Psychology Year 2 LAA

Health: Stress and addiction

What is the biomedical definition of health

the absence of disease, pain or physical abnormality

What is the biopsychosocial definition of health

a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being

Describe the term “Health as a continuum”

A dynamic model viewing health and illness as a continuous shifting range

What is behavioural addiction?

continued engagement in a habit despite its harmful consequences

What is physiological addiction?

when the body adapts to a regular substance or behaviour, it requires the presence of it to function normally.

What are Griffith’s six components of addiction?

1) Salience

2) Tolerance

3) Withdrawal

4) Relapse

5) Conflict

6) Mood alteration

Explain each of Griffith’s six components of addiction

Salience- addictive behaviour becomes most important activity in life.

Tolerance- a person needs increasing amounts of substance or a greater intensity.

Withdrawal- unpleasant physical or psychological effects occur when behaviour is abruptly stopped causing mood changes.

Relapse- tendency for a person to return to addictive pattern of behaviour despite periods of control.

Conflict- clashes that effect relationships with others and relationship with themselves that effects work, education etc.

Mood Alteration- addictive behaviour is used as a reliable way to alter mood

What is the definition of stress?

An emotional or physical response to situations perceived as threatening

What is Cognitive dissonance?

the feeling of mental discomfort a person feels when holding two or more contradicting beliefs/values

What is self-medication?

the use of substances, foods, or behaviours to cope with emotional, psychological or physical distress without professional guidance

What is a professional bias?

occurs when doctors and researchers allow unconscious stereotypes or preconceived notions to shape patient evaluation, diagnosis and treatment.

What is Social learning theory?

people learning new behaviours, values and attitudes by observing others

what are role models

role models are people who we learn new behaviours from by observing and imitating them (live models who are peers, symbolic models who are fictional)

What is vicarious reinforcement?

you are more likely to repeat a behaviour if you see someone being rewarded for it

What is operant conditioning?

behaviour is learnt by consequences.

Describe reinforcement.

Reinforcement is a consequence that increases likelihood of behaviour

Positive- Adding a pleasant stimulus. behaviour is more likely to be repeated because it is pleasurable (the pleasure is rewarding)

Negative- removing an unpleasant stimulus. behaviour is more likely to be repeated as it removes an unpleasant stimulus.

describe punishment

Punishment is a consequence that decreases likelihood of behaviour

Positive- adding an unpleasant stimulus

Negative- removing a pleasant stimulus

describe what a token economy is

a token economy is used in prisons, hospitals and schools, where clear actions are defined and points, chips or stickers are given after a desired behaviour occurs. accumulated tokens can be traded in for real prizes.

What is cue reactivity?

a learned psychological, and behavioural response to environmental stimuli (cues) that have been repeatedly associated with rewarding experiences.

cues are important in learning healthy behaviours

Genetic predisposition

an increased likelihood of developing a specific disease based on a persons’ inherited genetic makeup

Excitatory neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that increase the likelihood that a receiving neurone that will fire an electrical signal

inhibitory neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that decrease the likelihood that a receiving neurone will fire an action potential

What is a neurotransmitter imbalance?

When the brain has too much or too little of a certain chemical messenger

What is a stressor? give examples of stressors and responses

situations that cause you to be stressed. can be physical or psychological

physical stressor- overcrowding, temperature, noise

physiological response- nausea, increased heart rate, sweating

psychological stressor- marriage, divorce etc.

psychological response- anxiety

How can positive reinforcement be used to explain healthy/unhealthy behaviours

Healthy behaviour- when a person exercises, dopamine is released, which encourages a person to workout again because of the euphoria released

Unhealthy behaviour- when a person smokes the nicotine gives a quick euphoria

How can negative reinforcement be used to explain healthy/unhealthy behaviours

Healthy behaviour- if a person doesn’t workout they will feel guilt, so they do it to remove that feeling

Unhealthy behaviour- when a person stops smoking, they experience mood changes, so they smoke again to remove behaviour.

Using Operant Conditioning, explain how you can encourage and incentivise behaviour

Positive reinforcement- using external feedback, self-talk and a token economy

Negative reinforcement- avoid consequences of unhealthy behaviour

Positive punishment- apply unpleasant consequences to an unhealthy behaviour

Give a strength of using operant conditioning to encourage and incentivise healthy behaviour

one strength of using operant conditioning to encourage healthy behaviour is that it has applications in the real world.

for example, when a person works out, they will be encouraged to continue in order to avoid the consequences of being unhealthy (such as health issues), which is negative reinforcement.

