Lecture 4 - 8 Heath Psychology

Psychophysiology Overview

• Definition: Links between psychological and physiological processes.

• Key Question: How are psychological states related to physical states?

History of Psychophysiology

• Ancient Greece: Hippocrates proposed the four bodily humors:

  • Blood: Associated with sanguine temperament.

  • Black Bile: Associated with melancholy.

  • Yellow Bile: Associated with choler.

  • Phlegm: Associated with apathy.

• Ancient Rome: Galen expanded on these ideas.

Middle Ages

• Dominated by the Roman Catholic Church:

  • Belief that evil spirits and demons caused illness.

  • Church forbade scientific research on the human body.

Philosophical Foundations

• Descartes' Dualism: Mind and body are separate entities (Cartesian dualism).

  • Mind/Soul as distinct from the body.

Psychoanalysis

• Freud: Treated hysterical paralysis through hypnosis.

• Alexander & Dunbar: Suggested diseases stem from unconscious emotional conflicts:

  • Ulcers: Caused by oral conflicts.

  • Asthma: Linked to separation anxiety.

Homeostasis

• Mileur Interne (Claude Bernard): All living beings require a stable internal environment.

• Wisdom of the Body (Walter Cannon): The body self-corrects.

Homeostasis vs Allostasis

• Homeostasis: Maintaining equilibrium through physiological adjustments.

• Allostasis: Active adaptation to maintain homeostasis. Includes:

  • Single optimal set points

  • Adjustments in response to changes or anticipation of changes.

Allostatic Load

• Concept: Cumulative physiological cost from repeated allostasis (McEwen & Stellar, 1993).

  • Resulting in decreased immunity.

  • Caused by chronic stressors and the inability to adjust to stress.

Psychological States and Body Systems

• Inquiry into how body's systems are influenced by psychological states.

Nervous System Overview

• Peripheral Nervous System Variants:

  • Autonomic Nervous System: Manages internal organs without conscious control.

    • Sympathetic: Arousing, mobilizes body for action.

    • Parasympathetic: Calming, restores the body after stress.

  • Somatic Nervous System: Controls voluntary skeletal muscles.

Autonomic Nervous System Functions

• Sympathetic: Increases heart rate, inhibits digestion, opens lungs, etc.

• Parasympathetic: Slows heart rate, stimulates digestion, constricts lung passages, etc.

Endocrine System

• Overview: Regulates hormones, controlling bodily functions.

• Hypothalamus: Regulates the pituitary gland.

• Pituitary Gland: Master gland influencing other endocrine glands.

• Adrenal Glands: Secretes crucial hormones during stress.

Stress Response and Endocrine Function

• Stress Pathway:

  • Stress activates the CNS → Hypothalamus → Sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) system → Release of catecholamines (epinephrine, norepinephrine) → Activation of HPA axis → Release of cortisol from adrenal cortex.

Immune System

• Protects against pathogens.

• Stress can suppress immune functioning.

• Immune system conditioning (Ader & Cohen, 1975): Psychological aspects can influence immune response.

Cardiovascular System and Stress

• Function: Pumps blood, transports oxygen, nutrients, hormones.

• Stress Impact: Activates sympathetic system → increases heart rate and blood pressure, leading to chronic stress effects like hypertension, damaging heart and vessels.

Measuring Stress

• Types of Stress:

  1. Life Changes: Major life events require adaptation.

  2. Daily Hassles: Minor annoyances accumulate negatively affecting health.

Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)

• Ranked Life Events:

  • Death of spouse, divorce, marital separation, etc.

• Purpose: Measure how life changes impact stress and subsequent health.

Daily Hassles Scale and Health Outcomes

• Research highlighted correlations between daily hassles and health status.

  • Effects of frequency and intensity of hassles.

Perceived Stress

• Refers to the perception of stress as overwhelming.

• Measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen et al., 1983).

Cognitive Appraisal of Stress

• Lazarus & Folkman (1984): Stress as cognitive appraisal rather than direct responses to objective criteria.

  • Primary Appraisal: Evaluating potential harm.

  • Secondary Appraisal: Assessing resources to cope with potential threats.

Models of Stress and Illness

• Illness Behavior Model: Responses to stress that lead to illness role.

• Indirect Effect Model: Stress influences health indirectly via healthy behaviors (e.g., overeating).

• Direct Effect Model: Stress produces physiological changes that result in disease.

General Adaptation Syndrome (Hans Selye)

• Body's generalized response to stress divided into three stages:

  1. Alarm Phase: Immediate physical response.

  2. Resistance Stage: Sustained physiological response.

  3. Exhaustion Stage: When resources are depleted.

Stress Moderators - Social Support

• Types of Social Support:

  • Emotional, informational, and instrumental support.

• Health Impact: Can buffer stress effects; matching hypothesis indicates balance between needs and support enhances benefits.

Health Risks Associated with Social Isolation and Loneliness

• Increased risk for both are linked with mortality.

Explanatory Styles and Health

• Cognitive variables affecting health include optimism vs pessimism.

• Positive attribution associated with a lower risk of death.

