307 study guide

Question 1

Health Behaviours

Answer 1

Any activity undertaken for the purpose of preventing or detecting disease, or for improving health and well-being

Question 2

Classification of Health Behaviours

Answer 2

Health enhancing behaviours –> e.g., exercise, healthy eating
Health protective behaviours –> screening behaviours, vaccination, safer sex
Avoidance of health / harming behaviours –> smoking, binge drinking
Illness behaviour –> seeking advice about symptoms
Sick-role behaviour –> e.g., treatment, adhering to medication regimes

Question 3

What risk factors impact our health?

Answer 3

The five risk factors that caused the most disease burden in Australia in 2018 were:
1. Tobacco use
2. Overweight and obesity
3. Dietary risks
4. High blood pressure
5. Alcohol use

Question 4

Individual barriers to positive health behaviour

Answer 4

–> enjoyment of potentially adverse behaviours
–> no immediate adverse effects
–> effort involved in change
–> fear / denial
–> false consequences
–> unrealistic optimism
–> fatalism

Question 5

Health Belief Model

Answer 5

Postulates that behaviour depends on two subjective assessments which are informed by two key beliefs:
1. Threat perception
–> perceived susceptibility to illnesses (will I get this?)
–> perceived severity of consequences of illnesses (if I get it, how bad will it be for me?)
2. Behavioural evaluation (i.e., effectiveness of action)
–> benefits of health behaviours
–> barriers to performing the health behaviour

Question 6

Protection motivation theory

Answer 6

created to understand how humans respond to fear appeals. the protection motivation theory proposes that people protect themselves based on two factors:
1. threat appraisal
2. coping appraisal

Question 7

theory of planned behaviour

Answer 7

–> perceptions of control over performing the behaviour, comprised of:
–> Perceived control (control over performing the behaviour)
–> Perceived self-efficacy (ease / difficulty in performing the behaviour)

Question 8

Prototype / willingness model

Answer 8

Dual-process approach:
1. reasoned pathway –> deliberate route involving analytic processing: attitude and subjective norm
- intention leads to behaviour
2. social-reaction pathway –> more heuristic processing: prototypes - willingness leads to behaviour

Question 9

Health action process approach

Answer 9

–> overlap with theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behaviour but includes a focus on the intention-behaviour gap
–> focus on post-intentional processes of:
–> Planning: action and coping planning
–> Self-efficacy: maintenance and recovery self-
efficacy
–> also action self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and risk perception as predictors of intention and action control’s role on behaviour where behaviour is continuously evaluated regarding a standard (like self-monitoring)

Question 10

Transtheoretical model

Answer 10

Precontemplation – not thinking about changing behaviour; unaware that health issues exist
Contemplation – aware of issue; considering change within next several months, but not ready to make a commitment
Preparation – ready to try and change and plan to pursue a behavioural goal within next month
Action – active efforts to change behaviour for around 6 months
Maintenance – maintain behaviour change and avoid temptations to return to old habit

Question 11

Health behaviour change

Answer 11

Primary prevention –> actions taken to avoid disease or injury
Secondary prevention –> actions taken to identify and treat an illness or injury with the aim of stopping or reversing the problem
Tertiary prevention –> actions to contain or slow damage caused by serious injury or disease to prevent disability or rehabilitation

Question 12

Persuasive health messages

Answer 12

Persuasion: form of social influence in which one peson uses an appeal to change the attitudes and behaviours of another person

Health messages can be processed in two ways
(1) central processing route –> motivation and ability to focus on and evaluate the content and strength of the arguments
(2) peripheral route of processing –> focus on cues (e.g., credibility of the source) instead of the strength of the arguments or ideas in the message

Question 13

Using fear appeals to promote health

Answer 13

Fear appeals: threatening or fear arousing messages are usually unsuccessful in changing attitudes
 protection motivation theory was developed to understand the role of fear appeals and persuasive communication in behaviour change
 may be successful if the content includes information on:
- Seriousness of physiological and social consequences
- Behavioural recommendations – a behavioural strategy will be successful in managing the health problem
- Self-efficacy information – person is capable of performing the behaviour

Question 14

Conscientiousness and health

Answer 14

Conscientiousness = prudent, dependable, well organised, persistent etc.
Shown to be associated with:
- Reduced disease development
- Better coping
- Fewer symptoms
- Increased longevity

Question 15

Optimism and health

Answer 15

Optimism = positive expectations, confidence to cope with challenges. This is consistently linked with better health outcomes as individuals are more likely to set goals, and respond to challenges (e.g., illness)

Question 16

Self-efficacy

Answer 16

Self-efficacy is often incorporated into studies to explain how thought links to behaviour.
 self-efficacy is an important predictor for self-care behaviours (e.g., checking blood sugar levels, dietary plans)

Question 17

Locus of control

Answer 17

The extent to which an individual believes they have control over their body

Question 18

Biological determinants of health

Answer 18

–> sex hormones can modulate the immune response
–> biological explanations of women’s longevity
- Protective effects of oestrogen
- Physiological systems associated with
childbearing hypothesised to lower risk of CHD
prior to menopause

Question 19

Social/behavioural determinants of health

Answer 19

Drinking, smoking, drug use, diet, risky driving, risky sexual activity, employment in hazardous occupations (men are more likely to engage in these things than women).

