Chapter 10- Health psychology

Health psychology

How behavior, cognition, and physical health are related

• causes and treatmetns

• health matinence

Biophysical model

How biological, social, and psychological factors affect health

Biological factors (biophysical model)

• sex

• illness

• immune function

• genetics

• neurochemistry

Social context (biophysical model)

• family

• friends

• culture

• socioeconomic status

• education

Psychological factors (biophysical model)

• personality

• history

• behavior

• beliefs

• coping mechanisms

• memories

Internal motivation

you want to take action

“I want to quit smoking”

External motivation

someone wants you to take action

“I want you to quit smoking”

Stress

a physiological response to an environmental event that is deemed taxing or exceeding the ability to adapt

Distant stress

Occurs when you’re younger, can have effects in the future

Ex. Child abuse

Chronic stress

Long-term, doesn’t have a definitive ending (contributes to allostasis episodes)

Ex. Chronic pain

Acute Stress

Stress that is short btu with an known ending, can be mildly severe to severe

Ex. Exams

Eustress

“good” stress, motivates us to make needed changes

Ex. Buying a new home, having a child

Distress

“Bad” stress, doesn’t support in achieving homeostasis, often uncontrollable and unescapable

Ex. Loss of loved one, having a bad breakup

Stressors

specific events (Acute V chronic)

Perceived stress

A person’s subjective feelings about how much stress they are experiencing

Stress appraisal theory

how people respond to stressful situations by evaluating the threat level and their ability to cope

Primary appraisal

“Is it stressful?”

Secondary appraisal

“can I handle it?”

Negative appraisal

Threat

Positive appraisal

Challenge

General adaptation syndrome

Our body’s path to responding and powering through stress

Sympathetic-Andreno-Medullary (SAM) Axis

Rapid response, stressors are IDed and trigger production and release of Epinephrine and Norepinephrine by the adrenal gland

Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis

Helps the body maintain stress and maintain homeostasis, endocrine system creates a feedback look of hormones to manage stress

Differential sensitivity Hypothesis

Suggests some people are sensitive to environmental factors differently than others