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Health Psychology Flashcards

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1
Q

Stress as a stimulus

A

Stressors: Events that place strong demands on us/threatening situations
“I’ve got a lot of stress in my life right now. I have three exams next week, I lost my notes…”

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2
Q

Stress as a response

A

cognitive, physiological & behavioural components
Response to stressors
“I’m feeling stressed out. I’m tensed up. I’m having trouble concentrating, and I’ve been flying off the handle all week.”
Negative emotions involved

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3
Q

Stress as an on-going transaction between the organism & environment

A

A pattern of cognitive appraisals, physiological responses, & behavioural tendencies that occurs in response to a perceived imbalance between situational demands & the resources needed to deal with them
A person-situation interaction

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4
Q

Stressor

A

Stimulus that place demands on us & require us to adapt in some way
Physical (e.g., weight-lifting, physical injury)
Psychological (e.g., teasing, upcoming exams)

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5
Q

Eustress vs. Distress

A

Eustress: Optimal level, beneficial, enhancing performance
Distress: Demands outweighing resources

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6
Q

Microstressors

A

Daily hassles & annoyances

E.g., traffic jam, difficult colleague

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7
Q

Major negative events

A

Personal negative events placing major demands on the individual
E.g., divorce, death of a loved one, serious illness

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8
Q

Catastrophic events

A

Tend to occur unexpectedly & affect large numbers of people
E.g., acts of war, natural disasters
Aka cataclysmic events
Powerful single life-events requiring major adaptive responses

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9
Q

Measuring Stress

A

Physiological measures
E.g., heart rate, blood pressure, stress hormones

Questionnaires concerned with stressors experienced
E.g., life events scales, daily hassles scales

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10
Q

Approach-approach conflict

A

Two desirable options, but only one can be chosen

E.g., going to a party or going on a trip

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11
Q

Approach-avoidance conflict

A

A scenario which has both desirable & unattractive options
E.g., win an award (acknowledgement) but have to give an acceptance speech

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12
Q

Avoidance-avoidance conflict

A

Two unattractive options

E.g., study or wash dishes

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13
Q

Physiological response to stress

A

General Adaptation Syndrome
Our body responds to stress (i.e., what we perceive)
Think about when you are stressed: Heart beats faster, maybe sweating, struggle to breathe

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14
Q

Cognitive response to stress

A

Cognitive Appraisal Model
We often respond to situations as we appraise (perceive) them
Think about: Why do I respond in one way to public speaking but you in another way

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15
Q

General Adaptation Syndrome

A

A physiological response pattern to strong & prolonged stressors
Organisms have a general, non-specific response to a variety of stressful events
1. Alarm phase
2. Resistance phase
3. Exhaustion phase

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16
Q

Alarm phase

A

Activation of the sympathetic nervous system & release of stress hormones by the endocrine system

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17
Q

Resistance phase

A

Resources are mobilised (& being depleted) by stress hormones

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18
Q

Exhaustion phase

A

Increased vulnerability to disease in weak body systems

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19
Q

Primary appraisal

A

Positive, negative, neutral/irrelevant or threatening?

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20
Q

Secondary appraisal

A

Can I cope? Do I have the resources?

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21
Q

Aspects of the appraisal process

A

Appraise nature & demands of situation (primary appraisal)
Appraise resources available to cope with it (secondary appraisal)
Judgments of potential consequences (e.g., if fail to cope)
Appraise personal meaning, or what the outcome might imply about us

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22
Q

Health Psychology

A

Addresses factors that influence well-being & illness, as well as measures that can be taken to promote health & prevent illness

23
Q

Effects of stress on well-being

A

Can combine with other physical & psychological factors to influence physical illness
Directly harm body systems via physiological response
Indirectly stress can cause people to behave in ways increasing risk of illness
Can accelerate the aging process
Chronic levels damage telomeres & lowers telomerase, speeding up aging
Can weaken immune system functioning

24
Q

Vulnerability factors

A

Personal & environmental factors that make people more reactive to stressful events
Reduce resistance to stress
E.g., low social support, poor coping skills, tendencies to become anxious or pessimistic

25
Q

Protective factors

A

Personal & environmental resources that help people cope more effectively with stressful events
Increase resistance to stress
Physiological reactivity, social support, effective coping skills, & personality factors such as hardiness, optimism, & ability to find meaning in stressful events

26
Q

Protective Factors (examples)

A 
Social support
Personality traits/personal hardiness
Personal control
Physiological reactivity/exercise
Protective factors in children
27
Q

Social Support

protective factor

A

May enhance immune system functioning
May decrease psychological distress
Greater sense of identity & meaning, resulting in greater psychological well-being
Reduced exposure to other risk factors (e.g., loneliness)
Can increase feelings of control over stressors
Can reduce the risk of people coping with stressors in maladaptive ways

