Answer to Question 1
Answer: Psychological stress, measured in terms of adverse social conditions, traumatic experiences, negative life events, or daily hassles, is related to a wide variety of unfavorable health outcomesboth unhealthy behaviors and clear physical consequences. Intense, persistent stress, from the prenatal period on, disrupts the brains inherent ability to manage stress, with long-term consequences. For individuals with childhood histories of stress, continuing stressful experiences combine with an impaired capacity to cope with stress, heightening the risk of adult health impairments. As SES decreases, exposure to diverse stressors risesan association that plays an important role in the strong connection between low SES and poor health. Chronic stress is linked to overweight and obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. And in susceptible individuals, acute stress can trigger cardiac events, including heartbeat rhythm abnormalities and heart attacks. Stress interferes with immune system functioning, a link that may underlie its relationship to several forms of cancer. And by reducing digestive activity as blood flows to the brain, heart, and extremities, stress can cause gastrointestinal difficulties, including constipation, diarrhea, colitis, and ulcers. The many challenging tasks of early adulthood make it a particularly stressful time of life. Young adults more often report depressive symptoms than middle-aged people, many of whom have attained vocational success and financial security and are enjoying more free time as parenting responsibilities decline. Because of their longer life experience, middle-aged and older adults are better than young adults at coping with stress. Helping young adults establish and maintain satisfying, caring social ties is an important health intervention.
Answer to Question 2
Answer: Thousands of studies reveal broad psychological changes from the freshman to the senior year of college. Students become better at reasoning about problems that have no clear solution, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of opposing sides of complex issues, and reflecting on the quality of their thinking. Their attitudes and values also broaden. They show increased interest in literature, the performing arts, and philosophical and historical issues and greater tolerance for racial and ethnic diversity. Also, college leaves its mark on moral reasoning by fostering concern with individual rights and human welfare, sometimes expressed in political activism. Finally, exposure to multiple worldviews encourages young people to look more closely at themselves. During the college years, students develop greater self-understanding, enhanced self-esteem, and a firmer sense of identity. The impact of college is jointly influenced by the richness of campus academic and out-of-class offerings and students engagement with those experiences. The more students study and interact with both faculty and diverse peers in academic and extracurricular settings, the more they benefit cognitivelyin grasping the complex causes of events, thinking critically, and generating effective problem solutions. Also, interacting with racially and ethnically mixed peersboth in courses exploring diversity issues and in out-of-class settingspredicts gains in civic engagement. And students who connect their community service experiences with their classroom learning show large cognitive gains.
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