This makes operant conditioning useful because it encourages people how to make healthier behaviours in life.

Give a weakness of using operant conditioning to encourage and incentivise healthy behaviour

one weakness of the behaviourist approach is that it cannot explain the change of behaviour itself.

the biological and psychological approach explain the initiation of the addictive behaviour more accurately.

meaning that there are better approaches to explain the behaviour itself, not just the solution.

Describe the effects of parental role models

young people imitate models (like parents and peers) and their behaviours, like smoking, drinking or sports.

they do this through vicarious reinforcement, which is where a person imitates a behaviour because a role model has been rewarded for it

Describe the effects of peer role models

we are more likely to repeat peer behaviour because they are similar to us (age, hobbies, personality).

school programs will often propose ‘head students’ for others to model their good behaviour in school.

Describe the effects of role models in health education

healthcare professionals- nurses are expected to model good health behaviours to both patients and training nurses.

celebrities- are often used to make others model healthy behaviours. for example during covid many celebs showed themselves taking the vaccine to encourage others to do the same.

Evaluate the strengths of behavioural influence on health

one strength is that behavioural influences on health have scientific evidence. Bandura demonstrated how children learnt behaviours from role models. this means that there is a plausible explanation of how both healthy and unhealthy behaviours are learnt.

Evaluate the weaknesses of behavioural influence on health

one weakness of behavioural influences of health is that it assumes that individuals are passive learners.

many children do not copy their parents behaviour or even their peers. there are other approaches that give a better explanation, like for example, in the biological approach genetic differences can make some individuals more vulnerable to addictive behaviours.

Explain how people make health related decisions

we make health related decisions based on how it affects:

• our relief from stress, anxiety and boredom- for example binge eating

• mitigating other health problems- being physically active to protect our health

explain how a person can resolve cognitive dissonance

they can do this by either changing the bad behaviour, (for example a smoker can quit smoking) OR they can choose to ignore scientific evidence in order to continue their behaviour.

Evaluate the strengths of using the cognitive approach to explain health related behaviours

in one study, smokers discussed smoking-related topics and compared to a control group, the participants who experienced dissonance were more likely to change their behaviour. after a month they had stronger intentions to stop smoking.

this shows that cognitive dissonance can be used in effective interventions that change unhealthy behaviours

Evaluate the weaknesses of using the cognitive approach to explain health related behaviours

a weakness of the cognitive approach is that it tends to be reductionist. this explanation removes the biological factors from helping us understand why specific behaviours are occurring. genes have been linked in relation to health, which suggests that the biological explanation could be more of a basis to explain the behaviours.

What is the theory of self-efficacy?

the self-efficacy theory introduces the idea that the perception of efficacy is influenced by four factors

• mastery experience

• vicarious reinforcement

• effect of social persuasion and emotional state on self efficacy

• likelihood of behavioural change

What is the effect of mastery experience on self- efficacy?

when you attempt to do something, and are successful.

the most effective way to boost self-efficacy

What is the effect of social persuasion on self- efficacy?

verbal persuasion can have a positive impact on ones self-efficacy as it improves self-belief and a persons perceived ability to succeed in a task.

what is the effect of emotional state on self- efficacy?

overall health and well-being has an effect on maintenance of self-efficacy. poor mental health will effect it negatively.

What does the likelihood of behavioural change have on self-efficacy?

raising an individuals confidence that they can perform, respond and help to avert a threat will boost self-efficacy as behaviour change is important in concept to health promotion and disease prevention.

Evaluate the strengths of the self-efficacy theory

a strength of self-efficacy theory is that it can explain differences in addictive behaviour.

for example, an individual with high self-efficacy may believe they can resist cravings and quit their addiction, whereas someone with low self-efficacy may feels unable to cope without and be more likely to relapse.

this suggests that beliefs about ones ability can influence addictive behaviours.

Evaluate the weaknesses of the self efficacy theory

a weakness of self-efficacy theory is that it may underestimate the role of biological factors in addiction.

addiction involves changes to the brains reward system and can produce withdrawal symptoms, meaning that simply believing you can stop may not be enough to prevent addictive behaviour.

therefore, self-efficacy alone may provide an incomplete explanation of addiction.

What is the transtheoretical model?

the model describes how people adopt healthy behaviours if they want to/ are ready

Describe the 5 components of the transtheoretical model

1) precontemplation- not considering change. denial, demotivation.

2) contemplation- considering change. conflict of mind, cognitive dissonance.

3) preparation- cost of benefits analysis. benefits/barriers. gathering information

4) action- quitting behaviour. therapy and interventions. antagonistic activates.

