Health Psychology Exam 1

What is health?

defined as the complete state of physical mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease

Who defined health and when?

The world health organization in 1946

what was the first initial view of health?

• Viewed as spirits that enter the body from outside

• Evil spirits specifically like it was witchcraft

• Stone Age surgeries called trephinations to get rid of these evil spirits

After the theory of spirits existing what was the thought when tech progressed?

• We started believing we were made up of microscopic organisms, cellular function and organ function

• Thought disease was from germs

After the idea of a sole physical cause of illness what was the idea?

• They developed the multi causal views of illness

• Mind, body and environment interact causing disease (current status of thought)

Describe what an acute illness is?

• Examples are influenza and tuberculosis

• Illness onset is rapid

• Not long lasted

• Treatment is temporary

Describe what chronic illnesses are?

• Examples are diabetes and cancer

• Long duration

• Uncertain development

• Long term treatment

How have diseases changed of time?

• We’ve found cures for acute illnesses/diseases, but because of this we have developed chronic illnesses that we don’t have a cure for. Chronic illnesses are now the leading cause of death instead of acute illnesses like diarrhea that would be likely in the 1900s.

What are the top five killers of American?

Heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, unintentional injuries, and stroke

What is the field of health psychology?

Was made to address the challenges presented by the changing field of health and healthcare. What health is, how to stay healthy, illnesses, how to treat it, where it comes from, etc.

What are the different types of health psychologists?

Health psychologist that practice at universities, hospitals, clinics, private practices, and health maintenance organizations.

What type of training is necessary to become a health psychologist?

• you most likely need a Ph.D or a Psy.D

• On average this results in 5-7 years of education after your bachelors

• A possibility of masters degree in health psychology

Greek humoral theory of health

• Greeks disagreed and didn’t think there were evil spirits

• Greek viewpoint was that there were 4 main fluids of life called humors

• When out of balance you gain disease

• Each humor is associated with various physical and mental characteristics which could be combined with complex personality types

Freuds psychosomatic illness/conversation disorders/mind and body connection.

• As there was a rise in the psychodynamic perspective there was also a rise in dualistic views

• Physicians like Sigmund Freud began publicly acknowledging medical cases where patients experienced physical illness with no underlying cause

• Examples are glove anesthesia, anorexia nervosa, anxiety which are known as conversion disorders

What is the biopsychosocial model?

• biology includes gender, physical illness, disability, genetic vulnerability, immune function, neurochemistry, stress reactivity, medication effects

• Psychology includes learning/memory, attitudes/beliefs, personality, behaviors, emotions, coping skills, past trauma

• Social context includes social supports, family background, cultural traditions, social/economic status, education

• Means mind, body and environment interact in causing disease

How can we use the biopsychosocial model to understand diseases?

• we can use this model to understand disease by pinpointing the factors that are causing the disease so we can potentially heal the person or prevent the disease in the future

Placebo effect

• A beneficial health outcome, resulting from a patient’s belief in a treatment effectiveness rather than treatments active ingredients. Basically meaning they gave a person a sugar pill and said it was a regular pill, and the person made themselves better by the power of their mind.

Randomization

• The process that uses chance mechanisms to assign research participants into different study groups, typically used in an experimental group and a control group

Double Blind Study

• Where neither the participant or the researchers know who is receiving a specific treatment and who is receiving a placebo

Generalizability

• The extent to which research findings from a specific sample can be applied to a broader population, different settings or more situations

Dosage effects study

• A direct consistent association between an independent variable, such as behavior and a dependent variable, such as a disease. In other words, the higher, the dose, the higher, the death rate

What are stressors?

any event, situation, or condition that triggers stress.

What are responses to stress?

physiological and psychological reactions that occur when an individual experiences a stressor.

What are moderators of stress?

Influence on the strength or direction of the relationship between stressors and stress responses, potentially reducing or intensifying stress.

What is the difference between acute and chronic stress?

Acute stress is short-term and often results from immediate pressures, while chronic stress persists over a longer period and can have more severe health implications.

What are the implications for coping and health?

Copings strategies can mitigate or exacerbate stress's effects on health, where effective coping can promote resilience.

What are the basic processes of stress arousal?

perception of a stressor, activation of stress pathways, and physiological responses involving the nervous and endocrine systems.

What is sympathetic activation?

the body’s response to stress characterized by increased heart rate, blood pressure, and metabolic rate.

What is the HPA Axis?

hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, a major part of the body’s stress response involving hormone release from the adrenal glands.

What is the sympathetic nervous system?

part of the autonomic nervous system that prepares the body for 'fight or flight' responses during stress.

What is the parasympathetic nervous system?

helps to restore the body to a state of calm after a stress response.

What are influential neurotransmitters in stress?

Dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.

What are influential hormones in stress?

Corticosteroids like cortisol and adrenaline

What is Selye’s general adaptation syndrome (GAS)?

the body’s physiological response to long-term stress, with limitations including lack of focus on psychological factors.

What is the primary appraisal in stress?

the initial evaluation of whether an event is a threat, challenge, or benign.

