PS252 - Illness Representations

Healthy meaning (Lau, 1995)

• Physiological/physical: good condition, have energy

• Psychological (happy, feel good)

• Behavioural (eat, sleep properly)

• Future consequences (live longer)

Ill meaning (Lau, 1995)

• Not feeling normal

• Specific symptoms (physiological/psychological)

• Specific illnesses (cold, cancer, depression)

• Consequences

• Timeline (how long symptoms last)

• Absence of health

Illness representations (Kaptein et al., 2004)

An organised set of beliefs regarding how the illness affects the body, its likely impact on life activities and experiences, whether it can be cured and so on (Kaptein et al., 2004)

Why are illness representations important?

They guide our reactions to illness-related information and inaccurate illness perceptions may impact on health behaviours.

5 cognitive dimensions of illness representations (Leventhal et al., 1980)

1. Identity

2. Cause

3. Timeline

4. Consequences

5. Cure/control

Why do we look for the cause of an illness?

• To make sense of the experience

• Provide a sense of predictability and control

Weiner et al. (1972) lay people classification of causes of diseases

1. Locus: extent to which the cause is localised inside/outside the person

2. Controllability: extent to which the person has control over the cause

3. Stability: extent to which the cause is stable or changeable