week 11

Question 1

health

Answer 1

WHO (1948): Health is complete well-being, not just disease absence.
Mental health emphasizes well-being.
Measurement considers physical, mental, social aspects.
Quality of life crucial for assessing feelings and functioning.

Question 2

bidirectional link between mental and physical health

Answer 2

Ongoing since 2002, N= 10,693
Past mental and physical health have strong direct and indirect effects on current mental and physical health

Question 3

risk prevention

Answer 3

Leading risk behaviors for preventable ill health: smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity, harmful alcohol use (Everest et al., 2022).
Lifestyle choices, an accumulation of habits, are crucial prevention targets.
Occasional unhealthy choices may not cause harm, but daily habits matter.

Question 4

health psychologists

Answer 4

Psychologists apply psychology and health knowledge to enhance well-being and understand physical illness.
Trained to address psychological aspects of health and support those with chronic illness.
Promote healthier lifestyles and encourage health improvement.
Contribute to healthcare system enhancement and health policy.

Question 5

How are prominent human individual differences in the psychological traits of personality and intelligence associated with death, illness, and other aspects of physical health, such as health behaviours?

Answer 5

personological epidemiology: The study of the links between personality traits and health & disease
cognitive epidemiology: The study of the links between intellectual abilities and health & disease

Question 6

personality and physical health

Answer 6

Murray & Booth (2015) systematic review:
Personality traits, especially conscientiousness and neuroticism, have small but significant effects on health (e.g., cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma) and longevity.
The association is well-replicated, prompting a shift from whether these traits predict health to understanding how and why they do.

Question 7

personality physical health link (1) Suls and rittenhouse (1990) and smith and williams (1992)

Answer 7

Causal chain: Specific personality traits lead to health behaviors affecting health outcomes.
Health outcomes are mediated by behaviors such as risky (e.g., smoking) and protective (e.g., proper nutrition) behaviors.

Question 8

personality and physical activity

Answer 8

Physical inactivity identified as one of the leading risk factors of global mortality (Lee et al., 2012)
Personality traits associated with sport performance (athletic success) and physical activity (exercise participation) but also unhealthy exercise behaviour (cf. Allen et al., 2014)

Question 9

Personality traits as precursors of sport performance (athletic success) and physical activity (exercise participation)

Answer 9

Athletes in national/international competitions show higher conscientiousness and lower neuroticism.
High extraversion and conscientiousness, along with low neuroticism, correlate with increased physical activity.
Older adults with high extraversion exhibit greater muscular strength.
Personality traits like excitement seeking (extraversion) and achievement striving (conscientiousness) are linked to exercise addiction.

Question 10

personality and smoking

Answer 10

current smoking associated with higher extraversion, higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness
non-smokers: higher extraversion and lower conscientiousness predicted smoking initiation
ex-smokers: higher neuroticism predicted smoking relapse

Question 11

personality and health care use

Answer 11

Hajek et al. (2020); meta-analysis of 15 studies
E.g., higher neuroticism linked to
increased use of general practice/physician visits
dental care use
use of medication
use of any emergency department

Question 12

Personality- physical health links (2)

Answer 12

Causal chain: Personality may directly influence biological activities that influence the development of a physical disease
Health outcomes are mediated by biological activities

Question 12

personality and coronary heart disease

Answer 12

Friedman and Rosenman (1959) identified a coronary-prone behavior pattern called Type A personality.
Type A individuals are achievement-oriented, competitive, hardworking, alert, and easily angered by obstacles.
Type B individuals are less interested in achievement and competition, more relaxed, unhurried, and likely to take life as it comes.

Question 13

type a/b and coronary heart disease

Answer 13

Hypothesis: Individuals with scores towards the Type A end are more likely to develop coronary heart disease than those towards the Type B end.
Inconsistent evidence: Some findings support the role of Type A personality in coronary heart disease, while others do not.
Booth-Kewley & Friedman (1987) meta-analysis found a modest association between Type A and coronary heart disease.
Studies using interviews for assessment produced more reliable results than those using self-report questionnaires.

Question 14

what may explain type a?

Answer 14

Hostility and negative affect in Type A personality are linked to a 20% increased risk of coronary heart disease.
Studies suggest a causal chain where hostile behavior contributes to biological processes associated with cardiovascular disease.
For instance, very hostile men produce higher levels of C-reactive proteins, associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (Suarez et al., 2002).

