Health Psych Exam 2

instrumental/tangible support

provision of material support (ex. service, financial assistance, or goods)

informational support

suggestions for addressing a challenge or situation

emotional support

expression of caring, concern, comfort

matching hypothesis

balance between needs of recipient and support received (most effective social support)

what happens if there is a mismatch between needs and what is received?

there can be an increase in psychological distress

social connection

socially connected depending on:

connection to others via relationship and role

sense of connection results from actual or perceived support or inclusion

sense of connection based on positive or negative qualities

structural (social connection)

existence of and interconnections among different social relationships and roles (ex. marital status, social network, living alone)

functional (social connection)

functions provided by or perceived to be available because of social relationships (received supports, perceptions of social support, perceived loneliness)

quality (social connection)

positive and negative aspects of social relationships (marital quality, relationship strain, social inclusion/exclusion)

social networks

number of relationships

social networks and health

associated with better health (existence does not mean supportive)

received social support

amount of support accessed by an individual

• associated with better health

• positively correlated with stress

• lead to feelings of dependency and decreased self-respect

perceived social support

amount of support appraised to be available; satisfaction with available support

• associated with lower mortality risk

what are social isolation and loneliness associated with?

increased mortality risk

what are the effects of providing support?

related to positive emotions

related to decreased mortality risk

giving emotional support to spouse (GESS) lower mortality risk

what can be caused by relationship strain?

conflict

insensitive behavior

rejection

associated with poorer health

direct effects hypothesis

social ties provide protection during stressful and non-stressful times

buffering hypothesis

social ties provided protection against effects of stress

how are social resources and health related?

cog appraisal

health behaviors (exercise, diet, substance use)

adherence

psychoneuroimmunological pathways (direct effect of social relations physiological functioning, social relations moderate physiological responses to stress)

psychoneuroimmunological pathways (Cohen et al. 1997)

measured social relationships (social network diversity)

psychoneuroimmunological pathways (Lepore et al. 1993)

participants asked to give a speech in one of three conditions:

• alone

• with supportive confederate (support)

• with nonsuppurative confederate (no support)

what happened in Coan et al., 2006?

women given electric shocks to induce stress

• hold hands with spouse, did not hold hands, hold hand of stranger

tend and befriend

social stress reaction in which seek to protect and care for others (tend) and build supportive relationships (befriend)

Carter, De Vries and Getz, 1995

oxytocin released in response to stress

oxytocin associated with reduced SNS and HPA system responses to stress

Detillion et al., 2004

socially isolated or pair-housed

• pair-housed- lower cortisol, faster wound healing

isolated

• purpose- test cortisol wound healing

• results- faster wound healing

isolated-injected with oxytocin/saline

• purpose- test if oxy blocks stress-induced cortisol and facilitates wound healing

• results- oxytocin, lower cortisol, faster wound healing

oxytocin antagonist (pair-housed)

• purpose- test whether pair-housed hamsters had faster wound healing due to their increased levels of oxytocin

• results- oxytocin antagonist, slower wound healing

Langer & Rodin, 1976

choices for nursing-home residents

• improved health

perceived control

beliefs about ability to affect one’s outcome

• perceived control-better health (Infurna & Gerstorf, 2014)

• partially mediated by physical activity

what are the big five personality traits?

extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness

how are health behaviors related to personality?

personality-health related behaviors-health

childhood conscientiousness-lower smoking and alcohol use in adulthood (Friedman et al, 1995;Hampson et al., 2006)

disease caused personality changes

disease-personality

disease-psych reaction-personality

disease-treatment-personality

how is stress moderation related to health?

personality moderates the effect of stress on health

some people have personalities that make them more stressed (think type A)

how is situation selection related to health?

personality-situations-health

your personality helps you make certain choices that then affect your health

how are social relationships related to health?

personality-social relationships-health

your personality causes you to act a certain way/engage in certain social relationships which then affect health

hardiness (Kobasa, Maddi, & Kahn, 1982)

affect cognitive appraisal of events

• commitment

• control

• challenge

Hardiness-less illness

explanatory style (peterson & selingman, 1984)- cognitive personality variable

internality v externality

stability v instability

globality v specificity

optimistic

external, unstable, specific attributions

associated with positive health

pessimistic

internal, stable, global attributions

internality v externality

internal- my fault

external- other people’s/other things fault

stability v instability

stable- always happens

instable- happens sometimes or not often

globality v specificity

global- affect many areas of life

specific- affect specific area

what is the relationship between conscientiousness and health?

lower mortality risk

unrealistic optimism- overestimate likelihood of positive outcomes and underestimate negative

defensive pessimism- set low expectations for outcome and uses that to prep for possible negative events

what is the relationship between neuroticism and health?

associated with both increased and decreased risk of death

too aware of challenges may cause people to be paranoid

aware of challenges but takes preventative measures

type A behavior pattern

competitive, hurried, hostile, tense

link behavior and heart disease

Friedman and Rosenman- cardiologists

type b behavior pattern

relaxed, less competitive

hostility

increased risk of all-cause mortality

chronic heart disease (CHD) and mortality 25 year later

what intervention plan was made for type a people to limit hostility?