What is the secondary appraisal in stress?

the evaluation of resources and options available to cope with the stressor.

What is the stress table based on Lazarus and Folkman?

categorizes different types of stressors and corresponding coping mechanisms according to the stress appraisal model

How does stress impact health physiologically?

physiological changes such as increased heart rate, blood pressure, and alterations in immune response.

What are health habits related to stress?

stress, such as diet, exercise, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

What are health behaviors in context to stress?

actions individuals take that can improve or worsen health based on their stress levels.

How does stress impact immune functioning?

can suppress immune functioning, making the body more susceptible to infections and diseases.

What are the effects of stress on the body?

anxiety, depression, digestive issues, cardiovascular problems, and weakened immune response.

What are the types of coping?

problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping

What are the benefits and consequences of problem-focused coping?

Benefits include direct resolution of stressors; consequences may involve neglecting emotional responses.

What are the benefits and consequences of emotion-focused coping?

Benefits include emotional relief; consequences may involve avoidance of addressing the stressor directly.

When do we tend to use problem-focused coping?

often used in situations where individuals feel they can take actionable steps to change the situation.

When do we tend to use emotion-focused coping?

used when individuals feel they cannot change the stressor and need to manage their emotional response.

What types of social support exist?

emotional, informational, instrumental, and appraisal support.

What are the consequences of social support?

improved mental health outcomes, increased resilience, and better coping strategies.

What is the hypothesis of social support?

posits that supportive relationships can buffer individuals against the negative effects of stress.

Emotional social support

providing empathy, love, trust, and caring, helping individuals feel valued and understood during stressful times.

Informational social support

includes providing advice, guidance, and information that can help an individual cope with stressors more effectively.

Instrumental social support

practical assistance, such as financial help or physical aid, that can help alleviate stressors' impact.

Appraisal social support

involves providing affirmation, information, and feedback, which can help individuals evaluate their situations and coping strategies.

Case studies

Qualitative

An in depth analysis of one or a few individuals

Case study advantages

Follows people for a long time

Case study disadvantages

• Time consuming, biases of researchers, limited generalizability to other people, sampling error

Correlational studies

Descriptive

Shows the degree of relationship between two or more variables, using positive or negative

Correlational studies advantages

• Can explain variables that cannot be experimentally manipulated like cancer or powerline exposure, studies large amount of people

Correlational study disadvantages

• Cannot determine causality

• Example of this is smoking, is correlated with lung cancer, but cannot conclude that it causes lung cancer

Correlation coefficient

the calculation that yields the number that varies between negative one and positive one in the degree of relationship between two variables

Cross-sectional correlational studies

Compares groups of people at one point in time like age, groups, ethnic groups, or disease groups

Use when assessing a stable phenomena and often used initially to determine the nature of some unknown phenomenon

Cross-sectional advantages

Quick efficient way to identify possible group differences because you can study them

Cross-sectional disadvantages

Cohort effects (occurs when research findings are influenced by the shared life experiences or cultural environments of a specific group(cohort) rather than by the variable being studied such as age)

Do not know what happened before or after the assessment

Longitudinal correlational study

This is a similar or same survey, repeatedly given over periods of weeks months or years

Longitudinal advantages

Assesses, long-term patterns of health and illness

Can use same group of individuals

Longitudinal disadvantages

Attrition (The premature dropout or withdrawal of participants from a clinical trial treatment program or longitudinal study before it is complete)

Experimenter demands characteristics

Familiarity with questions

Experiments

a controlled research method that manipulates an independent variable to measure its causal effect on a dependent variable

Experimental and clinical trials

Quantitative

Examines differences between experimentally manipulated groups (example one group gets a certain drug or treatment, and the other gets a placebo)

How would you design an experimental test a question in health psychology?

This requires defining a specific question, identifying the variables and using random assignment for randomized control trial to ensure causality

What are the components of an experiment?

Independent variable

Dependent variable

Control group

Experimental group

Experimental and clinical trials advantages

Better at assessing causality

Can rule out many extraneous variables

More accurately determines relationships between independent and independent variables

Random assignment helps to ensure equivalent groups

Costs

Experimental and clinical trials disadvantages

Still cannot conclude that IV causes changes and DV

Difficult to conduct experiments on many real world problem

Time consuming

Limited variables that cannot be experimentally manipulated

Example, smoke exposure overtime

Independent variable

The manipulated variable in an experiment representing the presumed cause in a cause and effect relationship

Dependent variable

the measured outcome, effect or response in an experimental study that depends on changes made to the independent variable.

Control group

the set of participants are subjects that does not receive the treatment serving as a baseline for comparison.

Experimental group

The research participants exposed to the specific treatment intervention or manipulation of the independent variable in an experiment.

How to select a research method appropriate for a problem being studied?

use the difference between qualitative and descriptive studies

Find what best sees fit

Qualitative method

method of inquiry that explores the how and why of human behavior, experiences and social meanings rather than how many

Descriptive method

non-experimental observational method used to define analyze and report on the specific characteristics behavior or trends of a population or phenomenon