Lecture 9 - Health Flashcards
(32 cards)
Define Health Psychology
Is the understanding of psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why they become ill and how they respond when they do get ill.
What is ‘health’ in the context of psych?
Complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (World health organisation, 1948)
What is the fundamental role of health psychology?
To understand how psychological influences help people to stay healthy or contribute to illness. Searches for ways in which to prevent illness , thus are involved in government initiatives to establish health policy agendas.
What 4 factors guide decisions about health related behaviours? (Rosenstock’s health belief model)
Perceiving a personal threat or susceptibility.
Belief that changing behaviour will reduce the threat.
Perceiving the seriousness and consequences of an illness.
Perceived costs and benefits of changing.
What other cognitive factors may play a role in health related behaviour?
Self efficacy - the belief the one has the capacity to perform some behaviour.
Intention - To want engage in a behaviour for the essence of improving health. to improve health
What are the 5 stages James Prochaska and his colleagues put forth?
Precontemplation: Perceives no threat and no intention to change.
Contemplation: Recognises that problematic behaviour need changing and thinking about doing it. (ppl often stop here).
Preparation: The person has a strong intention to change, has specific plans, and may take some initial steps.
Action: Successfully making behaviour change. Must remain successful for 6 months before they reach final stage.
Maintenance: The person uses their newly acquired skills to continue the healthy behaviour and prevent relapse.
What is stress?
Refers to a challenge to a person’s capacity to adapt to inner and outer demands.
What do stressful experiences do?
Psychobiological phenomenon. Produce physiological and emotional arousal. Also elicit cognitive and behavioural efforts to cope with the stress.
What are the components of the stress process?
Stressors, stress reactions, stress mediators. These components affect one another.
What are stressors?
Circumstances that disrupt or threaten to disrupt, individual’s daily functioning and can cause people to make adjustments e.g catastrophic events, daily hassles, life changes and strains
What are stress mediators?
Perceptions of control of threat, social support and coping skills - in which minimise or magnify a stressors impact.
What is the SRRS?
The Social Readjustment Rating Scale created by Holmes and Rahe based on the assumption that all change, positive or negative is stressful. Thus, stress = sum of recent life change units (LCUs). The more life changing events in history the more susceptible to stress,.
What is LES?
Life experience survey. Measure life events and cognitive appraisals. New stressors may also be added by respondents.
Define psychological stressors?
Any event that forces a person to adapt
What are catastrophic events?
A psych stressor. Sudden, unexpected, potentially life threatening experiences or traumas. E.g physical and sexual assault, military combat, natural disasters, terrorist attacks and accidents etc.
What are life changes and strains?
Psych stressor. Creates demands to which people must adjust, including divorce, family illness, and difficulties at work.
What are chronic problems?
Psych stressor: Continue over a long period of time and include circumstances such as living near a noisy airport, or in a high crime neighbourhood, having a serious illness, being unable to earn a decent living, being the victim of discrimination, and even enduring years of academic pressure.
What are daily hassles?
Psych stressor: Irritations, pressures, and annoyances that might not be significant stressors by themselves but whose cumulative effects can be significant.
What is the General Adaptation Syndrome?
GAS- 3 stages of physical responses to stress;
Alarm: Release of adrenaline and other hormones (fight or flight response)
Resistance: Respiration and heart rate return to normal, glucose levels and some stress related hormones remain high.
Exhaustion: After prolonged stress the body’s defences break down, increased vulnerability to infection/disease
What are the explicit emotional responses to stress?
If stressors are consistent emotional reactions may persist: may cause tension, sadness or anxiety.
Usually stops after stressors disappear.
What is the cognitive response to stress?
Reductions in the ability to concentrate, think clearly or remember accurately. Thus, likely to be impulsive.
Ruminative thinking, catastrophising, mental sets, functional fixedness, impaired decision making.
What is the behavioural response to stress?
Changes in how people look, act, or talk. May have negative impacts on health. Facial expressions, shaky voice, tremors or spasms, and jumpiness.
Examples of some behavioural attempts to avoid stressors?
Alcohol abuse, overeating (high fat comfort foods), changes in sleep patterns, attempting suicide.
Exporure to high levels or stress can lead to an increased mortality rate and greater incidence of coronary heart disease. True or false?
True
