APA Dictionary of Psychology

the chain reaction where one event triggers a sequence of related events, each causing the next to occur, as in the game of dominoes. In psychology, it is used to describe how a single behavior, emotion, thought, stressor, or environmental change can initiate a sequence or cascade of psychological outcomes, with each step increasing the likelihood or intensity of subsequent outcomes. An example would be an individual who experiences a significant work stressor (e.g., unexpected job insecurity), which triggers maladaptive thoughts and appraisals (e.g., "I can't handle this") that then cascade into anxiety, physiological arousal, sleep disruption, maladaptive coping behaviors, and secondary stressors (e.g., declining work performance), which then feed back to reinforce the original distress. Also called chain reaction; cascading effect.