M. Friedman et al., 1984

reduction in risk of heart attack

intervention to decrease hostility (Davidson et al., 2007)

• effect on hospitalization days, costs

coping with stress

effort to remove or diminish threat; reduce distress

problem-focused coping

actions taken to change a stressful situation or reduce its effects

emotional-focused coping

attempts to reduce distress emotions

approach coping

changing cognitions or expressing emotions

ex. expressive writing, positive reappraisal

avoidance coping

ignoring or denying the problem

ex. abusing alcohol

religiosity

religious attendance, finding strength and comfort from one’s religious beliefs

associated with better health, lower mortality risk

• moderator: public vs. private religious involvement

• partial mediators: social ties, health behaviors

attending services associated with lower mortality risk

• partial mediators: social support, depressive symptoms, smoking, optimism

how can writing be beneficial?

Pennebaker & Beall (1986)- write about trauma (experimental) or superficial topic (placebo control)

outcomes of expressive writing:

• reduced # of doctor visits

• enhanced immune functioning

• lower BP and heart rate

• better self-rated health

Moderators: physical health problems, history of trauma, disclose at home, previously undisclosed

how is gratitude related to health?

Emmons & McCullough, 2003

psych and physical wellbeing

3 conditions: gratitude, hassles, events

why is exercise beneficial?

psych benefits:

• stress reduction

• reduced depression, anxiety

• as effective as pharmacological treatment or psychotherapy in reducing depression

mindfulness

focus on and awareness of current thoughts

health outcomes:

• stronger immune functioning

• lower blood pressure

• less pain

self-affirmation

positive affirmation of values

• lower physiological response to stress

• participants wrote about important personal values before exam-lower physiological response to stress (Sherman et al., 2009)

relaxation training

deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) guided imagery, meditation, yoga

• PMR- tense and relax each body part

spending time in nature

• lower depression, BP

• lower stress

• better immune function

• lower rates of chronic illness

positive emotional states

related to better mental and physical health

• longevity

• lower levels of cortisol

• better immune functioning

how is humor connected to health?

• physiological changes in the systems of the body

• inducing positive emotional states

• moderating adverse effects of stress on health

• moderating adverse effects of stress on health

• increasing social support

learning theories

health-related behaviors are learned (classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning)

continuum models

use sets of factors to predict behavior

stage models

identify stages involved in the process of behavior change

classical conditioning

learn to respond to new stimulus that has been associated with another stimulus that normally produces the response

operant conditioning

behaviors can be increased or decreased depending on the consequence of the behavior

• punishment for unhealthy behaviors

• reward for healthy behaviors

  • limitations of reinforcement-overjustification effect

overjustification effect

decline intrinsic motivation when external reward is introduced for an already enjoyable activity

temptation bundling

pairing immediately satisfying activities with those that require more effort but provide long-term benefits

• Milkman et al., 2014

• audiobook only at the gym (full treatment)

• encourage audiobook only when at gym (intermediate treatment)

• control

friction

unwanted behavior less rewarding by adding external barrier that make performing the behavior more difficult

make desired behavior easier by removing friction

vicarious learning (modeling, vicarious operant conditioning)

older younger sibling survey about drinking

younger sibling belief about how older sibling acts is how they themselves act

younger siblings have positive belief about older sibling experience with behavior, younger sibling is more likely to enjoy and engage

self-efficacy

person’s belief they will be able to execute a behavior

factors that influence participation in preventative health behaviors:

• perceived susceptibility- belief about the degree of health threat

• perceived severity- beliefs about consequences of the illness

• perceived benefits- beliefs that engaging in the behavior will reduce the threat of the illness

• perceived barriers- beliefs about obstacles to engaging in a behavior

cues to action

any type of reminder about a potential health problem or behavior

behavior intentions

person’s commitment to performing the behavior

what are intentions determined by?

attitudes- person’s feelings about engaging in particular behavior

subjective norms- people’s belief about whether important ppl in their life would support them in changing their behavior and beliefs about what other people are doing

perceived behavioral control- extent in which a person believes they will be able to engage in behavior

intention-behavior gap

intentions dont always predict behavior

implementation intentions

specific plans for when, where, and how one will engage in a behavior

transtheoretical model

behavior change is a complex process

changes are not always linear-spiral change

includes relapse

transtheoretical model stages

1. precontemplation

2. contemplation

3. preparation

4. action

5. maintenance

6. termination

precontemplation

no intentions to change problem behavior

contemplation

beginning to consider changing behavior

preparation

commitment to change behavior

action

start engaging in new behavior

maintenance

change is sustained over time

termination

no longer much risk of relapse