Stress: Concepts, models, and measures

Most people harbor some perception of the word "stress." When one hears someone mention that they are "under a lot of stress," one has a certain idea of what they mean and experience. Indeed, the word "stress" infuses everyday conversations, providing a term with rich subtexts that explain innumerable problems, ailments, and illnesses of unknown origins. Links between hypertension and stress have for many years constituted the archetypical example of the causal relation between physiological (or clinical) and psychological phenomena. Stressors, both mental and environmental, are today readily identified and reproduced, and one of the most active areas in psychosomatic research has been the investigation of cardiovascular reactivity to mental stress. This chapter addresses the development of various concepts of stress ranging from those of the ancient Greeks to today, as well as how to operationalize and measure stress. Furthermore, the chapter describes models of stress development and how to understand the role of stress in association with health. In this regard, the chapter also focuses on the role of coping and coping resources that influence the stress-health relationship. At the end of the chapter, stress is demonstrably linked to the development of coronary heart disease (CHD).