Chapter 14: Health Psychology Flashcards

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1
Q

Health psychology

A

A subfield of psychology that emphasizes psychology’s role in establishing and maintaining health and preventing and treating illness

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2
Q

Behavioral medicine

A

An interdisciplinary field that focuses on developing and integrating behavioral and biomedical knowledge to promote health and reduce illness; overlaps with and is sometimes indistinguishable from health psychology

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3
Q

Health behaviors

A

Practices that have an impact on psychical well being

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4
Q

Stages of Change model

A

Theoretical model describing a five-step process by which individuals give up bad habits and adopt healthier lifestyles

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5
Q

Precontemplation

A

Occurs when individuals are not yet genuinely thinking about change

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6
Q

Contemplation

A

People acknowledge the problem but may not be ready to commit to change

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7
Q

Preperation/determination

A

People are getting ready to take action. It is key that people are optimistic toward the fact that they can see the change through

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8
Q

Action/willpower

A

People commit toward making a real behavioral change and enact an effective plan

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9
Q

Maintenance

A

People successfully avoid temptation and consistently pursue healthy behaviors

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10
Q

Relapse

A

A return to former unhealthy patterns

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11
Q

General adaptation syndrome (GAS)

A

Selye’s term for the common effects of stressful demands on the body, consisting of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion

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12
Q

Alarm stage

A

A temporary state of shock during which resistance to illness and stress falls below normal levels. During these initial effects of stress, the body releases hormones that in a short time negatively effects the immune system, making injury and illness more likely

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13
Q

Resistance stage

A

Glands throughout the body release hormones that protect the individual. Endocrine and sympathetic nervous system are not as high as during the alarm stage, although they are still elevated. The body can fight off infection to a remarkable degree, and hormones reducing inflammation are running at high levels in the body

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14
Q

Exhaustion stage

A

If the body’s efforts to fight off stress fail, and the stress persists, the person moves into this stage. At this point the wear and tear takes its toll, the person might collapse in exhaustion and vulnerability to illness persists. Serious, potentially fatal damage to the body can occur, including heart attack and death

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15
Q

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis)

A

The complex set of integrations among the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal gland that regulate various body processes and control reactions to stressful events

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16
Q

Psychoneuroimmunology

A

A new field of scientific inquiry that explores connection among psychological factors (such as attitudes and emotions), the nervous system, and the immune system

17
Q

Type A behavior pattern

A

A cluster of characteristics- including being excessively competitive, hard-driven, impatient, and hostile- that is related to a higher incidence of heart disease

18
Q

Type B behavior pattern

A

A cluster of characteristics- including being relaxed and easy going- that is related to a lower incidence of heart disease

19
Q

Type D behavior pattern

A

A cluster of characteristics- including being generally distressed, having negative emotions, and being socially inhibited- that is related to adverse cardiovascular outcomes

20
Q

Health disparities

A

Refer to often preventable differences in physical functioning (including disease, injury, violence) and psychological functioning (including depression and anxiety) that are experiences by socially disadvantaged groups

21
Q

Cognitive appraisal

A

Individual’s interpretation of the events in their life as harmful, threatening, or challenging and their determination of whether they have resources to cope effectively with events

22
Q

Coping

A

Managing taxing circumstances, expending effort to solve life’s problems, and seeking to master or reduce stress

23
Q

Primary cognitive appraisal

A

Individuals interpret whether an event involves harm or loss that has already occurred, a threat of some future danger, or a challenge to overcome

24
Q

Secondary cognitive appraisal

A

People evaluate their resources and determine how effectively they can be marshaled to cope with the event

25
Q

Problem-focused coping

A

The coping strategy of squarely focusing one’s troubles and trying to solve them

26
Q

Emotion-focused coping

A

The coping strategy that involves responding to stress that one is feeling- trying to manage one’s emotional reaction- rather than focusing on the root of the problem itself

27
Q

Positive reappraisal

A

Reinterpreting a potentially stressful experience as positive, valuable, or even beneficial

28
Q

Hardiness

A

A personality trait characterized by a sense of commitment rather than alienation and of control rather than powerlessness; a perception of problems as challenges rather than threats

29
Q

Stress management

A

A regimen that teaches individuals how to appraise stressful events, how to devlop skills for coping with stress, and how to put these skills into use in everyday life