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Health

The positive state of physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being

Health Psychology

The science that applies psychological principles and research to the enhancement of health and the treatment and prevention of illness

Humoral Theory

Proposed by Hippocrates, the idea that health is based on an equilibrium of four humors: blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm

Biomedical Model of Health

Belief that illness always has a biological cause, based on Descartes' rejection of mind-body intervention

Psychosomatic Model of Health

Concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of physical diseases thought to be caused by faulty mental processes - fell out of favor due to associations with Sigmund Freud

Pathogen

Virus, bacterium, or other microorganism that invades the body

Etiology

The scientific study of diseases and their origins

Genome

The complete set of genetic instructions that make a living organism what it is

Genomics

The study of genomes

Epigenetic

Genetic effects that manifest after an outside environmental factor

Life-Course Perspective

Focuses on age-related aspects of health and illness

Birth Cohort

A group within a few years of each other

Acute Disorder

Caused by infection, spread from person to person

Chronic Illnesses

Long-term diseases that now comprise most deaths

Socioeconomic Status

Societal ranking based on wealth, education, and occupation

Immigrant (Hispanic) Paradox

Latin Americans having lower incomes and health care access, but lower rates of chronic illness

Ecological Systems Approach

Based on the idea that wellbeing is best understood as a hierarchy of systems in which each system is linked to small (localized) systems and larger overreaching systems

Diseases of Ease

Illness caused by lifestyle choices: Heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, lung disease (smoking), liver disease/cancer (alcohol abuse), overdose, motor vehicle accidents, homicide, suicide, HIV, and vaccine refusal

Schema

Cognitive framework that helps us understand, interpret and navigate the world

Science

A method of answering questions, letting data consistent observations become fact

Domain of Science

The natural and observable world

Reductionism

The belief (originating in materialism) that taking things apart and breaking them down to the most elemental pieces is the best approach to understanding how complex things work

Materialism

Philosophical approach in which matter and energy are the only real things in the universe; all existence is based on these two properties

Complex Systems Science

The belief that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and that studying a system consists of describing how components interact to form a system and how systems interact within their environments

Emergent Properties

New properties that exist based on the interactions between components in complex systems, more likely to consider homeostasis, feedback and adaptation

Radical Behaviorism

The belief that there is no mind, just stimulus-response links

Breadth

An approach that considers multiple sources of influence - ex: psychological, social, and environmental

Complex Relationships

The theoretical framework that incorporates a complex set of interactions

Organismic Model

A biologically determinate, reductionist model that seeks to reduce emotion and behavior to biological explanations (bio-genetic processes); often used to determine links between mental illness and overall health. Consists of biomedical, medical and biogenetic models

Psychodynamic Model

The complex systems approach views behavior as arising within the person, driven by unconscious forces. It emphasizes defense mechanisms and the use of somatic symptoms to compensate for unconscious anxieties. However, this approach is used less often today due to the difficulty in hypothesis formation and examining unconscious processes.

Environmentalism

The belief that we can only study behavior through the systematic observation of stimulus-response relationships; most proponents prefer the cognitive-behavioral, interactionist perspective.

Biopsychosocial Model

The belief that health is influenced by biology, psychology, and sociocultural contexts through reciprocal determinism (causes and effects running both ways) - essential to the modern foundations of Health Psychology

Social Cognitive Model

The process of understanding how an individual interacts with their immediate environment, and how cognitive factors interact with it to produce behavior - more CSS than reductionist

Social Ecological Framework

The belief that a person is embedded in dynamic environments made of hierarchical systems, and that an individual lives and behaves in the context of these environments - commonly used in public health

Health Inequities

Differences in health status between countries

Health Disparities

Differences in health status between regions

Social Determinants of Health

The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age: consisting of income, education, gender, race/ethnicity, geography, culture, institutions, health care access and family/social networks - thought to primarily contribute to health inequities/disparities

Evidence-Based Medicine

An approach to healthcare intended to optimize decision-making in treating patients by integrating the best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values

Critical Thinking

A skeptical approach to new knowledge

Epidemiology

The branch of medical science that determines the frequency, distribution, and causes of a particular disease or other health outcome in a population

Descriptive Study

A process where a researcher observes and records participants' behavior in a natural setting, often forming hunches later subject to more systematic study

Case Study

A descriptive study in which one person (or group) is studied in depth in hope of revealing general principles

Observational Studies

Researcher observes participant behavior and records relevant data, produces naturalistic observations and attempts to be as realistic as possible

Correlation Coefficient

Used to calculate the extent of a suspected relationship between two variables

Scatterplot

Mapping data according to two variables

Experimental Study

Conducted via independent variable (cause), dependent variable (effect) while all else is controlled

