Health Psych Test 2 Flashcards
active strategies
a strategy that requires engaging in some type of repeated action to prevent health problems, including to prevent injuries from occuring or to decrease the harm resulting from such injuries
Alarm stage
the first stage of the General adaptation Syndrome (GAS), in which the body mobilizes to fight off a threat by activating both the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine system
allostatic response
the body’s attempt to adapt to astressful situation. This physiological response invovles a number of system in the body and is shut off as soon as the challenge ends
belongingness support
this type of support refers to the availability of social companionship, such as having others with whom to engage in social activities (e.g., going out to dinner, seeing a movie, attending a party).
bufering hypothesis
a hypothesis which suggests that social support leads to better health by protecting people from the negative effects of high stress, and hence social support is particularly beneficial during stressful times.
cardiovascular system
a network of body systems that work to transport oxygen to and remove carbon dioxide from each cell and organ in the body. This work is accomplished through the beating of the heart, which generates the necessary force in the bloodstream.
central nervous system
a system within the body, consisting of the bones, muscles, and joints to improve body alignment.
conscientiousness
a personality trait describing people who are hardworking, motivated, and persistent. They show high levels of self-restraint and an intense focus on their goals
coping
expending conscious effort to solve personal and interpersonal problems, and seeking to master, minimize, reduce, or tolerate stress or conflict
direct effects hypothesis
a hypothesis that posits that social support can help people at both low and high levels of stress, so having high levels of social support can help people at both low and high levels of stress, so having high levels of social support is always advantageous to health.
emotional support
the expression of caring, concern, ad empathy toward a person as well as the provision of comfort, reassurance, and I love.
emotion-focused system
a type of coping that focuses on managing the emotional effects of a stressful sitatuion. This strategy could include a number of different approaches, including simply not thinking about the problems (e.g., denial or avoidance) as well as venting about the problem to others (e.g., seekinig social support).
endocrine system
a body system that regulates a number of different physiological processes in the body, including physiological growth, sexual arousal, metabolism, and stress resopnse. The endocrine system works by releasing hormones from an endocrine gland, such as the pituitary, thryroid, and pancreas, into the blood-stream.
esteem support/validational support
affirmation of self-worth, including feedback that a person is valued and respected by others
exhaustion stage
a stage at which the body body’s resources are depleted and it becomes very susceptible to physiological damage and diseas
fight-or-flight resopnse
a resonse to stress in which the perons treis to either fight of the stressor or escape from it (both approaches require shifting energy from the nonessential body systems to those systmes necessary to reposnd to the challenge.)
General adaptation syndron
a model describing how stress can lead to negative health consequences over time
hardiness
a personality variable that is associated with how a person reacts in challenging and potentially stressful situations. People who are hardy have a strong commitment to what they are doing, ossess a sense of control over what is happeniing to them, and see stressful events as challenging rather than threatening. Hardiness is associated with better health outcomes.
hostility/disagreebleness
a personality trait in which people velieve that others are motivated by selfish concerns and expect that other people will deliberately try to hurt them. Iin turn, because of their general mistrust and cynicism about other pepole’s motivations, hostile people don’t hesitate to express these feelings–they are often uncooperative, rude, argumentative, condescending, and aggressive
hypothalmci-pituitary-adrenal system
part of the endocrine system that resoponds during times of stress. This response starts by secreting corticotropinreleasing hormone, which in turn triggers the anterior pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotrpic hormone. Finally, the presence of ACTH leads the adrenal gland to release glucocorticoids, including cortisol
Immune system
a body system that is the major line of defense against infection, illness, and disease. The immune system works to eliminate foreign, “non-self” materials, such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites, which contact or enter the body.
informatonal support/appraisal support
advice and guidance about how to cope with a particular problems
instrumental suport/tangible support
the provision of concrete assitance, such as financial aid, material resources, or needed services
intentional injuries
injuries that occur in which the person meant for it to happen
internal locus of control
a generalized belief people have about the extent to which events are under their own (internal) control
nervous system
the body system that is reponsible for transmitting information from the brain throughtout the body as well as fro mthe body back to the brain. The nervous system consists of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system
neurons
specialized cells that transmit information to and from the brain.