Question 20

Australian Aboriginal health beliefs

Answer 20

Diverse cultures and traditions. Common beliefs: health is interconnected with land, kinship obligations, and spiritual beliefs
Health practices: bush medicine and traditional healers

Question 21

Aboriginal health promotion

Answer 21

–> culturally informed health promotion
- Broader notions of family than in Anglo-
Australian society
- Strong community networks
- Acknowledgement of diversity

Question 22

Treatment delay

Answer 22

–> time between when a person first notices a symptom and medical care commences
–> stages of treatment delay
1. Appraisal delay – less likely to delay if in pain or bleeding
2. Illness delay – time taken between recognising one is ill and deciding to seek medical attention
3. Utilisation delay – time taken after deciding to seek medical advice and actually going to use the health service

Question 23

Types of non-compliance with healthcare interventions

Answer 23

–> taking too much medication
–> taking too little medication
–> not taking medication at the correct intervals
–> not taking medication for long enough
–> taking additional, non-prescribed medicine

Question 24

Stress

Answer 24

A negative emotional experience accompanied by predictable physical, psychological, and behavioural responses directed at alleviation or accommodation
Stressor = stimulus that contributes to stress

Question 25

General response to stress

Answer 25

–> fight or flight = activation of sympathetic nervous system
–> tend and befriend = affiliation / nurturing

Question 26

General adaptation syndrome

Answer 26

Early theory of stress. Rats exposed to a variety of stressors exhibit the same physiological changes. The stress response is therefore nonspecific in relation to the stressor. Provides a general theory of reactions to a wide range of stressors and explains a stress-illness relationship

Question 27

Stress and illness

Answer 27

stressful life events associated with disease progression and mortality. this may be mediated by rather than directly resulting from stress:
Stressed people:
- More likely to engage in hazardous health behaviour (e.g., heavy smoking) - > illness
- Less likely to comply with protective health behaviours (e.g., medication adherence)

Question 28

Coping

Answer 28

Thoughts and behaviours used to managed internal and external demands

Question 29

Coping strategies

Answer 29

can be maladaptive (negative) or adaptive (positive)
Two main groups:
1. Problem-focused coping
2. Emotion-focused coping
Integration of social support is important –> reduces likelihood of illness and adverse life events

Question 30

The process is coping with an illness

Answer 30

1 – cognitive appraisal - how serious is this task?
2 – adaptive tasks - dealing with pain / symptoms / hospitalisation / treatment
3 – coping skills
- Appraisal focused
- Problem focused
- Emotion focused

Question 31

Classifications of pain

Answer 31

Nociceptive –> maintained by continual tissue injury (somatic, visceral
Non-nociceptive –> neuropathic, idiopathic (psychogenic)

Question 32

Acute pain

Answer 32

Temporary discomfort lasting less than 3 months. Actual / potential tissue damage, corresponds to a common sense view of pain

Question 33

Chronic pain

Answer 33

Discomfort lasting more than 3 months. Different types:
–> Chronic recurrent pain: intense, but not
continuously present
–> Chronic intractable pain: intensity varies
–> Chronic progressive pain: intensity increases
Chronic pain is more common in women than men
–> peaks in women for the 80-84 age group
–> peaks in men for the 65-69 age group

Question 34

Gate control theory of pain

Answer 34

–> pain transmission is not direct from nociceptors to brain
accounts for:
- Variable relationship between severity of injury and amount of pain
- How pain does not necessarily require actual injury
- How pain can persist beyond physical recovery
- How the nature and location of pain can vary across time

Question 35

Neuromatrix theory

Answer 35

–> further develops gate control theory
–> pain is more than a direct response to sensory input following injury
–> subjective experience of pain determined through integration of cognitive-evaluate, sensory-discriminative, and affective components

Question 36

Fear-avoidance model of pain

Answer 36

–> pain usually originates with injury, strain, etc
–> its ongoing impact can depend upon how the original injury is dealt with
–> the FAM is useful for explaining chronic pain as it utilised three cognitive factors:
1. Attitudes and beliefs
2. Expectancies
3. Self-efficacy

