14.1 Health psyhology and its applications

Question 1

most deaths are now related to ..

Answer 1

peoples behaviour

Question 2

smoking is a learned social behaviour

Answer 2

• ppl are more likely to smoke if members of their family also smoke
• or if they belong to a culture or social group in which smoking is very common
• media depictions of smoking are not helping

Question 3

study on smoking

Answer 3

• a study of adolescents revealed a positive correlation between whether they had tried smoking and their exposure to movies with favourable depictions of smoking
• in another study, even adolescents who hadn’t smoked before were more likely to report smoking as an aspect of their own Identity if they responded positively to a cigarette-smoking movie character
• from 1990 to 2007, there was an association between rates of smoking in movies and rates of smoking among adolescents

Question 4

health psychologists have been working against these media influences

Answer 4

in the 1990’s, warning labels didn’t seem to have an effect; they were too easy to ignore
-more recently, text warnings with graphic images seem to work better. (40% of smokers identify the warnings on cigarette packages as one of their motives for quitting)

Question 5

health psychology, eating, and exercise

Answer 5

our culture seems to value overeating and it doesn’t exactly support regular physical activity

Question 6

Body mass index (BMI)

Answer 6

BMI=weight in KG/(Height in meters)^2
healthy BMI=18.5-24.9
underweight BMI=30.0
about 25% of Canadians fall into the obese range of BMI
increase in obesity is associated with a number of health risks

Question 7

Twin, adoption, and family studies reveal that the heritability of of body size is between ___ and ____

Answer 7

.5 and .9

Question 8

set point

Answer 8

our biological processes work to keep our weight at some genetically-determined level

Question 9

what is the most critical factor that determines body weight

Answer 9

a persons tendency to engage in physical activity

Question 10

not getting enough exercise is related to the trend of increasing obesity

Answer 10

hours spent watching television is correlated with obesity
for adults, tv watching seems worse than time spent in front of computer screens, perhaps because it is more difficult to snack when typing or texting
-for children, the amount of time spent in front of tv or computer screens is associated with higher obesity rates

Question 11

eating habits that support obesity may be handed down from one generation to the next

Answer 11

also, the world seems to be constantly temping us to gorge ourselves

Question 12

there are plenty of obstacles that get in the way of our desire to stay _____ and maintain a healthy _____ weight

Answer 12

fit

body

Question 13

don’t believe anyone who tries to sell you a weight loss program that doesn’t have exercise as a component

Answer 13

and don’t believe anyone who tries to sell you a weight loss program that lets you eat whatever you want

• maintaining a healthy body weight is difficult, so be wary of products that promise a quick and easy solution to such a difficult challenge
• staying fit requires time, discipline, hard work, and careful planning
• ppl eventually crave the work out and healthy food like they used to crave junk food and sitting around

Question 14

separate from the obvious health problems associated with smoking and obesity

Answer 14

health also has a strong positive correlation with wealth
more wealth is correlated with longer life
-can afford healthier food
-better health care
-better neighbourhood
-greater control over their environment

Question 15

lack of control over one’s destiny is stressful and chronic stress negatively affects both ______and _____ health

Answer 15

mental
physical
-when poverty is combined with discrimination, the health effects can be even more severe

Question 16

social isolation is another risk to health

Answer 16

being married is associated with a longer life and reduces a persons risk for developing both physical and mental health problems

• unmarried women are 50 percent more likely than married women to die of heart disease, a number of types of cancer, and liver disease
• unmarried men are 250 percent more likely to die of those same disease than married men
• ppl in unhappy marriages are at a higher risk for developing depression and physical illnesses

Question 17

social contagion

Answer 17

the phenomenon by which behaviours spread through social interactions
-the US national heart institute. researchers notices that groups of friends among their participants became more similar to on another over time on health related dimensions, like body weight, smoking and levels of happiness

Question 18

health psychology

Answer 18

the study of

1) how behaviour, thoughts, and emotions can influence a persons physical health
2) how our physical health can influence our behaviour, thoughts and emotions