Question 15

personality physical health links (4)

Answer 15

Casual link: illness produces changes in personality
Personality traits are shaped by exercise participation (Stephan et al., 2014)
– physically active adults declined less on conscientiousness, extraversion, openness, and agreeableness than did less physically active adults
* Chronic diseases (i.e., heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, arthritis, respiratory disease) influence personality (Jokela et al., 2014)
– Consistent decreases in extraversion, emotional stability, conscientiousness, and openness to experience after onset of chronic disease

Question 16

personality- physical health links

Answer 16

Personality is a cause of health outcomes
Personality and health are correlated but have no causal relation
Health outcome is a cause of personality
Ø Correlational (cross-sectional) studies do not allow to disentangle the underlying mechanisms (correlation ≠ causation)

Question 17

studies need to be designed carefully

Answer 17

• Smith(2006)highlighted the needs to explain the mechanisms underlying the association between personality and subsequent health outcomes
  
  • He proposed three types of models that delineate the effect of personality considering appraisal and coping in stressful situations:
    – Health behaviour models
    – Interactional stress moderation model – Transactional stress moderation model

Question 18

stress, appraisal and coping

Answer 18

Responses to stress include negative emotions, physiological reactions, cognitive processes, and behavioral reactions.
Lazarus’ theory views stress as an interaction between the person and the environment, involving primary and secondary appraisals.
Health behavioral models highlight how personality influences engagement with health behaviors, appraisals, and coping strategies in stressful situations.

Question 19

health behavioural models

Answer 19

Personality influences engagement with health behaviours, and can also influence appraisals and our coping strategies when faced with stressful situations

Question 20

interactional stress moderation model

Answer 20

Personality moderates both appraisals of potentially stressful circumstances and coping responses, which in turn alter physiological processes involved in disease etiology

Question 21

transactional stress moderation model

Answer 21

It extends the interactional model by including the bidirectional effect of personality on exposure to stressful life circumstances

Question 22

intelligence and physical health

Answer 22

• Higher intelligence is associated with living longer
  
  • Lower intelligence in youth is also associated with, e.g.,
    ○ – various diseases (e.g., cardiovascular disease, hypertension, respiratory disease, diabetes)
    ○ – all-cause mortality (death from cardiovascular disease, external causes including accidents, suicide and homicide)
    ○ – health-care use, treatment compliance

Question 23

intelligence- physical health

Answer 23

Intelligence- physical health links
Whalley & Deary (2001) provide four non-exclusive possible explanations:
Health and deprivation affects intelligence scores in childhood & youth; it is the former that predicts future health and mortality
The common genetic basis of these constructs
supports the notion of “system integrity” Genetic/biological
Intelligence

Question 24

illness

Answer 24

Intelligence is linked to an efficient brain and general physiological makeup, correlating with overall health.
Genetic predisposition plays a role in physical health, mental health, health behaviors, and mortality, sharing some genetic variants.
Intelligence in childhood and youth correlates with health literacy and the adoption of health-related behaviors.
Higher intelligence is associated with increased educational attainment, leading to entry into safer and healthier environments.

Question 25

reading

Answer 25

Health involves overall well-being, beyond just the absence of illness, emphasizing mental health and quality of life.
Personality types like Type A/B and Type D are studied in relation to cardiovascular disease.
Stress responses encompass emotional, physiological, cognitive, and behavioral aspects, influencing coping mechanisms.
Depression is a global health concern, defined by clinical criteria in DSM-5.
Anxiety, both adaptive and maladaptive, impacts health-seeking behaviors, with various disorders outlined in DSM-5.
Neuroticism relates to higher anxiety levels and contributes to psychosomatic conditions.
Personality traits like optimism and conscientiousness influence health outcomes and resilience.
Research challenges include methodological issues and the need for comprehensive tests of mediational hypotheses.
Mechanisms linking personality and health involve health behavior models, stress moderation models, and constitutional predisposition models.
Intelligence is associated with both positive and negative health outcomes, impacting behaviors like smoking cessation.
Epidemiological studies link IQ to mortality and specific causes of death, especially cardiovascular disease.
IQ is considered a tool for health self-care, influencing cognitive processes essential for understanding health information.
Psychometric intelligence is a crucial factor in public health, with ongoing research focusing on causal mechanisms and improving health education and care programs.