Question 37

Factors influencing perception of pain

Answer 37

• sex and gender norms
• women usually report more pain than men
• women experience more frequent episodes of pain
• women may feel pain more intensely
• men with strong traditional masculine role beliefs more likely to have stronger pain thresholds
• lesbian and bisexual women reported higher pain threshold and tolerance than heterosexual women in similar study
• women who report pain treated differently by health professionals

Question 38

Pain assessment

Answer 38

Important for things like:
–> Differential diagnosis
–> Pain control
–> Treatment success
4 categories of assessment:
1. Physiological e.g., Muscle tension
2. Pain questionnaires e.g., McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ)
3. Mood assessment questionnaires e.g., Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale (PASS)
4. Observational e.g., Facial Action Coding System (FACS)

Question 39

Chronic illness in Australia

Answer 39

Conditions with long-lasting and persistent effects: physical, social, economic, and quality of life.
Major types: arthritis, asthma, back pain, cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, mental health conditions

Question 40

Impact of chronic illness

Answer 40

• functioning (physical, psychological, social)
• quality of life
• pain
• fatigue
• anxiety
• depression

Question 41

Emotional impact of chronic illness

Answer 41

Emotional consequences common impact of chronic illnesses –> denial, anxiety and depression

Question 42

Physical interventions

Answer 42

pharmacological – antidepressants commonly used
psychotherapy – different approach to treating mental illness
- Episodic rather than continuous
- Works with an individual’s psychological
defences
- Therapists require high level of understanding
about condition and treatment
–> Brief interventions can be effective – e.g., telephone-based support, websites about coping

Question 43

Social interventions

Answer 43

Social support associated with improved outcomes.
promotes the use of support groups

Question 44

Dying and mental health

Answer 44

Increases prevalence of depression - especially as the illness progresses. This depression is said to be associated with:
- increased risk of death
- prolonged hospitalisation
- reduced quality of life
- increased suicidality and requests to hasten
death
–> increases prevalence of anxiety  can be associated with the confronting condition / prognosis. This is problematic when it interferes with functioning and quality of life

Question 45

Culture and death

Answer 45

There is cultural diversity when it comes to death and the talk about death and dying. Understanding of different cultural contexts are important.

Question 46

Children and death

Answer 46

Even young children can development understandings about death, particularly when they are exposed to healthcare settings where they can witness death.

Question 47

Promoting ‘good death’ in Australia

Answer 47

‘good death’ focuses on 6 components:
1. pain and symptom management
2. clear decision making
3. preparing for death
4. completion
5. contributing to others
6. affirmation of the whole person
promoting ‘good death’ in Australia:
- promote public discussions about the limits of health care as death approaches, and what Australians want for the end of life
- increase planning of individual end-of-life choices to support improved compliance with choices
- increase compliance with an individual’s expressed choices
- reorientation services providing end-of-life care to focus on people’s wishes to die at home and homelike settings rather than institutions

Question 48

Advanced care planning

Answer 48

Advance care planning enables individuals to define goals and preferences for future medical treatment and care, to discuss these goals and preferences with family and health-care providers, and to record and review these preferences. This enhances the quality of life and the end of life care.

Question 49

Palliative care

Answer 49

An approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families through facing problems associated with life-threatening illnesses, through the prevention and suffering by means of early identification and assessment of treatment of pain and other problems.

Question 50

Salutogenesis and Pathogenesis

Answer 50

Salutogenic conceptualisation of health:
- what influences positive health outcomes?
- what helps people adopt and maintain positive health behaviours

Pathogenic conceptualisation of health:
- what influences adverse health outcomes?
- what prevents people from adopting and maintaining positive health behaviours

Question 51

Tobacco smoking

Answer 51

Tobacco smoking remains one of the largest preventable causes of death in Australia.
Increases the risk of:
- heart disease
- diabetes
- stroke
- cancer
- kidney disease
- eye disease
- respiratory conditions
smoking rates are higher amongst certain population groups:
- adults with mental illness
- Indigenous Australians

Question 52

Factors influencing tobacco smoking

Answer 52

psychological: personality (especially extraversion and neuroticism)
- Mental illness
- Stress
- Social – e.g., smoko breaks
- Conditioning (positive and negative
reinforcement)
biological:
–> Psychosociological effects = tranquilisation, weight loss, decreased irritability, increased alertness, improved cognitive functioning
–> Nicotine is highly addictive

Question 53

Tobacco smoking interventions

Answer 53

pharmacological –> nicotine replacement therapy: gum, patches, nasal sprays etc
psychological –> target dependency through counselling
social –> e.g., buddy system
population / public health –> taxation, plain packaging, advertising campaigns

Question 54

Health impact of alcohol consumption

Answer 54

Alcohol consumption is responsible for 5.3% of global mortality. Morbidity is due to neuropsychiatric disorders, gastrointestinal disease, cancer, injury, cardiovascular diseases, foetal alcohol syndrome.