28
Q

Type A behaviour pattern

A

personality trait
Tend to live under great pressure
Demand much of themselves & others
High levels of competitiveness, ambition, aggressiveness, & hostility
Double the risk for coronary heart disease
Driven by negative emotions (e.g., anger, cynical hostility & overreaction to stressful events)

29
Q

Coping efficacy & control

A

personality trait

Coping self-efficacy: the belief that we can perform behaviours necessary to cope successfully

30
Q

Optimism & positive attitudes

A

personality trait
Optimists are at lower risk for anxiety, depression, & many illnesses
People with positive attitudes live longer

31
Q

Finding meaning in stressful life events

A

Finding personal meaning in catastrophic events can lessen effects of stress

32
Q

personality traits

A

Coping efficacy & control
Optimism & positive attitudes
Finding meaning in stressful life events

33
Q

Characteristics of Resilient Children

A 
Adequate intellectual functioning
Social skills
Self-efficacy
Faith (optimism & hope)
Relationship with at least one caring, pro-social adult
34
Q

Physiological Reactivity

A

Catecholamines & cortisol mobilise

the “fight-or-flight” response

35
Q

Effects of cortisol and Catecholamines

A

last longer
may be more damaging
Cortisol reduces immune system functioning, creates fatty deposits in the arteries leading to heart disease
Catecholamines increase immune system functioning – also created during physical exercise

36
Q

Coping with Stress

A

Problem-focused coping
Emotion-focused coping
Seeking social support

37
Q

Problem-focused coping

A

Strategies that attempt to confront & directly deal with the demands of the situation or to change the situation so that it is no longer stressful
E.g., studying for test, go to someone to work out a misunderstanding
Most successful in controllable situations

38
Q

Emotion-focused coping

A

Strategies that attempt to manage the emotional responses that result from it
E.g., denial, positive reinterpretation
can involve avoiding feelings or blaming others; this associated with depression & poorer adjustment
Emotion-focused strategies more helpful when uncontrollable situations

39
Q

Seeking social support

A

Turning to others for assistance and emotional support in times of stress
E.g., turn towards a teacher
Most successful in controllable situations

40
Q

Gender differences in coping strategies

A

Men more likely to use problem-focused coping as a primary strategy
Women more likely to seek social support & use emotion-focused coping

41
Q

Gender differences in response to stress

A

Men favour ‘fight or flight’
Women favour ‘tend and befriend’
Tend: nurturing activities designed to protect the self, offspring, & significant others
Befriend: the creation & maintenance of social networks
Tend & befriend pattern may be the product of biological mechanisms underlying attachment & caregiving

42
Q

Coping with stress

A

Emotional disclosure - Disclosing trauma can enhance immune system functioning, lower stress, reduce depression, & help the person cope with stress more effectively
Using language to express emotions
Write or talk about events that lead to strong emotions
Relaxation training - E.g., progressive muscle relaxation, autogenic training
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

43
Q

Stress Management Training

A

Cognitive restructuring
Self-instructional training
Somatic relaxation training
Cognitive relaxation

44
Q

Cognitive restructuring

A

Used to systematically detect, challenge, & replace irrational ideas

45
Q

Self-instructional training

A

A technique in which people learn to talk to themselves & guide their behaviour in ways that help them cope more effectively

46
Q

Somatic relaxation training

A

Voluntarily reducing or preventing high levels of arousal

Goal is to condition relaxation so that it can be easily reproduced in stressful situations

47
Q

Cognitive relaxation

A

A peaceful, mind-clearing state produced through meditation

48
Q

Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)

A

Best predictor of behaviour is the person’s intention to perform the behaviour
Intention = the person’s motivation to behave in a particular way, indicating how much effort a person is willing to invest in order to perform the behaviour

49
Q

Intention determined by

TPB

A

Attitude towards the specific behaviour
Attitudes refer to beliefs about outcomes & the evaluations of the importance of each of these outcomes
Subjective norm/perceived social pressure to perform the behaviour
Behavioural control
Beliefs in their abilities to perform the behaviour as well as perceptions of obstacles

50
Q

Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change

A
  1. Pre-contemplation
    No problem perceived
  2. Contemplation
    Problem perceived or desire to change, but not yet decided to act
  3. Preparation
    Decided to take action, making preliminary plans
  4. Action
    Actively engaging in behaviour change
  5. Maintenance
    Successful in avoiding relapse & controlled target behaviour for > 6 mths
  6. Termination
51
Q

Obesity disease risks

A

cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, diabetes

52
Q

Health Promotion

A

motivational interviewing
A technique that leads the person to his or her own conclusion by asking questions that focus on discrepancies between the current state & the individual’s ideal self-image, desired behaviours, & desired outcome (cognitive dissonance)

Education a crucial component of behaviour change but motivation is key

53
Q

technique of motivational interviewing

A

Motivated, willing, ready
Primary goal: elicit motivation from client
Tailor interventions to meet person’s stage of readiness
Use of cognitive dissonance (goals vs. current behaviour)
Focus on self-efficacy
Emphasis on own potential, motivation, internal locus of control

Psychology (8 decks)

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