PSYC 386 - Stress and Coping

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: GE-UDB
A systematic look at the major theories and research about stress and coping, with applications. Stress and coping will be examined in the context of everyday situations, e.g., family and other relationships, illness, death and dying, and the workplace.

Strongly Recommended Preparation: Upper division status (greater than 60 earned semester units) and completion of lower division Areas B1-B3.
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Areas A1, A2, A3 and B4 with grade C- (CR) or better; and PSYC 100.
Credit Restrictions: Not for psychology major or minor credit.

Possible Instructional Methods: On-ground.
Grading: A-F or CR/NC (student choice).
Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: GE-UDB- Upper Division Science Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning
Course Typically Offered: Fall & Spring

Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Describe the following physiological aspects of stress, coping, and stress management: the bodily systems that cause stress arousal; and ways in which both the stress response and the relaxation response affect most major bodily systems including cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, immune, muscular, and skin.
Describe and explain the relationships between physiological stress or relaxation and one’s psychological experiences, especially thoughts and emotions. Identify a broad range of events which may serve as stressors, including bioecological ones (e.g., diet, noise), psychosocial ones (e.g., relationships, overload, frustration, traumatic events), and one’s own personality characteristics, and explain how these events are examples of stressors.
Describe and explain what is meant by “coping,” describe different coping mechanisms (e.g., active coping, mental disengagement, denial) , and explain how you would determine if a coping mechanism is relatively functional or dysfunctional in a particular instance.
Identify and describe a variety of different stress management techniques and state the degree to which the effectiveness of each of these techniques has been supported by evidence.
Discuss the relationship between stress and one’s physical and psychological health.
Apply what you have learned to your own life by identifying signs and symptoms of stress, sources of stress, and by learning and implementing effective coping mechanisms and stress management techniques

UD-B. Upper-division Science Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning Learning Outcomes

demonstrate advanced and/or focused science or quantitative content knowledge in a specific scientific field, using appropriate vocabulary and referencing appropriate concepts (such as models, uncertainties, hypotheses, theories, and technologies);
apply advanced quantitative skills (such as statistics, algebraic solutions, interpretation of graphical data) to scientific problems and evaluate scientific claims;
demonstrate understanding of the nature of science and scientific inquiry and the experimental and empirical methodologies used in science to investigate a scientific question or issue; and
apply science content knowledge to contemporary scientific issues (e.g., global warming) and technologies (e.g., cloning), where appropriate.