Chapter 14 - Stress and Health

Question 1

Health psychology

Answer 1

The subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine

Question 2

stress

Answer 2

The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging

Question 3

General adaptation syndrome (GAS)

Answer 3

selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three stages – alarm, resistance, and exhaustion

Question 4

coronary heart disease

Answer 4

The clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries

Question 5

type a

Answer 5

Friedman and rosenman’s term for a competitive, hard driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger prone people

Question 6

type b

Answer 6

Freidman and Rosenman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people

Question 7

psychophysiological illness

Answer 7

literally, “mind-body” illness; any stress related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches. Note: this is distinct from hypochondria sis – misinterpreting normal physical sensations as symptoms of the disease

Question 8

lymphocytes

Answer 8

The two types of white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune system: B lymphocytes form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections; T lymphocytes form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances

Question 9

coping

Answer 9

alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods

Question 10

problem focused coping

Answer 10

attempting to alleviate stress directly – by changing the stressor or the way we interact with the stressor

Question 11

emotion focused coping

Answer 11

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one’s stress reaction

Question 12

aerobic exercise

Answer 12

sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; may also alleviate depression and anxiety

Question 13

biofeedback

Answer 13

A system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension

Question 14

complementary and alternative medicine

Answer 14

unproven healthcare treatments not taught widely in medical school, not used in hospitals, and not usually reimbursed by insurance companies

Question 15

behavioral medicine

Answer 15

an interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease