Health, coping and stress Flashcards
Health psychology is a sub-discipline of psychology that explores how our psychology influences on
(i) how we stay healthy, (ii) why we become ill and (iii) how we respond when we get ill
The field of health psychology is guided by the ‘biopsychosocial model’ of health in which health is seen to be influenced by three factors –
biology, psychology and social context; this is important because unlike the ‘medical model’ it does not separate the mind from the body or context
There are several health-compromising behaviours;
poor diet, insufficient exercise, smoking, alcohol abuse, UV exposure, unsafe sex and lack of sleep
There are six main barriers to promoting good health:
individual, family, health system, community and cultural, self presentation, and social-cognitive barriers.
Individual barriers to health promotion occur because:
(i) poor health behaviours can have positive consequences, (ii) the negative consequences of poor health behaviours tend to occur after the positive ones, (iii) the negative consequences of poor health behaviours are not always immediate, (iv) of gender; with men being more likely to engage in risky health behaviours, demonstrate the optimism bias, not seek medical help when ill or seek preventative medical help when at risk of being ill
Family barriers to health promotion occur if there are poor habits and attitudes within families;
children model the health behaviours (inc. smoking, alcohol consumption, level of exercise, etc.) of their parents and (especially older) siblings
Health system barriers to health promotion occur because:
(i) people do not go to the doctor when they are well, minimising discussion on how to prevent illness by changing health compromising behaviours), (ii) of lack of health insurance (perhaps because of its cost) which leads to being on long waiting lists and being at risk of significant financial strain, (iii) of noncompliance with the orders of doctors (especially if doctors are seen to be unresponsive or demeaning), and (iv) of unrealistic expectations of doctors (e.g. not getting an immediate service or an immediate solution); these negative experiences can lead people to disengage from the health system and health-promoting behaviours
Community and cultural barriers to health promotion occur:
(i) if communities do not value and promotes healthy behaviours (e.g. government-funded campaigns), (ii) because of ethnicity (the life expectancy of Indigenous Australians is lower than the total population by about 20 years, in part because of the higher rates of smoking, obesity and diabetes; closing the gap in life expectancy requires an increase in access to services and the delivery of services in culturally informed and sensitive ways)
Another barrier to health promotion is self-presentation (or impression management) –
how we want to appear to other people; thus we will engage in health-compromising behaviours if it promotes the way we want to appear to others
There are four main social-cognitive theories about our health-related behaviours which may explain why people engage in health-compromising behaviours:
(i) health belief model, (ii) protection motivation theory of health, (iii) theory of reasoned action and (iv) theory of planned behaviour; all of them are examples of social-cognitive theories because they focus on how people’s beliefs about their health and their perceptions of how susceptible they are health threats are what influence their health-related behaviours
The health belief model argues that health behaviour is predicted by four factors:
(i) perceived susceptibility to the health threat (the optimism bias can affect this), (ii) perceived seriousness of the health threat, (iii) benefits and costs of stopping a health-compromising behaviour (the most potent predictor of all four) and (iv) cues to action (or ancillary factors that influence a person’s willingness to change a health-compromising behaviour)
The protection motivation theory is
the same as the health belief model with the addition of ‘self-efficacy’ (a person’s belief in their own ability to successfully undertake an action)
The theory of reasoned action argues that health related behaviours are influenced by
(i) attitudes toward the behaviour and (ii) social norms surrounding that behaviour; together, these two factors influence our intention to act in certain ways, so our final action (or behaviour) is reasoned
The theory of planned behaviour is
the same as the theory of reasoned action with the addition of self-efficacy
Stress is
a challenge to a person’s capacity to adapt to inner and outer demands
One common theory of stress, which focuses on the cognitive component of stress, is Lazarus’ (1981)
‘transactional model’ which argues that stress is a transaction between an individual and environment (and not just the property of the person or environment, thus explaining why different people react to situations differently)
Lazarus’ ‘transactional model’ argues there are two stages involved in stress:
(i) primary appraisal (where a person decides if a situation is benign, stressful or irrelevant), and (ii) secondary appraisal, (where if the situation is perceived as ‘stressful’, a person evaluates the options and makes a decision on how to respond to the stressor)
There are three types of stress (Lazarus):
(i) harm or loss, (ii) threat (the anticipation of harm or loss), and (iii) challenge (opportunities for growth despite significant disruption or uncertainty); thus, not all stress comes from negative events and some stress is useful
There are three main sources of stress:
(i) life events (can be positive or negative but involve change or adjustment), (ii) catastrophes (stressors of massive proportions that can be caused by nature or humans), and (iii) daily hassles (everyday frustrations and irritations)
People with Type A personality (described as
impatient, ambitious, competitive, hostile and seen to have a ‘hard-driving’ approach to life) are more likely to experience stress
people with Type B personality
those who are more relaxed, easy-going and less easily angered)
Coping refers to
the way people deal with stressful events
there are generally two types of coping strategies (or mechanisms):
(i) problem-focused and (ii) emotion-focused
Problem focused coping refers to
problem-solving strategies that a person uses to try and change the situation that is producing the stress; for example, trying to remove the stressor, planning ways to resolve the stressor, seeking advice or help on how to change the stressor, or avoiding the (predicted) stressor by planning for it ahead of time
Emotion-focused coping refers to
strategies that a person uses to regulate or manage the negative thoughts and feelings that the stressful situation is producing (rather than the stressor itself); this is usually because the person cannot remove or change the stressor; for example, using alcohol and drug use to escape from emotional distress
Social support is another coping resource we may use; it refers to
other people in whom we confide in, and expect help and concern from
