Health Psychology part 2 Flashcards
What are stress moderators?
Modify how stress is experienced and the effects it has
Which appraisal does stress moderators affect?
Both primary and secondary appraisals are affected
What is coping?
Stress moderator; the thoughts and behaviors used to manage the internal and external demands of situations that are appraised as stressful - think of challenge vs threat model
What are 2 key aspects of coping?
set of responses between the person and the environment that occurs over time
involves both positive and negative responses
What are the factors that determines one’s coping ability?
Negative and Positive Affect, Psychosocial resources and Psychological resilience
What is Negative Affect (NA)/neuroticism?
Pervasive experience of anger/hostility (Type A), anxiety, depression (Type D)
What is Chronic Negative Affect (NA)/neuroticism linked to?
elevated levels of stress indicators, e.g. cortisol
Poor health habits
Poorer response to treatments
illusions of poor health - think that they are sicker than they are
What is Positive Affect (PA)?
Positive emotions
What does the presence of Positive Affect (PA) is linked to?
lower levels of stress; better immune function and health
investing more time and effort to deal with stressors and obstacles
A host of traits and psychological resources that improve coping
Those who have neuroticism/Negative Affect have…
Higher baseline of stress - need more coping
What is emotional stability?
Not mere absence of NA or presence of PA - we experience both its more important to consider when we do experience NA and how fast do we recover
Name the 4 types of psychological resources
Optimism, Psychological control, self-esteem, conscientiousness
What is optimism?
Promotes active and persistent coping efforts
What is psychological control?
Believing that one can influence and change one’s behavior environment
- Primary (perceived) control: self-efficacy
- secondary control: collective efficacy, through working with family, friends, clinicians, therapists
What is self-esteem linked to in terms of stress response?
Linked to more effective coping, but typically under low or moderate stress compared to high stress
What is conscientiousness?
Highly disciplined, with clear goal and plan
What is conscientiousness linked to in terms of stress response?
Longevity, healthier behaviors and habits, higher adherence to treatment
What is psychological resilience?
“broader package’ of psychological resources: that modifies the experience of stress and helps one bounce back from bad experience and adapt flexibly to changing demands of stressful situations
What are some traits and characteristics linked to greater resilience?
Psychological resources, sense of purpose, meaning, and coherence about one’s life, having strong religious beliefs, Grit
What is a coping style?
Inclination toward dealing with stressful events in a particular way
What is the Approach coping style?
gathering information and/or directly taking action to confront stressors
What is Avoidant coping style?
Escaping from or minimizing efforts at confronting stressors
What is the difference between approach and avoidant coping style?
Approach coping is more adaptive than avoidant coping - although it incurs short-term anxiety, but overall long-term benefits
Avoidant coping helps relieve short-term anxiety, but may not promote long-term adaptive responses to stressors
What is problem-focusing coping?
Attempts to do something constructive to address the stressors
What is emotion-focused coping?
Efforts to regulate emotions experienced due to stressors
- involves working through the emotions experienced in relation to a stressors
In what situations are problem-focused and emotion-focused coping are effective?
Depends on type of problem
If something constructive can be realistically done -> problem-focused coping
Chronic physical condition e.g. terminal illness or environmental conditions e.g. poverty -> emotion-focused coping
What is proactive coping?
Anticipating potential stressors and acting in advance to prevent or reduce their impact
What does proactive coping depends on?
Ability to anticipate stressors, being equipped with the coping skills, ability to self-regulate and exercise self-efficacy
- cultivated with repeated experiences of coping over time
What are the 4 types of coping interventions?
Expressive writing, Self-affirmation, Relaxation Training, Mindfulness Mediation/Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
What is expressive writing?
Disclosing emotions from stress or trauma can be good for health
What are possible reasons on why expressive writing helps with stress?
Allows disinhibtion, clarification of emotions and affirming important personal values
Allows rationalizing and switching focus from negative to positive aspects of the situations
Meaning-making process through organizing thoughts
What is the limitation of expressive writing?
Less helpful when one is still meaning-seraching or meaning-making is difficult
What is self affirmation?
Form of writing intervention that involves writing about a personal value and how it is important (positive affirmation) before undergoing a stressful task
What does self affirmation do to us?
reduces physiological stress reactivity and feeling of distress in response to an upcoming or post stressors
- lower BP and HR levels among students prior to taking an exam when they affirmed their self
Why does self affirmation helps?
Remind people of their wide-ranging resources and abilities
Self-expansion; broadening their own perspective of who they are
Form of proactive coping
What is relaxation training?
Deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, transcendental mediation, guided imagery, yoga, listening to joyful music
How does relaxation training help us in reducing stress?
To reduce arousal - the physiological experience of stress
Reliably reduces HR, BP, muscle tension, inflammatory response, feeling of anxiety and psychological tension
What is mindfulness mediation or MBSR?
Mindfulness mediation involves striving for a state of mind marked by heightened awareness of the present, focusing on the moment, and accepting and acknowledging it without becoming distracted or distressed by stress
- draws on Buddhist meditative traditions and principles
-billion dollar industry
What are the claims of mindfulness based programs?
reductions in medical and psychological symptoms - anxiety, panics + psychological hardiness and greater sense of coherence
What are the issues of mindfulness?
Inconsistence definitions of mindfulness, novice, experts
Methodology: very small NS, non standardized lengths (5mins -3 month), RCTs that lack active control
Failure to disclose COIs
failure to monitor/report adverse events; mindfulness meditations is contraindicated for some disorders, bipolar, schizophrenia, ptsd
Too much mindfulness can backfire
-People who suffer from internalizing disorders - this level of non-judgement and acceptance may not for people suffering from externalizing disorders marked by higher levels of impulsivity
What is a more balanced perspective on mindfulness
Most mindfulness studies only care to demonstrate whether it works rather than why -> what are the active ingredients for mindfulness to be successful? -> knowing active ingredients help us which parts of mindfulness to promote and which parts to be more cautious about
Note: the lack of understanding of what the ‘active ingredients’ are in psychological interventions is a huge issue that is not unique to mindfulness interventions -> tldr mindfulness is not for everything, nor everyone nor the only thing
What is social support?
the information from others that one is loved and cared for, esteemed and valued, and part of a network of communication and mutual obligations - parents, spouse, partner, relatives, social and community circles
What are the 4 forms of social support?
tangible assistance, informational support, emotional support, ‘invisible’ support
What is tangible assistance?
providing material help e.g. money, cooking
What is informational support?
sharing information or experiences from someone who has gone through the same problems
What is emotional support?
providing care and concern for a friend/family member facing a stressors; assuring them that support is available
What is “invisible support”?
People can feel bad about receiving too much help, cases social support to backfire -> providing invisible support such that recipient is unaware of receiving help can help reduce feelings of guilt and burden