Reaction to an audiovisual stressor and its change due to relaxation training in individuals with positive and negative affectivity

Special issue: selected posters from the 12th international conference of Behavioral Medicine Budapest, Hungary, August 29 – September 1, 2012Probably it would be impossible to find a description of a disease, in which stress was not mentioned as one of etiological or progress stimulating factors. Stress does not necessarily cause diseases directly, but it had been proved to be a disease-enhancing factor. According to M. A. Santed (2003), people with negative affectivity are more responsive to stress, while positive emotions reduce the negative effects of stress on the body’s physiological systems. Stress is a natural phenomenon and nobody can escape it, however, negative concequencies to health can be avoided or at least reduced by increasing peoples’ resistance to stress and relaxation training. Yet, relaxations are not for everyone. There are not much studies analysing the relationships between stress and emotions when using objective reaction to stressor measurements and not scales measuring subjectively perceived stress. Psychologists are still struggling to understand the way mental states can impact on body functions and favor the development and progression of disease (Dantzer, 2001). So, the study aimed at assessing the reaction to an audiovisual stressor and it’s change due to relaxation training in individuals with positive and negative affectivityPsichologijos katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta