exam 1 Flashcards
health psychology
application of psychological principles and research to the enhancement of health and the prevention and treatment of illness
health disparities
preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by socially disadvantaged populations
-women have higher disease and disability rates
-ppl in cities who are part of ethnic majorities have better health outcomes than those who live in rural areas (rural americans have less healthcare access and are more likely to smoke)
Affordable Care Act
2010 ACA was signed that increased access to health care and lowered insurance costs
Historical perspectives of health and illness incl non-western medicine
prehistoric- illness caused by spirits and treated by trephination
greece- hippocrates (father of western medicine) humoral theory (equillibrium of 4 bodily fluids)
traditional chinese medicine (TCM) - internal harmondy is essential for good health; qi; vital energy; acupuncture, herbs, etc.
ayurveda- oldest-known medical system in the world; ayuh longevity and veda knowledge; 6th century BCE; human body represents the entire universe in a microcosm and the key to health is maintaining a balance between microcosmic body and macrocosmic world
middle ages- illness is god’s punishment; treatment was exorcism
renaissance- revitalization of anatomical study and medical practice; human dissection allowed; Andreas Vesalius published seven volume study of internal organs, musculature, and skeletal system; Descartes = mind body dualism (mind and body are separate)
post ren- focus only on biological causes; william harvey blood circulation and emotions are from heart; John Fothergill identified nerve diseases; John Hunter scientific method in medicine;
20th century::: biomedical model - disease is a result of pathogens– reductionism (complex phenomena have one source); psychosmatic medicine (FREUD); nuclear conflict Alexander physical disease = inner conflict; trend toward multifactorial illness views;
biological, psychological, and social contexts (biopsychosocial)
health and other behaviors are determined by the interaction of biological mechanisms, psychological processes, and social influences
biological - genetics, hormones, epigenetics (environmental things trigger gene expression like MAOA = conduct disorder only if abused)
psychological - appraisal, subjective well being, attitude, stress management
social - historical and social factors, perceived social support, sociocultural perspective - how social and cultural factors contribute to health and disease (culture = enduring behaviors/values/and customs that ppl developed over years and transmitted between generations)
leading causes of death
stroke, heart disease, and lung cancer; young people die from external causes more like accidents and suicide
massification
transformation of a product or service that once was available only to wealthy ppl into a widely accessible to everyone– applied to education and health it is the idea that college can benefit everyone
evidence-based medicine
the use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients or the delivery of health services; skeptical attitude that encourages health care providers to evaluate evidence and scrutinize conclusions
confirmation bias
form of faulty reasoning in which our expectations prevent us from seeing alternative explanations for our observations; leaping to unwarranted (untested) conclusions
epidemiology
scientific study of the frequency, distribution, and causes of a particular disease or other health outcome in a population
descriptive study
a research method in which researchers observe and record participants’ behaviors, often forming hypotheses that are later tested more systematically; includes case studies, interviews and surveys, focus groups, and observational studies
correlation coefficient
a statistical measure of the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables and thus how well one predicts the other
independent variable, dependent variable, control
morbidity
number of cases of a specific illness/injury/disability in a given group
mortality
number of DEATHS due to a specific cause in a given group at a given time
etiology
origin/causation of disease
incidence
number of New cases of a disease or condition that occur in a specific population
prevalence
total number of diagnosed cases of a disease or condition that exist a given time
retrospective study
longitudinal study that looks back at the history of a group of people, often one suffering from a particular disease or condition
prospective study
forward-looking longitudinal study that begins with a healthy group of subjects and follows the development of a particular disease in that sample
stressor
any event or situation that triggers coping adjustments
stress
process by which we perceive and respond to events that we perceive as threatening or challenging
SRRS
social readjustment rating scale; attempt to quantify the impact of life changes on health
ACEs
adverse childhood experiences
sources of stress
daily hassles, life events, recurrent, persistant hassles, background stressors (job dissatisfaction, long commute, crowded living situations)
social-evaluative threat
fear of judgement
stereotype threat
fear of confirming stereotypes (stress where a person’s ability, appearance, or other characteristic has the potential to confirm a negative viewpoint about their social group)
role overload theory
