Social stress
Social stress is stress that stems from one's relationships with others and from the social environment in general. Based on the appraisal theory of emotion, stress arises when a person evaluates a situation as personally relevant and perceives that they do not have the resources to cope or handle the specific situation.
The activation of social stress does not necessarily have to occur linked to a specific event, the mere idea that the event may occur could trigger it. This means that any element that takes a subject out of their personal and intimate environment could become a stressful experience. This situation makes them socially incompetent individuals.
There are three main categories of social stressors. Life events are defined as abrupt, severe life changes that require an individual to adapt quickly. Chronic strains are defined as persistent events which require an individual to make adaptations over an extended period of time. Daily hassles are defined as minor events that occur, which require adaptation throughout the day. When stress becomes chronic, one experiences emotional, behavioral, and physiological changes that can put one under greater risk for developing a mental disorder and physical illness.
Humans are social beings by nature, as they typically have a fundamental need and desire to maintain positive social relationships. Thus, they usually find maintaining positive social ties to be beneficial. Social relationships can offer nurturance, foster feelings of social inclusion, and lead to reproductive success. Anything that disrupts or threatens to disrupt their relationships with others can result in social stress. This can include low social status in society or in particular groups, giving a speech, interviewing with potential employers, caring for a child or spouse with a chronic illness, meeting new people at a party, the threat of or actual death of a loved one, divorce, and discrimination. Social stress can arise from one's micro-environment and macro-environment. Social stress is typically the most frequent type of stressor that people experience in their daily lives and affects people more intensely than other types of stressors.
Definitions
Researchers define social stress and social stressors in various ways. Wadman, Durkin, and Conti-Ramsden defined social stress as "the feelings of discomfort or anxiety that individuals may experience in social situations, and the associated tendency to avoid potentially stressful social situations". Ilfield defined social stressors as "circumstances of daily social roles that are generally considered problematic or undesirable". Dormann and Zapf defined social stressors as "a class of characteristics, situations, episodes, or behaviors that are related to psychological or physical strain and that are somehow social in nature".Measurement
Social stress is typically measured through self-report questionnaires. In the laboratory, researchers can induce social stress through various methods and protocols.Self-reports
There are several questionnaires used to assess environmental and psychosocial stress. Such self-report measures include the Test of Negative Social Exchange, the Marital Adjustment Test, the Risky Families Questionnaire, the Holmes–Rahe Stress Inventory, the Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress, the Daily Stress Inventory, the Job Content Questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Stress and Adversity Inventory.In addition to self-report questionnaires, researchers can employ structured interview assessments. The Life Events and Difficulties Schedule is one of the most popular instruments used in research. The purpose of this type of measure is to probe the participant to elaborate on their stressful life events, rather than answering singular questions. The UCLA Life Stress Interview, which is similar to the LEDS, includes questions about romantic partners, closest friendships, other friendships, and family relationships.
Induction
In rodent models, social disruption and social defeat are two common social stress paradigms. In the social disruption paradigm, an aggressive rodent is introduced into a cage housing male rodents that have already naturally established a social hierarchy. The aggressive "intruder" disrupts the social hierarchy, causing the residents social stress. In the social defeat paradigm, an aggressive "intruder" and another non-aggressive male rodent fight.In human research, the Trier Social Stress Task is widely used to induce social stress in the laboratory. In the TSST, participants are told that they have to prepare and give a speech about why they would be a great candidate for their ideal job. The experimenter films the participant while they give the speech and informs the participant that a panel of judges will evaluate that speech. After the public speaking component, the experimenter administers a mathematics task that involves counting backwards by certain increments. If the participant makes a mistake, the experimenter prompts them to start again. The threat of negative evaluation is the social stressor. Researchers can measure the stress response by comparing pre-stress salivary cortisol levels and post-stress salivary cortisol levels. Other common stress measures used in the TSST are self-report measures like the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and physiological measures like heart rate.
In a laboratory conflict discussion, couples identify several specific areas of conflict in their relationship. The couples then pinpoint a couple topics to discuss later on in the experiment. Couples are told to discuss the conflict for 10 minutes while being videotaped.