5) maintenance- change maintained for 6 months average. applying learned skills. avoiding cues to action.

Evaluate the strengths of the transtheoretical model

the transtheoretical model is a useful in developing treatments for addiction.

at each stage different intervention strategies are most effective at moving the person onto the next stage of change.

this means that knowing the stage where a person is in a certain moment, treatments can be planned for the next steps

Evaluate the weaknesses of the transtheoretical model

One weakness of the transtheoretical model is that there are not always clear differences between the stages.

it classifies behaviour change into a series of distinct changes as opposed to a continuous process. behaviour change is continuous so the model makes an incorrect assumption that there are separate changes.

this means that treatments planned for any stage could be inaccurate and the patient could relapse eventually.

Explain the Health belief model

the health belief model explains how our behaviour is related to our beliefs.

Explain perceived seriousness

perceived seriousness- whether a person changes their behaviour depends on how severe they think the consequences will be if they do not change

Explain perceived susceptibility

describes whether a person believes how susceptible they are to an illness

Explain the cost benefits analysis

where a person analyses the perceived benefits and perceived barriers of a health related action.

What are the three factors affecting health related behaviour?

demographic variables (age, gender, cultural context)

cues to action (information received, role models, pain)

self-efficacy

What does a persons demographic variables affect in the health belief model?

demographic values affect:

• perceived susceptibility to an illness

• perceived seriousness of an illness

• cost benefits analysis

What does a persons cues to action affect in the health belief model?

• perceived susceptibility to an illness

• perceived seriousness of an illness

• cost benefits analysis

What does a persons self-efficacy effect in the health belief model?

the likelihood of engaging in preventative or treatment behaviours

Evaluate the strengths of the health belief model

one strength of the health belief is that it has applications in developing practical interventions to change health-related behaviours.

some programs aimed to encourage healthy lifestyle include these factors.

this suggests that the health belief model can explain why people engage in healthy behaviours and how they can be helped to do so.

Evaluate the weakness of the health belief model

A weakness is that the model is based on the assumption that people make rational decisions about their health behaviours.

people are more emotional than rational decision makers.

this suggests that there may be other psychological factors more important in behaviour change than those included in the health belief model.

What is Locus of Control

locus control is how much control a person feels they have in their own behaviours.

a person can either have an internal or external locus

explain internal and external locus

Internal Locus- an individual who believes their life is determined by their own decisions and efforts.

External Locus- an individual who believes their life is predetermined by fate, luck and external factors.

What is attribution?

the process of explaining other peoples behaviour as well as explaining our own behaviour.

How can you measure Locus of Control

Multidimensional Health of Locus Control Scale

Evaluate the strength of Locus of Control

one strength of the locus of control model is understanding the link between the model and health has applications.

longitudinal studies measuring LoC in children showed that those who scored high in internal where more resistant to obesity and stress in adulthood.

this suggests that interventions aimed at developing Internal LoC could be one way of helping people to gain health benefits.

Evaluate the weakness of Locus of Control

One weakness is that the role of LoC in health may be exaggerated.

LoC is only relevant in new situations. it has little effect on our behaviour in familiar situations, where previous experience is more important. Someone who has been influenced previously is likely to be influenced again, regardless of LoC.

This limits the power of LoC to predict changes in health-related behaviours.

How does genetic predisposition influence health

health- defence against some illnesses.

physical illness- obesity, diabetes etc.

psychological disorders- stress, addiction, depression etc.

What role does neurotransmitter imbalances have on our health?

normal levels of neurotransmitters dampens brain activity to stabilise mood.

lower levels of serotonin = anxiety, depression

normal levels of neurotransmitters are also involved in reward, motivation and memory

high levels of dopamine = schizophrenia

Evaluate the strengths genetic influences on health

One strength of using the biological approach to explain health related behaviours is that it is based on scientific methodology.

this is a scientific way to approach health, it doesn’t involve making subjective judgements about someone’s behaviour so the validity is high.

this suggests that using the biological approach would be very accurate due to its scientific value

Evaluate the weaknesses genetic influences on health

one weakness of using the biological approach is that it is reductionist.

there are influences of the environment that could affect health related behaviours. focusing solely on genes risks ignoring the influences of the environmental factors.

this means that other approaches must be considered when understanding health related behaviours.

What is the theory of planned behaviour?

explains how people exercise control over their behaviours.

intention determines our behaviour, if we plan something we are more likely to do it.

What is perceived behavioural control?

the extent to which a persons believes they can direct their own behaviour

What are personal attitudes?

the balance of a persons favourable and unfavourable views about their behaviour.