidly died.
Although no clear cause could be found, one explanation suggests that an
inherited heart defect put potential victims at risk. When stress was high--- due to the
pressure of multiple jobs, family arguments, academic concerns, or other factors--extremely vivid unpleasant dreams may have triggered the inherited flaw and led to
death. For instance, not long before they died some victims reported dreams
foretelling their deaths. Because the Hmong place great credence in their dreams,
dreams foretelling death could have produced extremely high levels of stress--leading to the fatal consequence (Adler, 1995; Lane et al., 2005).
Vocabularies:
immune system : the system of organs, glands, and cells that make up the bodys
defense against disease.
psychosomatic disorders : medical problems caused by the interaction of
psychological, emotional, and physical difficulties.