Question 55

Alcohol consumption in Australia

Answer 55

One in four Australians aged 18 and over exceed the Australian adult alcohol guideline.
Men are more likely than women to exceed the guidelines.
People born in Australia were almost twice as likely as those born overseas to exceed the guidelines

Question 56

Alcohol interventions

Answer 56

Health promotion campaigns (although these are minimally effective)
Peer-interventions (e.g., alcoholics anonymous
Psychological interventions –> such as twelve-step facilitation therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, motivational enhancement theory

Question 57

Risk perception and vaccination

Answer 57

strong evidence that vaccination more likely when higher levels of:
- Perceived likelihood of getting an illness
- Perceived susceptibility to an illness
- Perceived severity of illness
–> parents are more likely to vaccinate their children than themselves

Question 58

Physical effects of obesity

Answer 58

• respiratory disease
• stroke
• gall bladder disease
• hormone abnormalities
• cardiovascular issues
• diabetes
• osteoarthritis
• cancer
  Adults are more likely to be obese than children

Question 59

Set point theory

Answer 59

the point at which an individuals “weight thermostat” is set
when the body falls below this weight:
- An increase in hunger
- Lowered metabolic rate acts to restore the
lost weight
- Energy expenditure decreases
–> to maintain the body’s set point weight, your body adjusts not only food intake and energy output but also the metabolic rate (the body’s resting rate of energy expenditure).

Question 60

Health at every size theory

Answer 60

Weight inclusivity: Accept and respect the inherent diversity of body shapes and sizes and reject the idealising or pathologizing or specific weights
Health enhancement: Support health policies that improve and equalise access to information and services, and personal practices that improve human well-being, including attention to individual physical, economic, social, spiritual, emotional and other needs
Eating for well-being: Promote flexible, individualised eating based on hunger, satiety, nutritional needs, and pleasure, rather than any externally regulated eating plan focused on weight control
Respectful care: Acknowledge our biases, and work to end weight discrimination, weight stigma, and weight bias. Provide information and services from an understanding that socio-economic status, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and other identities impact weight stigma, and support environments that address these inequities
Life-enhancing movement: Support physical activities that allow people of all sizes, abilities, and interests to engage in enjoyable movement, to the degree they choose

Question 61

Health at every size theory

Answer 61

Weight inclusivity: Accept and respect the inherent diversity of body shapes and sizes and reject the idealising or pathologizing or specific weights
Health enhancement: Support health policies that improve and equalise access to information and services, and personal practices that improve human well-being, including attention to individual physical, economic, social, spiritual, emotional and other needs
Eating for well-being: Promote flexible, individualised eating based on hunger, satiety, nutritional needs, and pleasure, rather than any externally regulated eating plan focused on weight control
Respectful care: Acknowledge our biases, and work to end weight discrimination, weight stigma, and weight bias. Provide information and services from an understanding that socio-economic status, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and other identities impact weight stigma, and support environments that address these inequities
Life-enhancing movement: Support physical activities that allow people of all sizes, abilities, and interests to engage in enjoyable movement, to the degree they choose

Question 62

Critical health psychology

Answer 62

Critically evaluates psychological theory and practice:
- Assumptions
- Social inequalities
- Power
- Diversity
- Discovery of objective facts vs upholding
predominant views
- Research methods

Question 63

The individualism assumption in health psychology

Answer 63

individualism:
–> Western societies predominantly individualistic
–> Contributes to an assumption that individual health is predominantly influenced by individuals themselves
–> Psychology tends to downplay the role of social factors, institutions, etc  or has them mediated by individual perception
An “ideology of individualism fits well with a discipline whose objective is the understanding of individual behaviour”

Question 64

Epistemological assumptions

Answer 64

Social constructionism:
–> We understand our reality through ideas and ‘paradigms’
Relativism:
–> There are no grounds to assume a reality that is independent of us

Question 65

Social power and health

Answer 65

health can be influenced via different levels (micro, meso, macro.
power differences exist at each level and power imbalances can influence health (e.g., mandated work practices, neoliberal market regulation).

Question 66

Health promotion

Answer 66

Health promotion has contributed to health becoming a key cultural motif in identity construction –> being health linked to values and morals (and is an individual responsibility)
health psychology has traditionally ignored the relationship between health behaviours and moral identity –> potential for contributing to victim blaming