Brouwer and Hogervorst designed the Sing-a-Song Stress Test to induce stress in the laboratory setting. After viewing neutral images with subsequent 1-minute rest periods, the participant is instructed to sing a song after the next 1-minute rest period is complete. Researchers found that skin conductance and heart rate are significantly higher during the post-song message interval than the previous 1-minute intervals. The stress levels are comparable to that induced in the Trier Social Stress Task. In 2020, a systematic review about the TSST provided several guidelines to standardize the use of the TSST across studies
Statistical indicators of stress in large groups
A statistical indicator of stress, simultaneous increase of variance and correlations, was proposed for diagnosis of stress and successfully used in physiology and finance. Its applicability for early diagnosis of social stress in large groups was demonstrated by the analysis of crises. It was examined in the prolonged stress period preceding the 2014 Ukrainian economic and political crisis. There was a simultaneous increase in the total correlation between the 19 major public fears in the Ukrainian society and also in their statistical dispersion during the pre-crisis years.Mental health
Research has consistently demonstrated that social stress increases risk for developing negative mental health outcomes. One prospective study asked over fifteen hundred Finnish employees whether they had "considerable difficulties with coworkers/superiors/inferiors during the last 6 months, 5 years, earlier, or never". Information on suicides, hospitalizations due to psychosis, suicidal behavior, alcohol intoxication, depressive symptoms, and medication for chronic psychiatric disorders was then gathered from the national registries of mortality and morbidity. Those who had experienced conflict in the workplace with coworkers or supervisors in the last five years were more likely to be diagnosed with a psychiatric condition.Research on the LGBT population has suggested that people who identify as LGBT suffer more from mental health disorders, such as substance abuse and mood disorders, compared to those who identify as heterosexual. Researchers deduce that the LGBT people's higher risk of mental health issues derives from their stressful social environments. Minority groups can face high levels of stigma, prejudice, and discrimination on a regular basis, therefore leading to the development of various mental health disorders.
Depression
Risk for developing clinical depression significantly increases after experiencing social stress; depressed individuals often experience interpersonal loss before becoming depressed. One study found that depressed individuals who had been rejected by others had developed depression about three times more quickly than those who had experienced stress not involving social rejection. Several studies have suggested that unemployment roughly doubles the risk of developing depression. In non-clinically depressed populations, people with friends and family who make too many demands, criticize, and create tension and conflict tend to have more depressive symptoms. Conflict between spouses leads to more psychological distress and depressive symptoms, especially for wives. In particular, unhappy married couples are 10–25 times more at risk for developing clinical depression. Similarly, social stress arising from discrimination is related to greater depressive symptoms. In one study, African-Americans and non-Hispanic whites reported on their daily experiences of discrimination and depressive symptoms. Regardless of race, those who perceived more discrimination had higher depressive symptoms. Posselt and Lipson found, in 2016, that undergraduates had a 37% higher chance of developing depression if they perceived their classroom environments as highly competitive.Anxiety
The biological basis for anxiety disorders is rooted in the consistent activation of the stress response. Fear, which is the defining emotion of an anxiety disorder, occurs when someone perceives a situation as threatening. This activates the stress response. If a person has difficulty regulating this stress response, it may activate inappropriately. Stress can therefore arise when a real stressor is not present or when something isn't actually threatening. This can lead to the development of an anxiety disorder. Social anxiety disorder is defined as the fear of being judged or evaluated by others, even if no such threat is actually present.Research shows a connection between social stress, such as traumatic life events and chronic strains, and the development of anxiety disorders. A study that examined a subpopulation of adults, both young and middle-age, found that those who had diagnosed panic disorder in adulthood also experienced sexual abuse during childhood. Children who experience social stressors, such as physical and psychological abuse, as well as parental loss, are also more at risk for developing anxiety disorders during adulthood than children who did not experience such stressors.
In 2016, an analysis of 40,350 undergraduates from 70 institutions by Posselt and Lipson found that they had a 69% higher chance of developing anxiety if they perceived their classroom environments as highly competitive.