Stress Risk: Concept Analysis

Introduction

In today’s society, individuals are subjected to the pressure of creating a balance between work, education, and social life. The situation leads to stress as the body is unable to respond and accommodate the stressors fully. According to Lagraauw, Kuiper & Bot (2015), stress mainly entails the pressure, tension, cognitive, psychological, and physical strain that deprives the body of its rightful functioning. Stress is, therefore, a force that leads to structural destructions, thus creating room for adverse health defects to prevail. The literature widely suggests that there is a positive link between stress, and psychosocial life and physical health of a person. However, there is uncertainty about its health meaning and use. The objective of this report is to provide an in-depth concept analysis of stress as a risk factor for stroke and provide an operational description of stress. Using the concept analysis framework described by Walker and Avant (2005), the paper identifies the characteristics and attributes of stress, its practical and theoretical application to stroke prevalence among individuals below 50 years, and model cases for further uncover the concept.

Defining Attributes

According to Walker & Avant (2005), attributes entails the qualities of a given concept which contribute to the acknowledgment of an event of a specific phenomenon. Thus, with respect to stress risk, the attributes include multidimensionality, and this integrates the physiological and psychological impacts that it causes on an individual. Fatigue and extra stressor cause burnout, which triggers the risk of producing a particular response and impact on the body. Another attribute is perceptual antagonism, which determines how an individual perceives his or her responsibilities in relation to their abilities. Stress is associated with emotional, cognitive, social, and physical effects that affect the ability of a person to make meaningful or healthy choices.

Definition

Stress has several definitions and descriptions. According to Butler (1993), stress is the tension or pressure that is applied to a material object. In addition, stress is also defined as the state of experiencing emotional and mental strain due to demanding or adverse situations. Stress creates distress, which evolves to burnout once the body can no longer accommodate the stress. Stress is an end product of increasing and progressive process that is prompted by elongated, intense as well as continuous interactions with demanding activities (Schneiderman, Ironson & Siegel, 2005). Stress originates from the inability to create a balance between one’s social life, professional, and academic demands. It is furthered by the lack of adequate rest, and the pressure goes above the endurance state. Stress manifests through emotional, cognitive, physical, and physiological changes that intensify with the condition. Stress destroys the structural formation of the body and is, therefore, a risk since it leads to harm. With distress, the ability of individuals to make rational choices with regard to their health is additionally destroyed. Thus, stress is a risk factor for chronic conditions such as stroke.

Model Case

A case model based on Walker & Avant (2005) refers to a life-based example that incorporates all the serious attributes of a concept. With respect to stroke prevalence among young adults below 50 years, the model involves an adult who relies on cigarettes, alcohol, and fast foods to cope with stress.

Jane is a 45-year-old female medical staff who works for at least 8 hours a day and is undertaking a part-time advance nursing course. She mainly deals with elderly patients with special needs, a role that she has mainly played for the last 16 years. She works in a rather busy department, and she is under intense pressure due to the shortage of nurses at the institution. However, she ensures that she satisfies her obligations by administering equitable and compassionate care to all her patients. Jane is a single mother of three kids, and two of them are still in the university, and she lives with her elderly mother, who helps in taking care. She barely gets time to interact with her friends or other members of her extended family. She was diagnosed with hypertension six years ago, and her weight has been increasing rapidly in the last few years. Jane feels physical, emotionally, and mentally drained, and she relies on sugary products, cigarettes, and alcohol as her way of relieving the pressure. Jane is stressed by the overwhelming pressures.

Related Case

According to Walker & Avant (2005), related cases in this context do not have to include the critical attributes of the concept, but careful examination is needed to establish the missing attributes. For example, Chris is a 43-year-old male, working as a truck driver. He is attending a drug recovery program following his long-term heroin addiction. He is also a regular cigarette smoker. He uses the substances because he feels as though his body needs them to recover from stress. Without taking them, he suffers from restlessness, body aches, and severe discomfort. The treatment has been crucial, although he is suffering mainly from withdrawal symptoms.

Borderline Case

A borderline case refers to a concept example that lacks one or more attributes. For example, John, a 39-year-old male, is a primary caregiver in a childcare institution. He is the only caregiver at the institution, and he goes to work every day, expecting a rough time. He feels pressured schedule and his exams and is therefore unable to pay attention to his clients. He is looking forward to consuming two or three packets of cigarettes during his work breaks, which relieve her from stress and emotional strain. He understands, however, that the habit is not good for his health, and he intentionally leaves the cigarettes at home.

Contrary Case

A contrary case refers to the situation where the concept does not exist. Mark, a 40-year-old ambulance driver, has been granted temporary leave for two weeks, based on his commitment to the provision of quality services despite the tight schedules. Mark is looking forward to partying during the period as a way of thanking himself and relieving all the stress. Mark’s family unexpectedly returns from their tour on the same day the leave was granted. His wife is very strict about unhealthy diets, cigarettes, and alcohol consumption. She ensures that Mark, who has hypertension and diabetes, sticks to healthy choices. Mark has no opportunity to enjoy as he had initially planned. Based on the case, there is no harm to stress, no potential, and no action is likely to trigger stress.

Antecedent(s)

According to Walker & Avant (2005), antecedent identification might be helpful in focusing a concept in the direction of the contextual setting and further defining the identified attributes. In this case, the capability of controlling an occurrence might be the antecedent to the potential hazard. Antecedents refer to the factor or incidences that take place prior to the stress risk, and this implies that a stress risk might not take place in the absence of an antecedent. In addition, antecedents are responsible for affecting the overall health state of an individual. Antecedents of a given risk rely on the mental capacity to make rational choices as well as make decisions before an experience. It is a decision that usually precedes any given action, and therefore informed choices must occur prior to the activity taking place.

Based on this investigation, three antecedents with respect to stress risk have been identified. The antecedents include exposure and cognitive ability. It is exposure to pressures that creates the potential for stress as a risk-taking place. In that, in the absence of this exposure to stress, it is not likely for the person to be exposed to the risk. Stress normally destroys the structural state of the body after the distress outweighs the general ability of the body (Renzaho et al., 2013). The pressure originates from the need to attend to different roles and activities and in the absence of stress, and the person has the capability of making rational and healthy choices that would not, therefore, create the vulnerability of chronic conditions. Cognitive recognition with regard to exposure has to be present and to make the decision, and an individual mainly relies on past knowledge or experience. Cognitive abilities, therefore, enable individuals to respond to the exposures adequately.

Consequence(s)

Walker & Avant (2005) defines consequence as an outcome or incident that results from the concept taking place. The consequence of stress risk is adverse health impacts ranging from emotional, cognitive, mental, and spiritual effects. The consequence of stress is a disruption of the ability to make rational decisions or creating an opportunity to combine stress with risky behaviors. In the case of stress, the consequence is to either cause harm or no harm to the individual’s health. Stress risk mainly leads to adopting other risky behaviors such as smoking cigarettes, unhealthy diets, and lack of physical exercise, which therefore promotes bad outcomes on an individual’s health (Lee et al., 2015). In other words, stress risk has a significant impact on health promotion and clinical prevention through the creation of awareness, particularly as it related to young adults below 50 years who are overwhelmed by social and economic pressures. Thus, in this regard, the implications of stress on health might not be immediate as changes such as weight gain and hypertension might develop in the long run after prolonged exposure to stress. While young adults might not believe that stress might intensify the risk, the exposure ultimately results in negative health consequences.

Empirical Referents

According to Walker & Avant (2005), empirical referents refer to the classification of incidences that are measurable and quantifiable and might illustrate the occurrence of the concept. The empirical referents of stress risk might, therefore, include a set of health measurements. The health measurements might incorporate epidemiological statistics of the prevalence of stress and its impacts on health as a risk factor for chronic illnesses such as hypertension and mental illnesses such as depression. In addition, observed health habits and results from self-administered surveys might provide empirical evidence of the concept. The prevalence of mental illnesses, increasing suicide reports, and drug abuse as a way of coping with stress serve as the empirical referents for stress, and these risk behaviors are responsible for growing stroke cases among young adults. Obesity, cardiovascular conditions, and hypertension are the consequences of bad lifestyle choices that provide evidence for the prevailing stroke cases. Tobacco use as a risk factor for stroke reflects the behaviors that individuals adopt and are directly linked to unhealthy lifestyle decisions that facilitate the development of stroke.

Application to Practice

The findings of this investigation reveal that stress results in negative consequences on health. While healthcare practitioners continue to adopt different clinical and non-pharmacological measures to prevent stroke among young and older adults, there is a need to understand how stress as a risk factor contributing to the situation. Thus, the findings of this study show that most people tend to make unhealthy lifestyle changes such as smoking and consuming unhealthy meals because stress can be used in planning for lifestyle changes intervention. Providers should recommend lifestyle adjustment and create awareness about making healthy decisions. The health impacts of stress are far spread beyond just the physical changes as they also affect the individuals’ emotional and cognitive health as well. Learning how to cope with stress in a healthy manner can, therefore, promote positive health outcomes and reduce the causes of stroke among young adults.

Conclusion

The report presents the findings of a concept analysis following the framework described by Walker and Avant (2005) into the concept of stress as a risk of stroke among young adults below 50 years. The main defining attributes of stress risk are physiological and psychological impacts and perceptual antagonism. Young adults between 35 and 45 years are at the highest risk of stress risk, which results from the pressure to create pressure between social, academic, and economic life. Change of risk behaviors within this age gap, therefore, leads to the highest possibility of long-term alterations in both physiological and psychological health. Thus, a better understanding of this concept will be useful in guiding planning interventions for treatment and prevention as well as implementing the required measures that will promote healthy behaviors. As young adults continue to be subjected to stress, they need to make rational decisions with regard to adopting either healthy or unhealthy choices.

 

 

 

 

 

References

Butler G. (1993). Definitions of stress. Occasional paper (Royal College of General Practitioners), (61), 1–5.

Lagraauw, H. M., Kuiper, J., & Bot, I. (2015). Acute and chronic psychological stress as risk factors for cardiovascular disease: Insights gained from epidemiological, clinical and experimental studies. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 50, 18-30.

Lee, M. S., Shin, J. S., Lee, J., Lee, Y. J., Kim, M. R., Park, K. B., ... & Ha, I. H. (2015). The association between mental health, chronic disease and sleep duration in Koreans: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 15(1), 1200.

Renzaho, A. M., Houng, B., Oldroyd, J., Nicholson, J. M., D’Esposito, F., & Oldenburg, B. (2013). Stressful life events and the onset of chronic diseases among Australian adults: findings from a longitudinal survey. The European Journal of Public Health, 24(1), 57-62.

Schneiderman, N., Ironson, G., & Siegel, S. D. (2005). Stress and health: psychological, behavioral, and biological determinants. Annual review of clinical psychology, 1, 607–628. doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144141

Walker, L. O., & Avant, K. C. (2019). Strategies for theory construction in nursing (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall