AQA A-level Psychology (7182): Paper 3 – Stress – Revision Notes

For full explanations and worked answer paragraphs, read the Stress study guide first.

These notes cover the Stress option of AQA A-level Psychology (7182), from the AQA AS and A-level Psychology (7181, 7182) specification, Version 1.4 (1 September 2025), for teaching from September 2025. Stress is section 4.3.7 and topic 14 in Option 2. It is assessed in Paper 3: Issues and Options in Psychology, Section C (24 marks of a 96-mark, 2-hour paper worth 33.3% of A-level). Paper 3 assesses compulsory Issues and debates content plus optional content, “one from option 1, 9–11, one from option 2, 12–14, one from option 3, 15–17”.

When you are ready, try the Stress practice questions. For other topics, use the AQA A-level Psychology hub and tick off progress on the AQA A-level Psychology checklist.

What the specification lists

1. The physiology of stress: general adaptation syndrome, the HPA system, the sympathomedullary pathway and the role of cortisol.
2. The role of stress in illness: immunosuppression and cardiovascular disorders.
3. Sources of stress: life changes, daily hassles, workplace stress (workload and control).
4. Measuring stress: SRRS, Hassles and Uplifts Scale, physiological measures including skin conductance response.
5. Individual differences: personality types A, B and C; hardiness (commitment, challenge, control).
6. Managing and coping: drug therapy, stress inoculation therapy, biofeedback; gender differences in coping; social support (instrumental, emotional, esteem).

Key terms

Term	Definition
Stress	A state that arises when perceived demands exceed perceived ability to cope
SAM (sympathomedullary pathway)	Hypothalamus → sympathetic nervous system → adrenal medulla → adrenaline and noradrenaline; the fast, acute response
HPA (hypothalamic pituitary-adrenal) system	Hypothalamus releases CRH → anterior pituitary releases ACTH → adrenal cortex releases cortisol; the slower, chronic response
Cortisol	Stress hormone that raises blood glucose and reduces pain sensitivity but suppresses the immune system
Negative feedback	High cortisol signals the hypothalamus and pituitary to cut CRH and ACTH
General adaptation syndrome (GAS)	Selye’s three-stage response to any prolonged stressor: alarm, resistance, exhaustion
Immunosuppression	Reduced immune function, for example lower natural killer (NK) cell activity
Cardiovascular disorder	Disorder of the heart or blood vessels, such as hypertension or coronary heart disease (CHD)
Life change	A major event needing psychological readjustment
Daily hassle	A frequent minor irritation of everyday life
Uplift	A small positive event that may offset hassles
Life change unit (LCU)	The SRRS score given to each life event
Skin conductance response (SCR)	Change in the skin’s electrical conductance as sweating rises with sympathetic arousal
Type A / B / C	Competitive, time-urgent, hostile / relaxed, patient / emotionally suppressed, cooperative, unassertive
Hardiness	Commitment, challenge and control, said to buffer stress
Stress inoculation therapy (SIT)	Cognitive-behavioural therapy in three phases: conceptualisation, skills acquisition and rehearsal, application and follow-through
Biofeedback	Learning to control a body response by receiving real-time information about it
Instrumental / emotional / esteem support	Practical help / care and listening / boosting belief in your own ability

Studies at a glance

Study	What they did	Finding	One evaluation point
Selye (1936)	Exposed rats to different harmful stimuli	Same three-stage response each time (GAS)	Animal research ignores human cognitive appraisal
Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (1984)	Blood samples from medical students a month before and during exams	Lower NK cell activity during exams; lonelier students had lower immune function	Real stressor, same participants twice; but behaviour (sleep, diet) may confound
Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (1995)	Small wounds in dementia carers and controls	Carers’ wounds healed significantly more slowly	Chronic real-life stressor; carers may also differ in sleep and health
Cohen et al. (1991)	Gave volunteers a cold virus	Higher stress scores linked to more colds	Controlled exposure; still correlational on stress
Segerstrom and Miller (2004)	Meta-analysis of more than 300 studies	Short-term stress can boost some immunity; chronic stress suppresses it	Shows stress-illness link is not one-way
Holmes and Rahe (1967)	Built the SRRS from 43 events	Death of a spouse 100; marriage 50	Assumes everyone finds an event equally stressful
Rahe et al. (1970)	US Navy sailors’ life change scores for the previous six months; health tracked over the next six months	Weak positive correlation (about +0.12) between life change and illness	Weak correlation; all-male sample
Kanner et al. (1981)	Middle-aged adults completed hassles and uplifts scales monthly for ten months	Hassles predicted psychological symptoms better than life events	Self-report and correlational
Johansson et al. (1978)	Swedish sawmill finishers versus cleaners	Finishers (high workload, low control) had more stress hormones, illness and absence	Natural setting; small group, one workplace
Marmot et al. (1997), Whitehall II	Over 7,000 London civil servants	Low job control made the largest contribution to higher CHD in lower grades; a companion paper (Bosma et al., 1997) found job demands were not related to CHD	Large sample; but correlational, and low control goes with lower pay and lifestyle differences
Friedman and Rosenman (Western Collaborative Group Study)	Over 3,000 Californian men followed for about eight and a half years	Type A roughly twice as likely to develop CHD	Ragland and Brand (1988): among men who developed CHD, Type A men were less likely to die from it
Greer and Morris (1975)	Interviewed women before breast biopsy	Those diagnosed with cancer reported more emotional suppression	Nakaya et al. (2003) found no personality-cancer link
Kobasa (1979)	Business executives	Healthy high-stress executives scored higher on hardiness	Mostly male executives
Meichenbaum (1985)	Described SIT	Three phases prepare people for future stress	Time-consuming; needs motivation
Saunders et al. (1996)	Meta-analysis of 37 SIT studies	SIT reduced anxiety and improved performance under stress	Combines varied samples and settings
Lemaire et al. (2011)	Doctors used a biofeedback-based tool for 28 days	Significantly greater fall in stress scores than controls	Relaxation alone may explain the effect
Taylor et al. (2000)	Proposed tend-and-befriend	Women seek social contact and protect offspring under stress, possibly linked to oxytocin	Evolutionary claims are hard to test
Tamres et al. (2002)	Meta-analysis of coping studies	Women more likely to use most strategies, not only emotion-focused ones; some differences depended on the stressor	Challenges simple “men problem-focused” claim
Cohen et al. (2015)	Adults reported support and hugs, then were exposed to a cold virus	Support and hugs linked to protection and milder symptoms	Correlational on support

