Physical Health Flashcards
(25 cards)
Health definition (WHO, 1948)
“…a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”
English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA): Ohrnberger et al. (2017)
- On going since 2002, N=10,693
Past mental and physical health have strong direct and indirect effects on current mental and physical health
- Direct: past health → future health
- Indirect: Past health → Behaviours (e.g. social interaction, smoking, physical activity) → future health
Bidirectional link between mental and physical health
Physical → mental: Chronic illness can take a toll on a persons mental health (e.g. depression, anxiety)
Mental → Physical: Depression can stoip a person from looking after themselves (e.g. exercise, hygene)
Health Risk Factors
(Murray et al., 2020) UK data
- Metabolic risks: High blood pressure, cholesteral levels, BMI, fasting plasma glucose (Diabetes) (2)
- Environmental/ occupational: Occupational risks, air pollution
- Behavioural: Smoking (1), Diet (4), Alcohol (6), Drugs
Risk prevention
Smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity, and alcohol use are leading risk behaviours for ill health and premature death
- Preventable measures: change the behaviours before they become an issue
- Lifestyle choices: the accumulation of habits → are critical prevention targets
- The accumulation of negative habits that leads to risk
Health psychologists
- Promote general well-being and health, understand physical illness
- Help people deal with the psychological and emotional aspects of health and illness (chronic illness)
- Promote healthier lifestyles and encourage people to improve their health
- Try to imporve the healthcare system and health policies
Personality and physical health
Personality traits have a small but important effects on health and longevity
Correlation between personality and illness
Suls and Rittenhouse (1990) and Smith and Williams (1992)
Personality and health
- Personality is a cause of health outcomes (due to behaviours)
- Personality is a cause of health outcomes (due to biological activities)
- Personality and health are correlated but have no causal relations
- Personality changes due to illness
- Personality is a cause of health outcomes: Behaviours
Certain personality traits lead individuals to engage in particular behaviours that increase their risk of illness
Personality → Behaviours → Illness
Behaviours: smoking, unsafe sex, substance abuse
Personality and physical activity
Personality traits are precursors of sport performance (athletic success) and physical activity (exercise participation)
- (Rhodes & Smith, 2006): High extraversion and conceintiousness and low neuroticism is correlated to high levls of physical activity
- Older adults with high extraversion have greater muscle strength
- (Lichtenstein et al., 2014): Extraversion, conscientiousness and agreeableness have the strongest associations with exercise addiction - overuse injuries, eating disorders
Personality and smoking
Certain personality traits predict whether a person is more or less likely to pick up smoking, which then leads to later health issues
Hakulinen et al. (2015) → meta-analysis of 9 cohort studies
- Current smokers: higher extraversion, higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness
- Non-smokers: higher extraversion and lower conscientiousness
- Ex-smokers: Higher neuroticism predicted smoking relapse
Personality and healthcare use
Higher neuroticism linked to: increased use of general practice visits, dental care, use of medication, use of any emergency department - more anxious
Personality is a cause of health outcomes: Biological
Personality may directly influence biological activities that influence the development of a physical disease
Personality → Biological activities → Illness
e.g. Coronary disease due to high stress (Type A) individuals
Friedman and Rosenman (1959)
Personality and coronary heart disease
Type A personality: Coronary-prone behaviour pattern
- Achievement-oriented and competitive
- Hardworking and at high levels of alertness
- Unhappy with time-wasting and serious about deadlines
- Easily roused to anger when goals are obstructed
Type B: Relaxed, less competitive, rarely diven, take life as it comes
Type A personality explanations
Chida & Steptoe, 2009 (meta-analysis): Hostility/ anger was associated with a 20% risk increase of coronary heart disease
Suarez et al., 2002: Hostile men produce higher levels of C-reactive proteins, which are associated with an increased risk
Persoanlity → Hostility → C-reactive proteins → heart disease
- Personality and health are correlated but have no causal relation
A correlational link between personality and illness, the same biological process/ cause might underpin personality traits and illness outcomes
e.g. A specific kind of coronary heart disease was found to be linked to a gene, which also causes a predisposition towards being a hostile person
- Personality changes as a result of illness
Illness produces changes in personality
(Stephan et al., 2014) → Personality traits are shaped by exercise participation: Physically active adults declined less on conscientiousness, extraversion, openness, and agreeableness
(Jokela et al., 2014): Chronic diseases cause consistent decreases in ectraversion, emotional stability, conscientiousness and openness to experience
Responses to a stressful situation
- Exoerience of negative emotions - anxiety, fear
- Physiological responses - fight or flight
- Cognitive response - apprisal, defence mechanisms
- Behavioural response - health (social support, exercise) or unhealthy (drugs) coping behaviours
Lazarus’ theory of emotion: Stress
Demand occurs in the environment:
1. Primary appraisal: Assess percieved demands
2. Secondary appraisal: Do they have the capability to cope with the demands?
3. Percieved demands and percieved capabilities are compared → If demands are greater than capabilities, stress occurs
Smith (2006)
Highlighted the needs to explain the mechanisms underlying the association between personality and subsequent health outcomes
3 models:
- Health behaviour models
- Interactional stress moderation model
- Transactional stress moderation model
Health behaviour models
Personality influences engagement with health behaviours
Personality affects how we appraise a situation and what coping strategies we use
- Appraisal (Pessimistic individual) → ‘things never work out, what’s the point in even trying’
- Negative coping strategies → ‘Drinking will help make me feel better’ (Health behaviours)
Interactional stress moderation model
Personality moderates both appraisals of stressful circumstances and coping responses, which in turn alters physiological responses
Personality → Appraisal + coping →Physiological response → illness
- Stress reactions lead to physiological responses which then leads to illness
- Personality is a moderator → it influences the impact of other variables
Transactional stress moderation model
Extends the interactional model by including the bidirectional effect of personality on exposure to stressful life circumstances
Hostile person → more interpersonal conflicts → more stressful situations
Intelligence and physical health
Higher intelligence is associated with longer living
There is a clear correlation between intelligence and physical health
- Genetic and environmental mediators will play a role in this correlation
