Health Psychology

Health Psychology

  • The application of psychology of the promotion of physical health and the prevention and treatment of illness. Focuses on social, behavioral, and cognitive factors.

  • Behavioral Medicine

    • integrates social, behavioral, and biomedical knowledge

Stress: Definition & Core Principles

  • Stress = the process of appraising and responding to events perceived as threatening or challenging.

    • Dual components: external pressures (stressors) + internal physiological/psychological reactions.

Components of the Stress Process

  • Stress isn’t an event; it’s a multistage process in which you participate:

    1. Stressor – the trigger

    2. Cognitive Appraisal – subjective interpretation (“Is this a threat or a challenge?”).

    3. Body Response

    4. Coping Strategies

Sources of Stress

  • Jobs – workload, role conflict, time pressure, job insecurity.

  • Everyday life

    • microstressors- hassles of everyday life

    • the accumulation of microstressors contributes more to illness than major life events

  • Crises & Catastrophes – natural disasters, terrorism, war.

  • Major Life Events – marriage, childbirth, job loss, vacations.

  • Prejudice & Discrimination – chronic social stressors causing health disparities across marginalized groups.

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

  • Explores connections among psychological factors, nervous system, and immune system.

    • profound effects on immune system

    • cancer

    • cardiovascular disease

General Adaptation Syndrome GAS (Hans Selye)

  1. Alarm – Body recognizes threat and mobilizes all available resources (Uh oh! exams are coming up!)

  2. Resistance – body remains aroused and on alert (I just finished two exams but i still have more!)

  3. Exhaustion – results from prolonged stress (exams are done. im exhausted)

    • overuse of defenses causes other body systems to break down

    • puts us at risk for illness and even death

Personality Types & Stress Reactivity

  • Type A – competitive, impatient, verbally aggressive, always pushing themselves and others to achieve.

    • more prone stress

  • Type B – relaxed, “go with the flow.”

  • Type D – distressed; negative affect, bottle up emotions, interpersonal skills.

    • more prone to stress

  • What stress does to the Heart

    • type a & d

    • a risk factor for coronary heart disease and high blood pressure

Coping Strategies

coping is how people deal with stress

  • Cognitive-Appraisal Model:

    • Primary Appraisal – has harm or loss already occurred? is there a future threat? is this a challenge? (“I bombed my final.”)

    • Secondary Appraisal – what resources do i have and how effective are they in dealing with this stress? (this has ruined my gpa and i dont know what to do)

  • Problem-Focused Coping – focusing on the problem. reducing the stressors such as by working out a conflict, or tackling a difficult project

  • Emotion-Focused Coping – focusing on emotions. reducing emotional impact of stress by getting support, comfort, and perspective from others

Hardiness: The Stress Buffer

hardiness serves as a buffer against stress

  • Three Cs:

    1. Commitment – deep engagement & sense of purpose.

    2. Challenge – viewing change as growth opportunity.

    3. Control – belief in personal influence over outcomes.

Perception of Control

  • Self-efficacy = the expectation that our behaviors can produce satisfying outcomes. creates feelings of competence

    • High self-efficacy → proactive coping, healthier lifestyles.

Optimism & Hope

  • optimism is a generalized tendency to expect positive outcomes. failures attributed to factors that are: external, temporary, specific. stronger health can spring from optimism

Stages of Change Model

  1. Precontemplation – not gonna think about it

  2. Contemplation – maybe there is a problem

  3. Preparation/Determination – what can i do? what are my options?

  4. Action/Willpower – implementation. lets do this!

  5. Maintenance – sustaining gains, relapse prevention. “i dont want to go back to where i was”

Healthy Lifestyle Interventions

  • Exercise – Aerobic activity lowers CHD risk, slows cognitive decline, reduces depression/anxiety, enhances stress management.

  • Make sure you eat right, get enough sleep, dont smoke, brush and flosh your teeth, practice safe sex.

Stress has effects on all of your body systems especially your heart