Health Psychology - Exam 2 Material

Instrumental/Tangible Support

Providing material assistance, such as services, financial help, or goods.

Informational Support

Providing advice or suggestions to help someone address a challenge or stressful situation.

Emotional Support

Expressing care, concern, empathy, and comfort to someone.

Matching Hypothesis

Social support is most effective when the type of support received matches the needs of the recipient.

Social Network Size

The number of social relationships or frequency of social contact a person has; larger networks are generally associated with better health.

Received Social Support

The actual amount of support a person receives from others.

Perceived Social Support

A person's belief that social support is available when needed and their satisfaction with that support.

Berkman and Syme (1979) Alameda County Study

Individuals with more social ties had lower mortality rates than individuals with fewer social ties.

Holt-Lunstad and Smith (2016)

Loneliness and social isolation are distinct experiences, but both are independently associated with increased mortality risk.

Holt-Lunstad and Smith (2012) Meta-Analysis

Individuals with high levels of social support had approximately 63% greater odds of survival than those with low social support.

Social Support Compared to Other Health Predictors

The relationship between social support and mortality is substantial and comparable to several established health risk factors, including smoking.

Providing Social Support

Giving support to others can benefit the provider's health and may be associated with reduced mortality risk.

Relationship Strain

Negative interactions, conflict, or stress within relationships that can negatively affect physical and psychological health.

Brown et al. (2003)

Providing social support was associated with reduced mortality risk, suggesting that giving support may be especially beneficial for health.

Direct Effects Hypothesis

Social relationships protect health during both stressful and nonstressful periods, regardless of stress levels.

Buffering Hypothesis

Social relationships protect individuals from the negative effects of stress, particularly during stressful situations.

Cognitive Appraisal as a Social Support Mechanism

Social relationships can help individuals interpret stressful situations as less threatening or more manageable.

Health Behaviors as a Social Support Mechanism

Social relationships can influence exercise, diet, substance use, and other health behaviors, which may partially explain their health benefits.

Adherence

The degree to which patients follow medical advice and prescribed treatments.

Psychoneuroimmunological Pathways

Social relationships can directly influence physiological functioning through interactions among the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems.

Cohen et al. (1997)

Individuals with more diverse social networks were less susceptible to developing colds after exposure to a cold virus.

Tend-and-Befriend Hypothesis

A stress response involving protecting offspring (tending) and seeking social connections (befriending).

Tending

Taking care of and protecting offspring during stressful situations.

Befriending

Seeking social contact and forming relationships to cope with stress.

Detillion et al. (2004)

Socially housed hamsters showed faster wound healing than isolated hamsters, partly due to differences in oxytocin and cortisol activity.

Social Contact and Wound Healing

Hamsters with more social contact generally had higher oxytocin activity, lower cortisol levels, and faster wound healing.

Social Isolation and Wound Healing

Isolated hamsters experienced greater physiological stress and slower wound healing.

Adrenalectomy in Detillion et al. (2004)

Removing the adrenal glands reduced stress-related glucocorticoid activity and improved wound healing in isolated hamsters.

Oxytocin Antagonist in Detillion et al. (2004)

Blocking oxytocin interfered with the protective effects of social contact on wound healing.

Visintainer et al. (1982)

Rats exposed to escapable shocks showed greater tumor rejection than rats exposed to inescapable shocks, suggesting that control can influence health.

Langer and Rodin (1976)

Nursing home residents given more personal choice and responsibility experienced improvements in psychological and physical well-being.

Rodin and Langer (1977)

Nursing home residents who received greater personal control showed lower mortality rates in a follow-up study.

Perceived Control

A person's belief that they can influence events and outcomes in their life; generally associated with better health.

Infurna and Gerstorf (2014)

Greater perceived control was associated with better health and more favorable health outcomes.

Health Behaviors Model

Personality influences health by shaping health-related behaviors such as smoking, drinking, exercise, and diet.

Disease-Caused Personality Changes Model

Illness or disease causes changes in personality rather than personality causing the disease.

Stress Moderation Model

Personality influences how strongly stress affects an individual's health.

Situation Selection Model

Personality influences the situations and environments people enter, which can subsequently affect their health.

Social Relationships Model

Personality influences the quality and nature of social relationships, which then affect health.

Friedman et al. (1995)

Higher childhood conscientiousness was associated with healthier adult behaviors, including less smoking and alcohol use.

Three Ways Disease Can Change Personality

Disease can directly change personality, cause psychological reactions that change personality, or lead to treatments that affect personality.

Hardiness

A resilient personality style that helps buffer the negative effects of stress by influencing how stressful events are interpreted.

Three Components of Hardiness

Commitment, control, and challenge.

Commitment (Hardiness)

Being emotionally invested in activities and finding meaning and purpose in what one does.

Control (Hardiness)

Believing that one's actions can influence life events rather than feeling helpless.

Challenge (Hardiness)

Viewing difficulties and changes as opportunities for growth rather than threats.

Kobasa et al. (1982)

Higher hardiness helped protect individuals against the negative health effects of stressful life events.

Explanatory Style

A person's habitual pattern of explaining the causes of positive and negative events.

Three Dimensions of Explanatory Style

Internality versus externality, stability versus instability, and globality versus specificity.

Internality vs. Externality

Attributing an event to internal personal causes versus external circumstances.

Stability vs. Instability

Believing that the cause of an event will persist over time versus being temporary.

Globality vs. Specificity

Believing that a negative event affects many areas of life versus one specific situation.

