Health Psychology Lecture Flashcards

Flashcards on health psychology, covering topics like defining health psychology, the biopsychosocial model, symptom perception, interpretation, and response, and factors influencing health and illness.

Health Psychology

The field within psychology aimed at understanding the psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why people become ill, and how people respond when they do get ill.

Health Psychology Application

An applied psychology field that uses theories and research from other sub-disciplines within psychology to focus on physical health.

Clinical Psychology

Focuses on mental health, differing from health psychology's focus on physical health.

Major Causes of Death in 1900

Infectious diseases, acute illnesses like influenza, pneumonia, and tuberculosis were major causes of death.

Major Causes of Death in 2024

Cancer, heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease (stroke) are now the top three causes of death.

Communicable Diseases

Diseases that can be passed on from one person to the next.

Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs)

Diseases that cannot be passed on from one person to the next; often referred to as lifestyle diseases.

Influence of Genetics on Health

The estimation that approximately 30% of our health is influenced by genetic risk factors.

World Health Organization (WHO) Warning

Warned in 2007 that infectious diseases were emerging at a higher rate than before.

Biopsychosocial Model of Health

A model where health and illness are consequences of the interplay between biological, psychological, and social factors.

Biological Factors (Biopsychosocial Model)

Factors such as age, gender, physical health, neurochemistry, and genetic vulnerabilities that influence health.

Psychological Factors (Biopsychosocial Model)

Factors like learning, memory, attitudes, beliefs, personality, behaviors, and coping skills that affect health.

Social Factors (Biopsychosocial Model)

Aspects of the social context such as education, socioeconomic status, culture, religion, social support, and family background that play a key role in health.

Biomedical Model

A more traditional model of health that focuses primarily on biological aspects and downplays psychological and social factors.

Maori Models of Health

A Maori model of health emphasizing the balance in physical health, spiritual health, family health, and mental health.

Three-Stage Process Relating to Symptoms and Disease

Becoming aware of sensations, interpreting those sensations, and planning and taking action.

Pennebaker's Research

Competition of Internal and External Information in an Exercise Setting; Jamie Pennebaker showed that focus of attention influences symptom reporting.

Medical Students’ Disease

A condition frequently reported in medical students who perceive themselves to be experiencing the symptoms of a disease that they are studying.

Mass Psychogenic Illness

Widespread symptom perception across individuals even though tests indicate that their symptoms have no medical basis in their bodies or in the environment.

Modeling of Symptoms

Symptoms spread through social contagion; modeling is an important aspect here.