A Little Bit of Stress does you Good? Rethinking the Meaning of Stress for Health and Well-Being in Children and Adults
Dr. Julie Turner-Cobb

This talk will examine the notion of the popular concept of stress. As well as looking at the science behind how stress can contribute to physical illness, I will also challenge the view that stress is always bad for you. The talk draws from studies of adults across a range of different physical health conditions and takes a life course perspective drawing from research on stress and health in children. I will present a number of different ways to measure stress, from biological sampling to the use of questionnaires and laboratory experiments.

Biography

Dr Julie Turner-Cobb is a Senior Lecturer in the department of Psychology and is Deputy Head of Department. As a Health Psychologist (HCPC) and a Chartered Psychologist (BPS), she has an established programme of interdisciplinary research examining the effects of psychosocial factors, particularly stress and social support, on immune related health conditions. She specialises in the measurement of the hormone, cortisol, in adults and in children as a biomarker of stress and her work involves both longitudinal field work and laboratory assessment.

Dr Turner-Cobb has received funding for her research from a number of sources including the Nuffield Foundation, the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council (ARC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the NHS Research and Development fund. Media interest in her work has included BBC1’s Child of Our Time and BBC radio 4’s Today programme. She is also an associate editor for the British Journal of Health Psychology.

These events are free. Talk starts at 18:30. For more information please contact Chris Dack at chrisdack@blueyonder.co.uk or Madeleine Tremblett at m.tremblett@hotmail.co.uk