Exam 2 Flashcards
Define health
A complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being.
Not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
Define Wellness
An optimum state of health involving balance among physical, mental and social well-being.
What do health psychologists do?
Devotion to understanding psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why they become ill, and how they respond when they get ill.
Focus on health promotion and maintenance
Study psychological aspects of prevention and treatment of illness
Focus on the etiology and correlates of health, illness, and dysfunction.
Analyze and attempt to the improve health care system and the formulation of public policy
What does Etiology refer to?
The origins and causes of illness
Why did health psychology develop?
As a response to the limitations of the existing biomedical model and the ability of the bio-psycho-social to address those limitations.
Describe the biomedical model
Illness can be explained on the basis of aberrant somatic bodily processes:
i.e. biochemical imbalances and neurophysiological abnormalities
assumes psychological and social processes are largely irrelevant to the disease process
What are some limitations to the biomedical model?
Reduces illness to low-level processes i.e. disordered cells or chemical imbalances
Assumes mind-body dualism and fails to recognize psycho-social influences
Emphasizes illness over health rather than focusing on behaviors that promote health
Cannot address many puzzles
i.e. if six exposed to flu virus why only three get sick?
What is dualism?
Dualism is a model of mind-body interaction that treats the two as separate entities. First advanced by Rene Descartes.
List some factors that gave rise to the bio-psycho-social model
Increase of chronic or life-style related illness
Expanding role if health care in the economy
Realization that psycho-social factors contribute to health and illness
Demonstrated psychological interventions improve peoples health
Rigorous methodological contributions of health psych researchers
Acute disorders ________
are short-term duration, often the result of viral or bacterial invasion and usually amenable to cure
Chronic Illnesses are ________
slow developing diseases that cannot be cured but are rather managed instead.
A theory is ________
a set of analytic statements that explain a set of phenomena
What are the advantages of a theory?
Theories provide guidelines for how to do research and interventions
Theories generate specific predictions, so they can be tested and modified as evidence comes in
Theories tie together loose ends
Why do we need Health Psychology?
Changing patterns of illness
Advances in technology and research
Expanded healthcare services
Increased medical acceptance
What us the most studied therapeutic intervention?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
What are some areas where CBT is applied?
Eating Disorders
Depression
Anxiety
PTSD
Addiction
Living With Chronic Pain
Describe the background model that informs CBT
WYSIATI
Situation
/ \
Behaviors Thoughts
| Core Beliefs |
Physical
Reactions - Feelings
What is the Cognitive piece of CBT?
Identifying self talk, personal narratives, internal monologues, and thought patterns through evidence gathering
Identifying catastrophizing
Evaluating those cogitations based on whether they are true or false, and whether they are helpful or hurtful
Prioritizing which is most important
Describe the role of CBT in processing thoughts and emotions
patients identify links between thoughts and emotions, while helping to differentiate between thoughts and feelings.
CBT helps people identify their feelings
What are some defense mechanisms patients my exhibit in response to CBT?
Resistance
Defensiveness
Hoop Jumping
Describe the role of Cognitive Restructuring in CBT
Trains people to recognize and modify internal monologues to promote health behavior change.
Identify and dispute cognitive distortions in ones assessment of thoughts and feelings
Evaluate evidence in support of or counter to the thoughts which stimulate those feelings
Identify shifts in thoughts, feelings and physical changes as a result of expanding awareness and alternative interpretations.
What is the Behavioral Piece of CBT?
Directly modify behavior
How does CBT aid in behavior modification?
Change the focus to the behavior
Identify and modify conditions and triggers through:
Self-observation/Monitoring
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Modeling
Stimulus Control
Describe Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning is the paring of an unconditioned reflex with a new stimulus to produce a conditioned response.
i.e. A Clockwork Orange
Describe Operant Conditioning
Operant Conditioning pairs a voluntary behavior with systematic consequences.
i.e. positive and negative reinforcement, rewards and punishments.
What is Cognitive Dissonance?
A discontinuity between actions and behaviors
How is cognitive dissonance resolved?
Behavior change
Situational avoidance
Defensive processing
What are some examples of defensive processing?
Changing cognitions but not behaviors
Optimism bias
How are anti-smoking ads framed to influence smokers to quit?
Loss and Gain
Which type of framing is most effective in terms of memory and attention: loss or gain? At what level of intensity?
High intensity loss framing is the most effective in terms of both memory and attention.
What is one way anti-smoking advertisements get around cognitive obstacles such as cognitive dissonance among smokers?
By targeting the tobacco industry instead of smokers and indirectly sending the message that smokers are victims.
Why is the Tobacco Master Settlement of 1998 a big deal?
It confirms the role of environment in behavior and sets a precedence for industry responsibility for the manipulation of environmental factors.
What are some bio-psycho-social factors that contribute to obesity?
Heredity (Bio)
Stress and Mental Health (Psycho)
Social Economic Status and
Culture (Social)
Why should we care about Obesity?
Amount of Obesity > Underfed people worldwide
More O treated in US than all other health conditions combined
67% Overweight 34% Obese in US
O related medical costs in US = $190billion
Leading cause of preventable death
Psychologically distressing
What is BMI?
Body Mass Index provides an indicator based on height and weight
What are some problems with BMI?
Does not account for muscle:fat ratio
Level of health
Location of weight: gut vs hips.
Norming based on data gathered from dominant groups
What are some Social factors that contribute to obesity?
Family History
SES and Culture
Food Deserts and Govt Subsidies
Dieting roller coaster
Low activity levels
Availability: high fat foods and portion sizes
Advertising
What are some psychological issues that contribute to Obesity?
Stress and eating more or less (usually depends on gender, men tend to eat less under stress, women more).
Beliefs and Motivation as they relate to Self-Control
Role of Cognitive Depletion
We are blind to our own blindness
Preferences and Perceptions
Mindless Eating
Cognitive Errors
What are three types of health behavior change advertisement messages?
Message Appeal: Health/Social
Outcome Extremity: High/Low
Message Framing: Gain/Loss