Must-know distinctions

• SAM versus HPA: SAM is fast, uses nerves then the adrenal medulla, releases adrenaline. HPA is slower, uses hormones (CRH, ACTH) and the adrenal cortex, releases cortisol.
• Acute versus chronic stress: short-term stress may boost some immunity; chronic stress suppresses it.
• Life changes versus daily hassles: rare and major versus frequent and minor. Hassles may predict well-being better.
• Workload versus control: two separate workplace variables. Marmot’s data point to control.
• Self-report versus physiological measures: self-report captures the person’s appraisal but is open to bias; physiological measures are objective but measure arousal, not stress itself.
• Type A versus hardiness: Type A is a risk factor (hostility is the active part); hardiness is a protective factor.
• Drug therapy versus SIT versus biofeedback: drugs act on symptoms quickly; SIT targets appraisal and prepares for future stress; biofeedback trains control of a body response without drugs.
• Emotion-focused versus problem-focused coping: managing feelings versus tackling the stressor.
• Instrumental versus emotional versus esteem support: practical help, care, or confidence-building.

Mini essay plan

Typical question: “Discuss the role of stress in illness.” (Your teacher will confirm the tariff; option essays are marked with levels of response.)

1. AO1 – mechanism. HPA releases cortisol, which reduces NK cell and lymphocyte activity (immunosuppression). Repeated SAM activation raises heart rate and blood pressure, linked to hypertension and CHD.
2. AO3 – support. Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (1984): lower NK activity during exams. Explain why the same-participant design helps.
3. AO3 – support. Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (1995): slower wound healing in carers shows effects of chronic stress.
4. AO3 – complication. Segerstrom and Miller (2004): short-term stress can boost immunity, so the link depends on duration.
5. AO3 – alternative explanation. Stressed people may sleep less, smoke or drink more. Health behaviours are a confounding variable.
6. AO3 – individual differences. Hostility and hardiness change how stress affects health, so stress does not affect everyone equally.
7. Issues and debates link. Biological reductionism versus an interactionist explanation that combines physiology, behaviour and appraisal (see Issues and debates).
8. Judgement. Strong evidence that chronic stress contributes to illness, but as one factor among several, not a sole cause.

Quick self-test

1. Which part of the adrenal gland releases cortisol?
2. Name the hormone the anterior pituitary releases in the HPA system.
3. List the three stages of GAS in order.
4. What did Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (1984) measure in medical students?
5. What value did Holmes and Rahe give to marriage on the SRRS?
6. Define a daily hassle.
7. Which workplace variable did Marmot et al. (1997) link to CHD?
8. What does skin conductance response measure?
9. Name the three Cs of hardiness.
10. Name the three phases of stress inoculation therapy.
11. Which type of social support is a friend driving you to an interview?
12. What did Taylor et al. (2000) call women’s typical stress response?

Answers

1. The adrenal cortex.
2. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).
3. Alarm reaction, resistance, exhaustion.
4. Natural killer cell activity, from blood samples a month before and during exams.
5. 50 (the anchor event).
6. A frequent, minor irritation of everyday life, such as traffic or misplacing keys.
7. Low job control.
8. Changes in the skin’s electrical conductance caused by sweating, an index of sympathetic arousal.
9. Commitment, challenge, control.
10. Conceptualisation; skills acquisition and rehearsal; application and follow-through.
11. Instrumental support.
12. Tend-and-befriend.

Where marks are usually lost

• Swapping the adrenal medulla (SAM, adrenaline) and adrenal cortex (HPA, cortisol).
• Describing GAS stages without linking exhaustion to illness.
• Claiming stress always suppresses immunity, without the acute versus chronic distinction.
• Treating workplace stress as workload only, when the specification also names control.
• Calling SCR a direct measure of stress, rather than of arousal.
• Presenting Type C as an established cause of cancer.
• Naming SIT phases without saying what happens in each, or naming biofeedback without explaining the reinforcement and transfer steps.
• Discussing therapies without judging appropriateness and effectiveness, which the specification asks for.
• Using a generic “gender difference” point without evidence, or ignoring Tamres et al.’s finding that women use most strategies more, not only emotion-focused ones.
• Writing an application answer with no reference to the scenario’s details.

Official syllabus

AQA AS and A-level Psychology (7181, 7182) specification, Version 1.4 (1 September 2025), for teaching from September 2025. Stress is section 4.3.7 (Option 2, topic 14), assessed in Paper 3: Issues and Options in Psychology, Section C.