Chapter 11 Health and Well-being

Question 1

Term

Answer 1

Description

Question 2

Anorexia nervosa

Answer 2

An eating disorder characterized by an excessive fear of becoming fat and thus a refusal to eat. (See page 494)

Question 3

Biopsychosocial model

Answer 3

A model of health that integrates the effects of biological, behavioral, and social factors on health and illness. (See page 471)

Question 4

Body mass index (BMI)

Answer 4

A ratio of body weight to height, used to measure obesity. (See page 489)

Question 5

Buffering hypothesis

Answer 5

The idea that other people can provide direct emotional support in helping individuals cope with stressful events. (See page 504)

Question 6

Bulimia nervosa

Answer 6

An eating disorder characterized by dieting, binge eating, and purging. (See page 495)

Question 7

Coping response

Answer 7

Any response an organism makes to avoid, escape from, or minimize an aversive stimulus. (See page 476)

Question 8

Emotion-focused coping

Answer 8

A type of coping in which people try to prevent having an emotional response to a stressor. (See page 484)

Question 9

Fight-or-flight response

Answer 9

The physiological preparedness of animals to deal with danger. (See page 478)

Question 10

General adaptation syndrome

Answer 10

A consistent pattern of responses to stress that consists of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. (See page 480)

Question 11

Health psychology

Answer 11

A field that integrates research on health and on psychology; it involves the application of psychological principles to promote health and well-being. (See page 470)

Question 12

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

Answer 12

The biological system responsible for the stress response. (See page 478)

Question 13

Oxytocin

Answer 13

A hormone that is important for mothers in bonding to newborns and may encourage affiliation during social stress. (See page 479)

Question 14

Immune system

Answer 14

The body’s mechanism for dealing with invading microorganisms, such as allergens, bacteria, and viruses. (See page 480)

Question 15

Placebo effect

Answer 15

An improvement in health following treatment with a placebo – that is, with a drug or treatment that has no apparent physiological effect on the health condition for which it was prescribed. (See page 474)

Question 16

Primary appraisals

Answer 16

Part of the coping process that involves making decisions about whether a stimulus is stressful, benign, or irrelevant. (See page 484)

Question 17

Problem-focused coping

Answer 17

A type of coping in which people take direct steps to confront or minimize a stressor. (See page 484)

Question 18

Secondary appraisals

Answer 18

Part of the coping process during which people evaluate their response options and choose coping behaviors. (See page 484)

Question 19

Stress

Answer 19

A pattern of behavioral, psychological, and physiological responses to events, when the events match or exceed the organism’s ability to respond in a healthy way. (See page 476)

Question 20

Stressor

Answer 20

An environmental event or stimulus that threatens an organism. (See page 476)

Question 21

Tend-and-befriend response

Answer 21

Females’ tendency to protect and care for their offspring and form social alliances rather than flee or fight in response to threat. (See page 479)

Question 22

Type A behavior pattern

Answer 22

A pattern of behavior characterized by competitiveness, achievement orientation, aggressiveness, hostility, restlessness, impatience with others, and inability to relax. (See page 482)

Question 23

Type B behavior pattern

Answer 23

A pattern of behavior characterized by noncompetitive, relaxed, easygoing, and accommodating behavior. (See page 483)

Question 24

Well-being

Answer 24

A positive state that includes striving for optimal health and life satisfaction. (See page 470)