neuroticism/negative affect
a personality trait that refers to the tendency to experience negative emotions, such as distress, anxiety, nervousness, fear, shame, anger, and guilt. People with this trait are likely to worry about upcoming events, dwell on failures and shortcomings, and have a less favorable view of themselves and others.
neurotransmitters
chemicals released by the brain that can increase or decrease the amount of pain experienced
optimism
a personlaity trait that refers to the expectation that good things will happen in the future whereas bad things will not. This personaliy trait is associated with letters health outcomes
passive strategies
an approach to injury prevention that involves changing people’s environment instead of requiring people to change their behavior or take any action
peripheral nervous system
a part of the nervous system copnsisting of the nerual pathways that bring information to and from the brian, including the somatic nervous system and the atonomic nervous system
personality
the particualr combination of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral resonse patterns of an individual
positive states
emotions, such as happniess, joy, enthusiasm and contentment, as well as personality traits such as extraversion (feelings of energy and sociability) and positive effect
primary ppraisal
an appraisal in which people assess the situaiton. In this stage, people are interpreting the situation and what it will mean for them (e.g., “am I in danger?”)
problem-focused coping
a common strategy for managing challenging situations by trying to comfront and change the stressor, whci hcan include seeking assistance from others, taking direct action, ad planning
psychoneuroiimunology
a field that examines the complex connection between psychosocial factors, such as stress and the nervous, cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune system
resistance stage
the second stage of the Genral Adaptation Syndrome, in which the body continues to try to resond to the initial threat by maintaining high levels of heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing to help deliver oxygen and energy quickly throughout the body, but by slowing nonessential functions, such as digestion, growth, and reproduction
secondary appraisal
a type of appraisal in which people asses the resources available for coping with the situaiton. I nthis stage, people exampine their ability to cope with the event based on their resources (e.g, “what can I do about this?”)
social network
a measure of social support in terms of the strucuter of people’s social relationships, namely, the number and types of such relationships
social support
the indivudal belif that a perosn is cared for and loved, esteemed and valued, and belongs to a network of communication and mutual obligations
stress
a state of challenge or threat that disrupts the normal rhythm and balance of a person’s life.
sympathetic adrenomedullary system
a part of the endocrine system that reosnds during tiems of stress. When this system is activated, the hypothalmus triggers the adrenal glands to release epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormones act very quickly and lead to a number of physiological effects, including increased heart rate, increased blood fwo, and increased sweating
tend-and-befriend
a pattern shown by women in which the prefernce is to affiliate with other during times of stress
transactional relational model
a model which posists that the meaning a particular event has for a peron is more imoprtant predictor of the expericne of stress than the actual event
type A behavior
a personality trait that refers to three distinct types of beahavior, namely times urgency, competitive drive, and anger/hostility. Type a people experience high levels of time urgency–they are irritated by and impatient with time delays and constantly try to do more than one thing at a time. Second, type A people have a strong competitive drive and are focused on doing better than other people in all sorts of situations (work and play). FInally, Type a people are prone to experiencing anger and hostility (e.g., goal pursuit, easily around to anger). Like people who are high in hostility, Type A people are quick to experience anger and may lash out at others in frustration
unintentional injuries
injuries that the person did not mean to happen
Three levels of protection
External barrier of skin; nonspecific response; specific immune system
Nonspecific response system
Responds if any foreign material invades the skin leading to lymphocytes or antigen fighting white blood cells attacking them
Causes of Stress:
Personal relationships Family Issues—Including family health Work environment Environment—Crime, pollution, noise Daily Hassles Personal Conflicts
How we deal with stress:
Approach–appreach conflict; Avoidance–Avoidance conflict; Approach–avoidacne conflict
Approach, approach conflict
Where we are torn between doing two desirable things that are incompatible with each other.
Avoidance-avoiding
Have to choose between two undesirable outcomes
Approach-avoidance
Choosing between a desirable and undesirable outcome
Sometimes considered the most stressful
How stress is measured
Self-reported inventories
Physiological measure
Biochemical measures
Self-reported inventories
Social readjustment rating scale
Hassel scale—It’s a better predictor measuring a noise, or daily hassle
Problems
Reliability and validity
Physiological measure
Blood pressure
Heart rate
Respiratory rate
Galvanic skin response
Biochemical measures
Look for the presence of particular hormones that are released when stressed in the blood.