managing multiple roles and feeling overwhelmed
scarcity hypothesis- not enough resources (time and energy)
enhancement hypothesis - benefits of meaningful work in multiple roles outweighs the costs
burnout theory
job related state of physical and psychological exhaustion
neural pathways of brain-body communication
reticular formation routes info about potential stressor to the thalamus -> hypothalamus -> limbic system -> higher brain regions in cerebral cortex that interpret the meaning of the potential stressor AND through a second pathway carries neural instructions back from the higher brain regions to the organs, muscles, glands controlled by sympathetic nervous system which mobilizes the body for defensive action
endocrine system
stress -> hypothalamus activates pituitary gland to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone -> adernal gland receptors take up ACTH -> adrenal medulla secretes epinephrine and norepinephrine -> fight or flight SYMPATHO ADRENO MEDULLARY AXIS
measuring stress
self report inventories, ecological momentary assessment (EMA - repeated sampling of ppls behaviors and exps in real time and in their natural environments)
physiological measures, hormone levels, cardiovascular reactivity,
conditioned response due to stress
immune system can be conditioned to respond even in the absence of stress
immunosuppression stress model
stress causes immunosuppression
direct effect - > stress directly influences nervous, endocrine, and immune systems and stress on these systems causes disease; lower cortisol awakening response in children with high conflict at home
indirect - immunosuppression is an aftereffect of the stress response by encouraging maladaptive behaviors like smoking drinking and drug abuse
GAS stress model (general adaptation syndrome)
Selye’s term for the body’s reaction to stress, wich consists of three stages: alarm (fight or flight, mobilize coping), resistance (continue coping) body tries to adapt by replenishing adrenal hormones, and exhaustion(resources depleted)
transactional theory of stress model
experience of stress depends as much on the individual’s cognitive appraisal of a potential stressor’s impact as it does on the event or situation itself; process of stress is triggered whenever stressors exceed the personal and social resources that a person is able to mobilize in order to cope
primary appraisal - person’s initial determination of an event’s meaning
secondary appraisal - person’s determination of whether their own resources and abilities are sufficient to meet hte demands of an event that is appraised as potentially threatening or challenging
diathesis-stress model
two interacting factors determine an individual’s susceptibility to stress an illness; inherent vulnerability and environmental factors
minority stress model
stressful experiences are esp common among many ethnic minority families
approach coping style
engagement coping; involves taking action and confronting a source of stress
avoidant coping style
disengagement; a coping strategy aimed at distancing oneself from a stressful situation
problem-focused coping
approach style calls for dealing directly with the stressful situation by reducing demands or by increasing capacity to deal with the stressor
emotion-focused coping style
coping strategy in which we try to control our emotional response to a stressor; can be approach or avoidant oriented
approach - rumination
avoid - repressive coping
dispositional affect
person’s coping style or personality dimension consisting of a tendency toward chronic negative emotions and distress (negative affectivity) or positive emotions and subjective well-being (positive affectivity)
optimism
ppl with optimistic nature cope more effectively with stress and tend to lead healthier, longer lives, reduced level of stress hormones, etc
ABCs of optimism
adversity - interpreting difficulties in terms that external vs internal, temporary, and specific
belief- having external temporary specific views of adversity can lead to healthier upbeat beliefs
consequences- healthier more optimistic beliefs result in more positive health consequences
psychological control
belief that we make our own decisions and determine what we do and what others do to us. psychological control and self-efficacy both help people to cope more effectively with stressful events
regulatory control
the various ways in which we modulate our thinking emotions and behavior over time and across changing circumstances; controlling responses and emotions has broad implications for your health
resilience
quality that allows some people to bounce back from difficult events that might otherwise disrupt their well-being
external factors to coping
family, friends, education, employment, time, money, SES
social support hypothesis
buffering hypothesis - social support mitigates stress indirectly by helping us cope more effectively; strong perceived social support = less ruminating
direct effect hypothesis - social support produces beneficial effects by enhancing the body’s physical responses to challenging situations
when it isn’t helpful: support may not be perceived as beneficial; type of support offered may not be what is needed ta the moment (matching hypothesis - different stressful situations create different needs and support needs to be tailored)
stress management
various psychological methods designed to reduce the impact of potentially stressful experiences
relaxation
progressive muscle relaxation, relaxation response (meditation that leads to slowed metabolism and lower blood pressure)
mindfulness based stress reduction
form of therapy that focuses on using structured meditation to promote mindfulness; moment to moment nonjudgmental awareness; improves immune functioning and reduces symptoms of many psych disordrs and chronic pain
cognitive behavioral therapy
use of principles from learning theory to change unhealthy patterns of thinking and behavior
cognitive-behavioral stress management
multimodal intervention that combines relaxation training, visualization, cognitive restructuring, reinforcement, etc, to help ppl cope with a range of stressors
emotional disclosure
expresing feelings to a therapist or a journal
gratitude
coping tool; gratitude is defined as the recognition of a positive outcome from an external source including a sense of wonder and thankfulness for benefits received
humor
coping tool; laughter reduces epinephrine and cortisol secretion; boost immune system; reduces risk of coronary disease
spirituality
coping tool; ppl who are spiritually active tend to eat healthier, exercise more, smoke less frequently, generally have healthier lifestyles
meaning focused coping - person attempts to find meaning in a stressful situation or traumatic event rather than trying to change situation or event or alter the distress associated with it
health belief model
4 interacting factors that influence our perceptions about health threats
-perceived susceptibility; greater susceptibility greater likelihood to engage in health promoting behaviors
-perceive severity
-perceived benefits of and barriers to treatment; do benefits exceed barriers
-cues to action - advice from friends, media health campaigns, age, SES status
theory of planned behavior
theory that predicts health behavior on basis of three factors: personal attitude toward the behavior, the subjective norm regarding the behavior, and perceived degree of control over the behavior
behavioral intention - in theories of health behavior, rational decision to engage in a health-relate behavior or to refrain from engaging in the behavior
subjective norm - an individuals interpretation of the views of other ppl regarding a particular health behavior
transtheoretical model
stage theory that contends that people pass thru five stages in altering health related behavior: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance
primary prevention
health promoting actions that are taken to prevent a disease or injury from occuring
secondary prevention
actions taken to identify and treat an illness or disability early in its course
tertiary prevention
most US healthcare is this, actions taken to contain damage once a disease or disability has progressed beyond the early stages
community health education models
shaping public’s views on health issues thru educational campaigns in advertisement on public transportation in magazines and newspapers and on television radio and websites;
precede/proceed model - lifestyle and environmental elements that contribute to the targeted health problem are identified, then background factors that predispose enable and reinforce these lifestyle and environmental factors are analyzed to determine the possible usefulness of health education and other interventions.
message framing
gain-framed: focuses on the positive outcome from adopting a health-promoting behavior or on avoiding an undesirable outcome; works better with approach oriented people
loss-framed messages: emphasizes the negative outcome from failing to take preventive action or emphasizing missing a desirable outcome; works better with avoidance people
cognitive-behavioral interventions
health interventions that focus on the conditions that elicit health behaviors and the factors that help to maintain and reinforce them
self-monitoring - people keeping track of their own target behavoir
discriminative stimuli - environmental signals that certain behaviors will be followed by reinforcement
stimulus control interventions - aimed at modifying the environmental discriminative stimuli that control a target behavior by signaling its reinforcement
relapse prevention - training in coping skills and other techniques intended to help people resist falling back into old health habits following a successful behavioral intervention
contingency contract - formal agreement between a person attempting to change a health behavior and another individual regarding the consequences of target behaviors.
positive psychology
study of optimal human functioning and the healthy interplay between people and their environments
thriving
paradoxical outcome in which adversity somehow leads people to greater psychological and/or physical well being
adversity
psychological or physical adversity can sometimes yield benefits but there are 4 possible outcomes:
1 - continued downward slide
2- survival with diminished capacity or impairment
3 - gradual or rapid return to the pre-adversity level of function
4 - the emergence of a quality that makes the person somehow better off than before
anabolism
activities that build the body; anabolic metabolism is converted into catabolism
anabolic metabolism counters arousal and promotes relaxation, energy storage, and healing processes such as protein synthesis
catabolism
release of catecholamines, cortisol, and other fight or flight hormones that help the body quickly use energy
