Admission requirements
Completion of Introduction to Psychology is recommended.
Description
Stress is a major determinant of global public health. Stress has been called a “health epidemic of the 21st century” by the World Health Organization and is associated with large humanitarian, medical and economic costs. This course will introduce the basic principles of how our health is threatened by diverse psychosocial stressors such as daily worries, work/study stress, chronic illnesses, loneliness and adverse life events. A major focus will be on psychological factors such as stress appraisals, self-efficacy, social support, personality characteristics and emotions. The lectures will cover the many ways in which the mind influences the body during stress, including the cardiovascular system and the brain. We will also cover stress management techniques that can be offered. In addition, a broader perspective is taken in which stress as a societal problem will be discussed and especially how social inequality and financial stress hamper well-being among people with a low socio-economic status. Finally, the course offers a brief interactive workshop to obtain basic skills for developing psychological interventions for preventing or reducing stress.
Lecture themes per week:
Week 1. Introduction into the psychology of stress: mechanisms and theories
Week 2. Stress and the heart
Week 3. Stress and the brain
Week 4. Stress and the workplace
Week 5. Stress management
Week 6. Stress as a societal problem
Week 7. Loneliness as a stressor and designing interventions to reduce stress
Course Objectives
The student understands:
The major psycho-biological mechanisms underlying acute and chronic stress responses;
How the mind can influence the body and stress can threaten health;
The role of symptom perception in the development of chronic diseases;
How various different stressors, such as chronic disease, childhood maltreatment, and financial stress, can lead to diminished well-being.
The main approaches to stress management and practical approaches to developing personalized interventions for reducing stress.
The student is able to:Systematically gather information about stress and health and evaluate this knowledge in terms of its meaning for national or global public health;
Report results of such a literature search in a concise and coherent manner and present this orally;
Critically discuss topics in stress research.
Timetable
Timetables for courses offered at Leiden University College in 2025-2026 will be published on this page of the e-Prospectus.
Mode of instruction
This course will consist of two x two-hour weekly seminars, which will be delivered through a combination of lectures, group presentations, class discussion and debates. The first meeting in each week will consist of a lecture focusing on one major topic in stress and health. The second weekly meetings will be dedicated to interactive discussions of various contemporary questions about stress and health in society by means of assignments consisting of written essays and a report, group debates and a group presentation about a possible interventions for reducing stress. Topics that will be discussed in these interactive sessions are amongst others the meaning of health, stress within vulnerable populations, and debating about controversial claims about stress.
Assessment Method
In-class participation weeks 1-7 (learning aim 8): 15%
Essay assignments (learning aim 5, 6) for meetings 4.2, 6.2: 15% each, total 30%
Final report and presentation of a literature search (learning aim 1-7) for meeting 5.2: 25% report, 10% presentation, total 35%
Presentation in discussion panel (learning aim 7, 8) for meeting 2.2: 10%
Presentation of interventions (learning aim 4, 5, 7) for meeting 7.2: 10%
All essay assignments are due 2 days before the class starts, and need to be handed in at 7PM at the latest.
All written assignments will be checked for plagiarism.
Reading list
Selected articles which will be provided via Brightspace.
Registration
Courses offered at Leiden University College (LUC) are usually only open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Leiden University students who participate in one of the university’s Honours tracks or programmes may register for one LUC course, if availability permits. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator, course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr. S. van Dijk, sdijk@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
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