Mental Resilience and Coping With Stress: A Comprehensive, Multi-level Model of Cognitive Processing, Decision Making, and Behavior

Abstract

Aversive events can evoke strong emotions that trigger cerebral neuroactivity to facilitate behavioral and cognitive shifts to secure physiological stability. However, upon intense and/or chronic exposure to such events, the neural coping processes can be maladaptive and disrupt mental well-being. This maladaptation denotes a pivotal point when psychological stress occurs, which can trigger subconscious, “automatic” neuroreactivity as a defence mechanism to protect the individual from potential danger including overwhelming unpleasant feelings and disturbing or threatening thoughts.The outcomes of maladaptive neural activity are cognitive dysfunctions such as altered memory, decision making, and behavior that impose a risk for mental disorders. Although the neurocognitive phenomena associated with psychological stress are well documented, the complex neural activity and pathways related to stressor detection and stress coping have not been outlined in detail. Accordingly, we define acute and chronic stress-induced pathways, phases, and stages in relation to novel/unpredicted, uncontrollable, and ambiguous stressors. We offer a comprehensive model of the stress-induced alterations associated with multifaceted pathophysiology related to cognitive appraisal and executive functioning in stress.

Integrative Brain Dynamics in Childhood Bullying Victimization: Cognitive and Emotional Convergence Associated With Stress Psychopathology

“…If the stress is extreme and the stressor is uncontrollable, as is often the case with BV, neurocognitive stress reactivity can deviate toward maladaptation and psychopathology. In other words, the main effect of psychological stress is due to the perceived severity and controllability of the stressor, as well as the timing of the stressor (i.e., novelty/acuity/chronicity, Palamarchuk and Vaillancourt, 2021 ). That is why we hypothesize that the impact of BV on mental health will not be that different from the impact of other forms of psychological stress, such as childhood maltreatment, although we acknowledge that unique nuances may exist.…”

“…Namely, the etiology of childhood BV sensitivity relates to the neurocognitive immaturity that contributes to the amygdala—PFC networking specifics, which are reviewed. Adulthood BV sensitivity likely relates to the frontrostriatal loop engaged in motivation, habits, reward-learning, and decision-making (for the nuances in general psychological stress, see Palamarchuk and Vaillancourt, 2021 ).…”

“…This stress response does not principally relate to the stimulus per se , but to the perceived stress severity and controllability that depends on the stressor’s acuity (i.e., novel/unpredicted vs. homotypic/chronic). That is, the major difference between the stressor’s influence on neuromodulation is not due to the nature of the stressor (e.g., childhood maltreatment vs. BV) but rather due to the interpretation of the stressor (see detailed review by Palamarchuk and Vaillancourt, 2021 ).…”

“…Human and animal studies show that increased cortisol levels in response to stress can over-activate the glucocorticoid receptors that prevail in the hippocampus and PFC, areas of the brain primarily associated with memory and learning. This activation can trigger neurocognitive responses linked to memory, mood, behavior, and executive functions, which should theoretically help the individual cope with the stressor (e.g., De Kloet et al, 1998 , 2018 ; De Kloet and Derijk, 2004 ; Barsegyan et al, 2010 ; Vogel and Schwabe, 2016 ; Palamarchuk and Vaillancourt, 2021 ). Indeed, childhood adversity does not exclusively harm cognitive functions; it can also promote developmental adaptation to resilience via the improvement of some cognitive functions (Ellis et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Indeed, childhood adversity does not exclusively harm cognitive functions; it can also promote developmental adaptation to resilience via the improvement of some cognitive functions (Ellis et al, 2017 ). Nevertheless, stress-associated outcomes differ according to the intensity/severity and controllability of the stressor, which relates to cognitive appraisal (aforementioned stressor’s interpretation), as well personal and environmental factors (e.g., Schneiderman et al, 2005 ; Palamarchuk and Vaillancourt, 2021 ). When a stressor is beyond the coping ability of the individual, impairment in cognition and metacognition (i.e., awareness of one’s own thinking/learning) can occur (e.g., Lupien et al, 2005 ; De Kloet et al, 2016 , 2018 ; Palamarchuk and Vaillancourt, 2021 ), which is often the case with BV (e.g., Ouellet-Morin et al, 2011b ; Sinclair et al, 2012 ; Vaillancourt et al, 2013 ; Liu et al, 2016 ; Carroll et al, 2019 ; Gini et al, 2019 ).…”