Health Psychology

Question 1

Health Psychology

Answer 1

addresses factors that influence well-being and illness as well as measures that can be taken to promote health and prevent illness.

Question 2

Stressor

Answer 2

events that place strong demands on a person. threatening situations.

• physical (mugging)
• psychological (teasing)

Question 3

Eustress

Answer 3

optimal level
beneficial
good stress
enhancing performance

Question 4

Distress

Answer 4

demands outweigh resources

Question 5

Microstressors

Answer 5

daily hassles and annoyances.

eg. traffic jam

Question 6

Major negative events

Answer 6

personal negative events placing major demands on a person.

eg. divorce, death

Question 7

Catastrophic events

Answer 7

occur unexpectedly and affect large number of people.

eg. war, natural disasters

Question 8

Valence

Answer 8

means the intrinsic attractiveness (positive valence) or aversiveness (negative valence) of an event, object, or situation

Question 9

Cognitive response to stress

Answer 9

cognitive appraisal- we respond to situations as we perceive them.

Question 10

Physiological response

Answer 10

General Adaptation Syndrome- our body responds to stress

Question 11

Primary appraisal

Answer 11

is the event positive, negative, benign, neutral, irrelevant or threatening.

Question 12

Secondary appraisal

Answer 12

Can I cope? Do I have the resources?

Question 13

General Adaptation Syndrome

Answer 13

a physiological response pattern to strong and prolonged stressors.

1. Alarm phase: activation of sympathetic nervous system and release of stress hormones by endocrine system.
2. Resistance phase: resources are mobilised and being depleted by stress hormones.
3. Exhaustion phase: increased vulnerability to disease in weak body systems.

Question 14

Stress on ageing process

Answer 14

chronic levels damages telomeres and lowers telomerase

Question 15

Social supprort

Answer 15

• may enhance immune system functioning.
• may decrease distress
• can increase feelings of control
• reduce risk of people coping with stressors in maladaptive ways
• greater sense of identity

Question 16

fight or flight is mobilised by…

Answer 16

catecholamines and cortisol

Question 17

effects of cortisol

Answer 17

• last longer, can be more damaging
• reduces immune system functioning, creates fatty deposits in arteries
• catecholemines increase immune system functioing

Question 18

Type A behaviour pattern

Answer 18

• live under great pressure
• place high demands on themselves
• competitive, aggressive
• double risk of coronary heart disease

Question 19

characteristics of resilient children

Answer 19

• adequate intellectual functions
• social skills
• self-efficacy
• faith
• relationship with a caring, pro-social adult

Question 20

Problem-focussed coping

Answer 20

• attempts to confront and directly deal with the demands of the situation or change it so it is no longer stressful.
• eg. studying for a test

Question 21

Emotion-focused coping

Answer 21

• attempts to manage the emotional responses that result from stress.
  eg. denial, positive reinterpretation

Question 22

seeking social support

Answer 22

turning to others for assistance and emotional support in times of stress.

Question 23

Holahan and Moos (1990)

Answer 23

• Problem-focused coping & seeking social support more often associated with favourable adjustment to stressors
• Emotion-focused strategies can involve avoiding feelings or blaming other; this associated with depression & poorer adjustment

Question 24

Western culture coping with stress

Answer 24

favour problem-focused coping

Question 25

Asian cultures coping with stress

Answer 25

emotion-focused and social support

Question 26

Men response to stress

Answer 26

fight or flight | problem-focused coping as primary strategy

Question 27

women respond to stress

Answer 27

tend and befriend biological mechanisms underlying attachment and caregiving -seek social support and use emotion-focused coping

Question 28

Cognitive restructuring

Answer 28

used to systematically detect, challenge, and replace irrational ideas

Question 29

Self-instructional training

Answer 29

a technique in which people learn to talk to themselves and guide their behaviour

Question 30

Somatic relaxation training

Answer 30

voluntarily reducing or preventing high levels of arousal. | goal is to condition relaxation so that it can easily be reproduced in stressful situations.

Question 31

Cognitive relaxation

Answer 31

a peaceful, mind-clearing state produced by meditation.

Question 32

Pain as a survival function

Answer 32

warning signals-body is being threatened or damaged | triggers behaviour reactions- help us to cope with threat

Question 33

Biological Mechanisms of pain

Answer 33

1. nerve endings in skin and internal organs respond to intense stimulation 2. nerve impuleses sent to spinal chord and brain 3. info about pain relayed by thalamus to cerebral cortex. 4. info relayed to limbic system (controls the emotional component of pain)

Question 34

suffering

Answer 34

both painful sensations AND negative emotional response present

Question 35

Gate Control Theory

Answer 35

The experience of pain results in the opening and closing of gating mechanisms in the NS

Question 36

Central Control Mechanism

Answer 36

Nerve impulses in fibres from the brain can influence the spinal gate. - Thoughts, emotions, & beliefs can influence experience of pain - Pain is both physical & psychological

Question 37

Endorphines

Answer 37

nervous system natural analgeics (painkillers) | -inhibit the release of neurotransmitters involved in transmission of pain impulses from spinal chord to brain.

Question 38

People differ in their ability to handle pain because...

Answer 38

people have different number of opioid receptors. | individual ability to release endorphins.

Question 39

Stress-induced analgesia

Answer 39

a reduction or absence of pain that occurs in stressful conditions. can be adaptive or maladaptive

Question 40

Dissociative strategies

Answer 40

- Focus attention elsewhere, visualize a pleasant experience, repeat mantra - Most effective when they require a great deal of concentration

Question 41

Associative strategies

Answer 41

- Focus attention on physical sensation in a detached, unemotional way - More effective with intense pain