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

Explaining negative events as internal, stable, and global; associated with poorer health outcomes.

Peterson et al. (1998)

A pessimistic explanatory style involving internal, stable, and global explanations was associated with increased mortality risk.

Optimism

The general tendency to expect positive outcomes and believe that good things will happen in the future.

Scheier et al. (1989)

More optimistic patients experienced faster physical recovery and returned to normal activities sooner after coronary bypass surgery.

Unrealistic Optimism

Being overly optimistic about personal health risks, potentially leading to insufficient protective behaviors.

Defensive Pessimism

Expecting negative outcomes while using those expectations to prepare and take preventive action.

Conscientiousness

A personality trait characterized by responsibility, organization, self-discipline, and dependability.

Conscientiousness and Mortality

Conscientiousness is generally associated with healthier behaviors, greater longevity, and reduced mortality risk.

Friedman et al. (1993)

Higher childhood conscientiousness predicted greater longevity and lower mortality risk.

Turiano et al. (2013)

Higher adult conscientiousness was associated with reduced mortality risk, partly through healthier behaviors.

Neuroticism

A personality trait characterized by emotional instability and a tendency to experience negative emotions.

Neuroticism and Health

Some studies associate neuroticism with poorer health and increased mortality, while others suggest it can encourage protective health behaviors.

Chapman et al. (2010) & Turiano et al. (2015)

Found that the relationship between neuroticism and mortality depends on other factors, including conscientiousness.

Type A Behavior Pattern

A personality pattern characterized by competitiveness, time urgency, impatience, hostility, and tension.

Most Harmful Component of Type A Behavior

Hostility is considered the component most strongly associated with negative cardiovascular outcomes.

Friedman et al. (1984)

Behavioral counseling aimed at reducing Type A behavior was associated with fewer recurrent cardiac events.

Davidson et al. (2007)

Interventions targeting hostility and negative emotional responses can help reduce hostility and improve cardiovascular risk-related outcomes.

Problem-Focused Coping

Taking actions to change a stressful situation or reduce the source of stress.

Emotion-Focused Coping

Using strategies to manage the negative emotions caused by a stressful situation.

Approach Coping

Actively confronting or processing stress through strategies such as expressive writing and positive reappraisal.

Avoidance Coping

Ignoring, denying, or escaping a stressful situation, such as through substance abuse.

Religiosity and Health (McCullough et al. (2009))

Religious involvement is often associated with better health and reduced mortality risk, potentially through social support and healthier behaviors.

McCullough et al. (2000)

Religious involvement was associated with greater longevity, with public religious participation showing stronger benefits than private religious practices.

Li et al. (2016)

Among women, frequent attendance at religious services was associated with reduced mortality risk.

Expressive Writing

Writing about stressful or traumatic experiences to process emotions and potentially improve psychological and physical health.

Pennebaker's Expressive Writing Studies

Writing about traumatic experiences was associated with outcomes such as fewer doctor visits, improved immune functioning, and reduced physiological stress.

Frattaroli (2006) Meta-Analysis

Expressive writing had a small overall beneficial effect, with an effect size of approximately d = 0.15.

Moderators of Expressive Writing

Benefits may vary depending on physical health, trauma history, and whether the experience was previously disclosed.

Gratitude

Recognizing and appreciating positive aspects of life, which can improve psychological and physical well-being.

Emmons and McCullough (2003)

Participants who regularly wrote about things they were grateful for reported better well-being than those who focused on hassles or neutral events.

Exercise and Psychological Health

Regular exercise can reduce stress, depression, and anxiety while improving psychological well-being.

Blumenthal et al. (1999)

Exercise, antidepressant medication, and their combination all reduced depressive symptoms, with no significant differences in overall improvement between groups.

Babyak et al. (2000)

Participants who used exercise to treat depression had lower relapse rates during follow-up.

Potential Mechanisms of Exercise & Psychological Health

Changes in endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, providing distraction, removing individuals from stressful situations, and involving rhythmic activity.

Mindfulness

Paying attention to present-moment thoughts, feelings, and experiences with awareness and without judgment.

Health Benefits of Mindfulness

Mindfulness can reduce anxiety, depression, pain, and blood pressure and may improve immune functioning.

Self-Affirmation

Reflecting on and affirming personally important values to maintain a positive sense of self.

Sherman et al. (2009)

Self-affirmation before stressful exams reduced stress-related increases in epinephrine, particularly among psychologically vulnerable participants.

Relaxation

Reducing physical and psychological tension by activating the body's relaxation response, which counteracts the stress response.

Positive Emotional States and Health

Positive emotions are associated with greater longevity, lower cortisol levels, and improved immune functioning.

Roe et al. (2013)

Greater exposure to green spaces was associated with lower cortisol levels and reduced physiological stress.

Humor and Health

Humor may benefit health through physiological changes, positive emotions, stress buffering, and increased social support.

Learning Theories of Health Behavior

Health behaviors are learned through classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning.

Continuum Models of Health Behavior

Models that use a set of psychological factors to predict the likelihood of engaging in health behaviors.

Stage Models of Health Behavior

Models that explain behavior change as a process involving distinct stages.

Classical Conditioning

Learning to respond to a previously neutral stimulus after it becomes associated with a stimulus that naturally produces a response.

Operant Conditioning

Learning in which behaviors increase or decrease depending on their consequences, such as rewards or punishments.

Overjustification Effect

When expected external rewards reduce intrinsic motivation for an activity a person already enjoys.