health psychology Flashcards
what is health psychology?
health psych looks at the bidirectional relationship between psychology and thoughts
- how and why illness develops
- How to stay healthy
- The impact of illness
- Management of illness
Treatment of illness.
how has health psych changed from the past to contemporary?
lots of theories about the body and it’s equilibiram, churches, to now the great advances in technology etc.
what is the biopsychosocial model of health? and how does each factor lead to understand various contributors of health & disease?
the biopsychosocial model talks about 3 factors that are interrelated in determining the body illnesses
biology, psychology and social factors
what is in biology factor of biopsychosocial model of health?
biology
- genetics
- immune system
- endocrine ystem
- neurochemistry
what is in psychology factor of biopsychosocial model of health?
Psychology:
- Perception
- Cognition
- Memory
- Attitudes & emotions
Appraisal and coping styles
what is in social factor of biopsychosocial model of health?
- Social support
- Family relationships
- Culture
Socio-economic status
what is the difference between stress response & stressor ?
Stress response: tension, discomfort, symptoms that arise following experience of a stressor
Stressor: situation/ stimulus that strains our coping abilities
Stress is a:
* Stimulus
* Is a response
* Is a process
what is appraisal on stress?
appraisal is the interpretation or evaluation of a situation (usually very quick)
two main stages of appraisal:
1. Primary appraisal: relevance/ salience and valence - "is this important for me?" - "is this good or bad?" 2. Secondary appraisal: coping "do I have the capacity to deal with this?"
- we have habits in our appraisal stages e.g. we have habits that can make us to positively or negatively appraise a situation.
what are some more specific distinctions in appraisals?
- Challenge vs threat appraisals:
- Same situations, same potential stressor, but two different ways of conceptualising it
- It will dictate what it is you do to deal with the situation.
- Dispositional similarities and situational differences:
- Individual appraisal styles
e.g. being an optimistic, negative.
- Individual appraisal styles
what are the different types of coping? & give specific definitions of each:
- reappraisal
- actively trying to evaluate or reframe how we think about a situation - acceptance
- what can you control in the situation - distraction
- procrastination - rumination
- repetitive thinkiing
difference between problem-focused and emotion-focused coping?
Problem focused:
* Coping behaviours that externally deal with a problem e.g. organising a schedule etc
Emotion focused:
* Coping strategies you engage that deal with the emotion that you feel out of distress.
e.g. meditation
difference between practical/active vs avoidant coping?
practical:
- planning an assignment
avoidant:
- distraction
coping can either be;
- emotion or problem focused
- practical/ avoidant
- adaptive/ maladaptive
important thing to know about coping:
- they can be good or bad depending on how you use each.
how does stress affect health?
physiologically and psychologically
physiologically:
- increases blood pressure
- release of stress hromones
- suppresion of immune system (other parts of systems are suppressed to focus on something else)
psychologically:
- less sleep/rest
- less exercise
- less social support
- less healthy good