Coping with Stress

• Various strategies include:

  • Problem-focused coping: Directly addressing the source of stress.

  • Emotion-focused coping: Managing emotional responses to stress.

Emotional Disclosure and Health

• How they can enhance well-being and reduced health complaints.

Exercise Benefits

• Effective for stress reduction, lowering depression and anxiety.

• Mechanisms include endorphins, distraction, and physiological changes.

Mindfulness and Nature

• Practicing mindfulness leads to various health benefits.

• Spending time in nature associated with reduced stress and improved immune functioning.

Health Psychology Exam 2 Study Guide

Stress Moderators (Social Support)

• Direct Effects and Buffering Hypotheses:

  • Direct effects hypothesis suggests that social support has beneficial effects on health regardless of stress levels.

  • Buffering hypothesis posits that social support protects individuals from the negative effects of stress.

• Mechanisms of Relation between Social Support and Health:

  • Cognitive appraisal: social support can enhance cognitive appraisal of stressors, leading to more effective coping strategies.

• Evidence for Psychoneuroimmunological Pathways:

  • Studies (Cohen et al., 1997; Coan et al., 2006; Lepore et al., 1993) show how social support can influence immune function and psychosomatic health.

• Tend-and-Befriend Hypothesis:

  • Suggests that, particularly in women, social affiliation may be a behavioral response to stress, promoting bonding.

• Roles of Social Contact, Oxytocin, and Cortisol:

  • Research (Detillion et al., 2004) indicates that social interaction and oxytocin release can enhance wound healing and mitigate stress responses.

Stress Moderators (Personality)

• Control and Health:

  • The study by Visintainer et al. (1982) found that control over stressors (escapable shocks) improved health outcomes in rats compared to inescapable ones.

• Langer and Rodin Studies (1976, 1977):

  • Demonstrated that enhancing perceived control in nursing home residents improved well-being and health outcomes.

• Perceived Control and Health:

  • Infurna & Gersdorf (2014) found a strong relationship between high perceived control and better health.

• Models of Personality and Disease:

  • Include stress moderation and how personality traits influence health behaviors.

• Health Behaviors Model:

  • Friedman et al. (1995) provided evidence that personality traits affect health behaviors that subsequently impact health.

• Disease-caused Personality Changes:

  • Personality can change in response to chronic illness, affecting coping and health maintenance strategies.

• Hardiness:

  • Hardiness consists of three components: Commitment, Control, and Challenge. Kobasa et al. (1982) found that hardiness mitigates stress impacts on health.

• Explanatory Style:

  • Refers to the way individuals explain events to themselves; three dimensions include Permanence, Pervasiveness, and Personalization.

• Optimism and Health:

  • Optimism is associated with better health outcomes (Scheier et al., 1989) while unrealistic optimism and defensive pessimism may have different health implications.

• Conscientiousness and Health:

  • Studies (Friedman et al., 1993; Turiano et al., 2013) link higher conscientiousness to better health outcomes.

• Neuroticism and Health:

  • Research (Chapman et al., 2010; Turiano et al., 2015) shows neuroticism is linked to poorer health.

• Type A Behavior Pattern:

  • Characterized by competitiveness and urgency; hostility component is most harmful to health.

• Interventions on Type A Personality:

  • Studies (Friedman et al., 1984; Davidson et al., 2007) suggest that interventions can reduce Type A traits.

Coping With and Reducing Stress

• Problem-focused vs. Emotion-focused Coping:

  • Problem-focused coping addresses the source of stress; emotion-focused coping manages emotional responses to stress.

• Approach vs. Avoidance Coping:

  • Approach coping involves tackling the problem directly; avoidance coping involves dodging the stressor.

• Religiosity and Health:

  • McCullough et al. (2000) found a positive relationship between religiosity and health.

• McCullough et al. (2009):

  • Studied religiosity and its effect on mortality risk.

• Li et al. (2016) Study:

  • Found correlations between attendance at religious services and health benefits.

• Expressive Writing and Health Outcomes:

  • Pennebaker's studies indicated that expressive writing can lead to better health outcomes, with moderate overall effects noted by Frattaroli (2006).

• Gratitude and Health:

  • Emmons and McCullough (2003) found that practicing gratitude can improve health outcomes.

• Exercise and Psychological Health:

  • Studies by Blumenthal et al. (1999) and Babyak et al. (2000) show exercise benefits mental health, potentially mediated by physiological changes.

• Mindfulness:

  • Practicing mindfulness is associated with various health benefits, such as reducing stress and improving immune function.

• Self-affirmation:

  • Sherman et al. (2009) found self-affirmation can lower epinephrine levels, suggesting a physiological stress reduction mechanism.

• Relaxation Benefits:

  • Relaxation techniques can improve health by reducing physiological stress responses.

• Positive Emotional States and Health:

  • Positive emotional states are linked to better health outcomes.

• Time in Nature Benefits:

  • Spending time in nature can reduce stress (Li, 2010), enhancing mental well-being.

• Humor and Health:

  • Humor can lead to physiological changes that may positively affect health outcomes.