Problem:
These can lead to stress as they require blood, urine, or saliva and seeing a doctor may cause stress to some.
Norepinephrine, epinephrine, cortisol are the three hormones found in the bloodstream when someone is stressed.
Advantage
They are very direct
They are reliable
Easy to quantify
Major disadvantage
Subject to mechanical failure
Clinical setting can produce stress
How does stress influence health
Has a significant impact on the immune system
Three levels of protection
External barrier being the skin
Nonspecific response system
Specific immune system
Nonspecific response system
Responds if any foreign material invades the skin leading to lymphocytes or antigen fighting white blood cells attacking them
Phagocytes
Large powerful lymphocytes that search body to look for them
Microphages
Looking for bacteria and engulf and digest foreign cells
Specific immune system
It is when a particular antigen has been encountered before, which is usually accomplished through vaccination
Vaccination work by introducing the disease in a dead and reduced form to have the body create the necessary antigens and when the body is truly infected it will have the necessary resources to attack the antigen
Stress and the cardiovascular system
High blood pressure
Increased heart rate
Increased cholesterol—This can lead to the buildup of fatty acids, and glucose in the blood vessels
Stress and the nervous system
Fight or flight response
Suggests that when the sympathetic nervous system becomes activated, respiration and heart rate increases, digestion stops, and the flow of blood is led to the muscles all is done in preparation for action.
Psychological consequences of stress
When under stress we can’t concentrate, so we noted that there is a cognitive consequence to stress, and noted that there is a negative emotion that results from stress, leading to more fear and more anxiety and more anger, and we also noted the behavioral problems that result from stress, insomnia, nightmares, domestic violence, and on, and on
How to cope with stress
Problem focused coping; Emotional Focused Coping; Humor; Exercise; Social Support; Religion
Problem focused coping
We attempt to manage the challenging situation by confronting it and changing the stressor
We take direct action on whatever it is that is causing the stress
Emotion focused coping
Where we change how we feel about the stressor, and this is more effective when we can’t change the stressor so we change how we think/feel of the stressor
Strategies used to do this:
Mindfulness, mediation, progressive muscle relaxation
Humor
Primarily distracts the individual from his or her problem
Exercise
Release of endorphins after exercising, which causes a feel good feeling
Social support
The people with more social support have more resources for dealing with stress
Religion
People who participate in religion experience between psychological and physical health, based on the social support of participating in religion.
Personality factors associated with good health:
Positive state people are in general happy with their life
Optimism–Expects that good things will happen in the future
Conscientious–working hard, being motivated, anp ersistent
Internal Locus of Control/Hardiness–Being hardy, that we control what happens in our life; it is our decisions and our behaviors what make the outcome or the evnts that occur around us
Personality factors associated with bad health
Neuroticism
The tendency to experience negative emotions such as distress, anxiety, nervousness, fears, shame, anger, and guilt
These people go around with a tendency to feel these emotion most of the time
Type A personality
Individual goes around being very competitive, with strong sense of urgency and hostility
What type of social support
Emotional Support Belongningnes support Instrumental support Informational support Esteem/validation support
Emotional Support
Refers to the expressions of care, concern, and empathy for an individual. Also, it includes provision of comfort, reassurance, love.
Belongningnes support
The availability of social companionship. It has to do with social companionship do we belong in a group
Instrumental support
Refers to tangible support, the provision of concrete assistance, of tangible assistance such as financial assistance, and the provision of material resources, and the provision of other needed services that are concrete and tangible.
Informational support
From where we get our advice and our guidance about how to cope with a particular situation, and we go see the counselor and go see our buddies, and they give us advice and guidance
Esteem/validation support
This is when reaffirm our self-worth, and establish our value from other and it is others who are validating our support, gaining a higher level of esteem.
The buffering hypothesis
Social support protects people from the negative effects of high stress, serving as a cushion/buffer against the stressors.
Direct hypothesis
They can help people as they experience high or low levels of stress, and note the influences of social support; how social support influences our attitudes in our behavior
who is more likely to die by homicide?
Males 7 times more likely to die by homicide than females, and African Americans are more likely to die by homicide than another other ethnic group