Quasi Experiment

Uses groups that differ from the outset on the variable seeking to be studied; no cause or effect can be found

Cross-Sectional Study

Observational study that analyzes data from a population at a specific point in time

Longitudinal Study

Collecting data from individuals over a long period of time

Vectors

Agents which carry and transmit infectious pathogens to other organisms

Morbidity

The number of cases of a specific illness, injury, or disability

Mortality

Number of deaths due to a specific cause in a given group during a given time

Retrospective Study

A study beginning with a group that have a certain disease/condition and then looking backward in time in an attempt to reconstruct the characteristics that led to their condition

Case-Control Study

A type of retrospective study in which the case group is compared with a control; great for measuring rare diseases with two groups and the differences between the two

Prospective Study

A study that begins with disease/condition-free participants and follows them over a given period to determine whether a certain condition (e.g., smoking) relates to a later condition (e.g., cancer).

Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT)

The gold standard of biomedical research, involves baselines and intense controls; contains at least one control group and experimental group

Meta-Analysis

A quantitative technique that combines the results of studies examining the same affect of phenomenon

Relative Risk

Ratio of incidence or prevalence of a disease in a group exposed to a particular risk factor to the incidence or prevalence of that condition in a group not exposed to the risk factor

Attributable Risk

Actual amount of disease attributable to a risk factor

Qualitative Research

Asking open-ended questions and reporting narrative, not numerical, responses.

Informed Consent

An ethical principle requiring the participant must understand and agree to the research procedures and know the risks involved

Debrief

Explaining the research afterward to participants

Psychosocial Epidemiology

The study of how the social determinants of health

contribute to the health and well-being of populations

Behavioral Epidemiology

Involves studying how lifestyle and behavior influence health and disease in populations

Incidence

Number of new cases that appear during a specific period of time

Prevalence

Total number of cases of a disease at a particular point in time

Agency

The idea that one has the capacity to make choices in a given situation or environment, closely related to the religious/philosophical idea of free will

Medicine

The study of the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in individuals

Age-Adjusted Rate

Used to compare groups that differ in age, often through mortality rate (dead/population size) or years of potential life lost (life expectancy - age at death)

Natural History of Disease

The progression of a disease process from onset to resolution; concerned with spread, symptoms, progression, duration and prognosis

Risk Factor

Characteristic leading to a higher probability of a disease

Protective Factor

Characteristic leading to a lower probability of a disease

Confounding Variable

A variable that correlates (directly or indirectly) with the independent or dependent variable

Nested Case-Control Study

A study done within a prospective cohort study using a subtotal of the total cohort

Primary Endpoint

A single outcome that is the main focus of research

Secondary Endpoint

Important outcomes in the study but NOT the main purpose of the study

Reliability

Stability of measurement; how error free it is

Validity

Determining whether the measure really measures what it claims to measure

Specificity

Proportion of subjects without disease who have a negative result (true negative)

Sensitivity

Proportion of subjects with disease who have a positive result (true positive)

Stress

The process by which a person appraises and responds to events that are perceived to be challenging or threatening

Stressors

Demanding Events/Situations that trigger coping adjustments in a person

Affective Neuroscience

Explores neural mechanisms of emotion and their impact on the brain

Burnout

A job-related state of physical and psychological exhaustion, it can appear even if it takes years to develop

Corticosteroids

Steroid hormones that reduce inflammation, promote healing and help mobilize body-energy resources

Ecological Momentary Assessment

Involves repeated sampling of behaviors/experiences in real time in natural environments

Cardiovascular Reactivity

Identifying individual differences in blood pressure, heart rate, etc. to measure stress tolerance

Reactivity Hypothesis

Hyperreactive individuals have a higher rate of heart disease due to their elevated blood pressure/heart rate

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia

Measure of how the interval between heart beats synchronizes with breathing, increasing while breathing in, decreasing while breathing out

Psychoneuroimmunology

Speculative, theoretical integration of the links between immunity, emotions and disease (cytokines)

Allostatic Load

Cumulative, long-term effects of bodily physiological response to stress depends on the genes/personality

Glucocorticoid Response

Philosophy that chronic stress interferes with the body's ability to integrate inflammatory response

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three phases—alarm, resistance, exhaustion, all relating to cortisol level.

Transactional Model

The idea that stress cannot be understood by looking at stimuli and responses separately; they need to be seen together

Primary Appraisal

Contemplation to determine meaning

Secondary Appraisal

Contemplation to determine response

Diathesis Stress Model

The idea that predisposing and precipitating factors contribute to stress together in a system

Reactivity

Strength of a response to an emotional trigger

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

A disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience

Microaggressions

Insults, indignities and marginalizing messages conveyed by someone who appears unaware of their hurtful content