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Flashcards in Introduction to Health Psychology Deck (24)
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1
Q

What does the root word of health mean and what does it suggest?

A

Wholeness - suggests a broad view of health includes both mental and physical aspects

2
Q

What must be considered when defining health?

A

The word health can have very different meanings depending on the individual, history, culture or social class

3
Q

What were the core beliefs about health in the:

  • Stone Age
  • Ancient Greece
  • Middle Ages
  • Scientific Revolution
A

Stone Age: Disease attributed to evil spirits
Ancient Greece: Balance between 4 humours (bodily fluids)
Middle Ages: Illness seen as punishment from God
Scientific Revolution: Illness understood by studying cellular & physiological processes

4
Q

What is the biomedical model of health and illness?

A
  • Views symptoms as having an underlying pathology
  • Deals with objective facts
  • Does not account for subjective differences in the way people respond to the same disease
5
Q

What is the biopsychosocial model of health and illness?

A
  • Current approach in health psychology
  • Mind is crucial in understanding health & illness
  • Includes biological, psychological and social explanations of health & illness experience
6
Q

How have the leading causes of death change in the last 100 years?

A

1900s - infectious diseases, due to lack of immunisation & sanitation
2000s: cancer, respiratory disease, injury/poisoning, due to lifestyle choices

7
Q

How have views of health changed from the 18th century to the 20th century?

A

18th century: Health considered to be under individual control
20th century: Health linked to ‘fitness to work’, belief that Western medicine cures all

8
Q

What were the top 3 causes of Indigenous deaths from 2001-2005?

A

Circulatory disease, injuries, cancer

9
Q

What did Bauman (1961) find health to be defined as?

A
  • Feeling: General sense of well-being
  • Symptom Orientation: Absence of symptoms of disease
  • Performance: Able to do things a physically fit person is able to do
10
Q

What factor did Bauman (1961) find influences subjective views of health and the definition of health?

A

Current health status and other personal and social factors, such as age

11
Q

What did the Health and Lifestyle Survey (1990) find were the categories of health?

A
Health as not ill
Health as a reserve
Health as a behaviour
Health as physical fitness & vitality
Health as psychosocial well-being
Health as function
12
Q

What is the definition of health given by the WHO?

A

State of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and…not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

13
Q

What is not explicitly addressed in the WHO definition of health?

A
  • Socio-economic and cultural influence on health
  • Illness & health decisions
  • Role of the psyche, which plays a major role in the experience of health & illness
14
Q

What are 4 common cross-cultural perspectives of health?

A
  • Holistic: Social, biological, spiritual, interpersonal & health all integrated
  • Supernatural & spiritual: Faith, God, hexes, evil eye
  • Collectivist: Emphasise group needs
  • Individualistic: Emphasise uniqueness of members
15
Q

The developmental process is a function of the interaction between what 3 factors?

A

Learning: Relatively permanent change in knowledge, skill or ability
Experience: What we do, see, hear, feel and think
Maturation: Though, behaviour or physical growth due to genetic development/ageing

16
Q

What were the 4 stages of maturation Piaget proposed?

A

Sensorimotor (0-2 years)
Pre-operational (2-7 years)
Concrete operational (7-11 years)
Formal operational (12 years - adulthood)

17
Q

Bibace & Walsh (1980) found children in the sensorimotor & pre-operational stages explained illness in what 3 ways?

A
  • Incomprehension: Irrelevant/no answer
  • Phenomenonism: Sign or sound associated with illness
  • Contagion: Illness is from a person or object or associated with an activity
18
Q

Bibace & Walsh (1980) found children in the concrete operational stage explained illness in what 2 ways?

A

Contamination: Multiple symptoms, germs/behaviour cause illness
Internalisation: Illness is within the body, understand simple information about illness

19
Q

Bibace & Walsh (1980) found adolescents & people in the formal operational stage explained illness in what 2 ways?

A

Physiological: Defined in terms of organs/functions, multiple causes of illness
Psychophysiological: Mind & body interact, role of stress & worry

20
Q

What is the aim of health psychology?

A

Describe, explain, predict, and where possible, intervene to control or modify behavioural and mental processes

21
Q

What does empiricism (observation) involve?

A
Observe
Define problem
Collect data
Analyse data
Develop theory
Test theory using data
22
Q

What are the main goals of health psychology?

A

Develop an understanding of biopsychosocial factors involved in

  • Promotion/maintenance of health
  • Improving health care systems & policy
  • Prevention/treatment of illness
  • Causes of illness
23
Q

What other areas is health psychology associated with?

A

Medical psychology
Behavioural medicine
Psychosomatic medicine
Medical sociology

24
Q

What are the 4 approaches to health psychology?

A

Clinical
Public
Community
Critical