Stress has recently been regarded as a basis for ill health. In the presented day, documented associations have been noted between stress and both physical and psychological symptoms of illness. The point then is that people who endorse higher stress levels also support higher levels of disease. More so, there is a direct connection between stress and ailment as well as between utilization of health service and illness. Therefore, to analyze the mentioned relationship, the current study will evaluate the article by Muscara et al. (2017) to determine the relation between stress and illness.
The study by Muscara et al. (2017) examined dynamics that are linked to symptoms of acute stress in parents of children who are seriously ill; the investigation was done across different treatment settings and a range of illnesses. The authors hypothesized that psychosocial variables would be more strongly connected to the responses of acute stress than child illness and demographic variables. Therefore, to attain this objective, the variables used by the authors include first the demographic variables, which are as follows: parent education, gender, child age, and parents; there are also psychosocial variables, which are family functioning, depression, anxiety, and parent trait.
Furthermore, to achieve the mentioned objective, Muscara et al. (2017) used participants who included the parents of children who were admitted or diagnosed at the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) with an injury or illness that entailed a threat to the physical integrity or life of the child. Additionally, both fathers and mothers were invited to take part; consequently, each provided individual consent. More so, the parents were recruited from the pediatric intensive care unit as well as oncology and cardiology departments; this took place between November 2010 and August 2012.
Based on the findings, Muscara et al. (2017) produced substantial results showing that psychosocial dynamics are the aspects, which are strongly linked to acute distress reaction, and that objective and demographic factors are generally weakly connected to the outcome. Therefore, since stress is related to being the causation of illness, it is, therefore, believed that it is also linked to the utilization of health services (Roddenberry " Renk, 2010). Conversely, social class, as well as personality factors, have also been found to mediate the stress-illness relations; the socio-economic factors include income, occupation status, and education level while personality factors are self-esteem, the locus of control, and neuroticism (Westbrook, Maddocks, " Andersen, 2016).
However, the research by Muscara et al. (2017) was limited in the sense that they mostly gathered data from a single source. Furthermore, it was also not possible to approach some eligible parents to take part in their study because a sizable number of families declined participation, and also due to their child being medically unstable. To this end, the possible extension to the study by Muscara et al. (2017) would be to conduct an investigation that would have potential implications for the delivery of interventions that would assist in the development and promotion of positive health behaviors. Arguably, this would be crucial because the findings by Muscara et al. (2017) have shown stress may influence illness.
Conclusion
In summary, from the research by Muscara et al. (2017), it can be concluded that too much stress can get someone more efficiently because it suppresses the immune system. Therefore, stress various illness or physical symptoms, which can occur as soon as the stress level increases and worsen when it continues. Consequently, there is a need to manage stress to help lower the risk of getting sick; one can achieve this by getting professional help from the doctor.
References
Muscara, F., McCarthy, M. C., Thompson, E. J., Heaney, C., Hearps, S. J. C., Rayner, M., … Anderson, V. A. (2017). Psychosocial, Demographic, and Illness-Related Factors Associated With Acute Traumatic Stress Responses in Parents of Children With a Serious Illness or Injury. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 30(3), 237–244. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22193.
Roddenberry, A., " Renk, K. (2010). Locus of Control and Self-Efficacy: Potential Mediators of Stress, Illness, and Utilization of Health Services in College Students. Child Psychiatry " Human Development, 41(4), 353–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-010-0173-6.
Westbrook, T. D., Maddocks, K., " Andersen, B. L. (2016). The relation of illness perceptions to stress, depression, and fatigue in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Psychology " Health, 31(7), 891–902. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2016.1158259.
