Health Psychology

Question 1

Psychology and health

Answer 1

Study of health requires us to consider wide range of issues and evidence from broad range of sources
Improving health often means changing behaviour
Focus: what do people do?
Why do they do it ?
How do they explain their own behaviour?
What might encourage them to change their behaviour

Question 2

Factors that influence health and I’ll health

Answer 2

Persons biology
Persons charteristics and behaviours
Social environmental
Physical envronment
Economic envronment

Question 3

Individual characteristics and behaviours

Answer 3

Health psychology has shown that personality traits are important predictors of health behaviours and long term health outcomes
Personality traits are people characteristics patterns of thinking feeling and behaving that are relatively stable and predictable over time and over a variety of different situations

Question 4

Personality traits may directly influence susceptibility to both illness and health behaviours

Answer 4

Higher traits anxiety is associated with higher risk for asthma, ulcers, arthritis this and headaches
Higher levels of neuroticism is associated with greater risk of serious morbidity and shorter life spans
Neurotic individuals more likely to exhibit for lifestyle factors that increase risk of cancer

Question 5

Personality traits may influence stress and coping when faced with illness

Answer 5

Illness can cause new stressor such as problems with finance obtaining care
Adjusting personal identity to being a sick person
Intentions to seek medical help
How individuals communicate with health professionals

Question 6

Gender health and health realised behaviour

Answer 6

Women have longer life expectancy
Men more like.y to die from chronic health conditions accidents
The less men earn more likely to die earlier

Question 7

Physical environment important determinants of health

Answer 7

Outdoor air pollution leading cause of cancer
Ground water pollution is associated with cancer birth defects
Indoor pollution such as poor heating or sanitation electrical and fire hazards lead based paint

Question 8

Health psychology also concerned with factors which promote health and well being

Answer 8

Aesthetics
Community’s
Available space to excersise and interact
Good working conditions
Quality of life

Question 9

Sociology economic factors : individuals with lower income

Answer 9

Poor working conditions
Poor quality living conditions
Poor lifestyle and health behaviours
Poor diet
Less likely to engage with healthcare services

Question 10

What is stress

Answer 10

A state of mental or emotional strain or tension arising from adverse or demanding circumstances
Absesnse or deficiency in individuals ability to cope with current demands

Question 11

Key processes in person perceiving an event as stressful are

Answer 11

Presence of some sort of physical or psychological activity
Asses situation
Understand situation
Respond

Question 12

How stress effects the body

Answer 12

Increased heart rate breathlessness sweTy palms lead toncibs high blood spine pressure autoimmune disorders huge economic cost

Question 13

Early model of stress

Answer 13

Theory focuses stress as a result of the flight of fight response - Cannon

Question 14

Hans Selye genral adaptation syndrome model of stress (3 stages )

Answer 14

1) alarm - increases resources used to deal with stress
2) resistances = threshold response optimal response to stressor
3) exhaustion = internal resources are depleted and feels they cannot meet the demands of the stress

Question 15

Classifying stress - eustress and distress

Answer 15

Distress - is associated with negative emotions and poor physical health
Eustress positive stress associated with positive emotions and physical health
Both model regard state of arousal don’t counsder cognitiv appraisal and coping with stress suggests all stressor results in stress response

Question 16

Lazarus 4 stage model of stress

Answer 16

1) casual external or internal agent
2) ability to distinguish threatening from benign
3) coping strategy by cognitive paradisal or physical strategies
4) recognises that coping is a complex pattern of effects of the mind and body

Question 17

The role of appraisal in stress

Answer 17

Stressor - external event
Primary appraisal - is the event negative positive or neutral if negative how harmful
Secondary appraisal - are coping abilities and resources sufficient to overcome the perceived harm
Stress- biological , cognitive emotional and behavioural responses

Question 18

Defining health

Answer 18

WHO- health is a state of complete mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
Health is not just the absense of illness - product of psychological and social processes
Suggestion that health is the ability to adapt and self man age in the face of social physical emotional challenges

Question 19

What do health pscychologists do

Answer 19

Use their knowledge of psychology and health to promote general well being and understand physical illness
Help people to deal with the psychological and emotional aspects of health and illness as well as support people people who are chronically I’ll
Promote healthier lifestyles

Question 20

Who can health professionals work with

Answer 20

With individual patient or organisation
Alongside other healthcare professional
In variety of setting
Clinical public health community occupational acedemic

Question 21

Health psychologist

Answer 21

Recognise that psychology social emotional and behavioural factors can impact on health and I’ll health that the mind no body are interconnected

Question 22

The biomedical model

Answer 22

Focuses on treating disease and improvement of health usually something physical to patient
Focuses purely on biological factors as determinants of health
Health is absense of disease patient is victim of circumstance
Passive recipient of treatment

Question 23

Limitations if biomedical model

Answer 23

Focuses on single biological cause neglect of contributing factors
Greater focus on illness rather than health excludes psychological environmental and social influences

Question 24

The biopsychosocial model

Answer 24

Recognises that health is interplay between biological social and psychological factors
Different levels of explanation micro and macro
Recognises disease may not have unitary problem concerned with health and I’ll health