Intro to Behavioral Science Flashcards
The traditional medical model that the mind and body are separate is called ___________
Cartesian concept
The BPSS model postulates that health is an interaction between which four factors?
psychological, biological, social, spiritual
Describe some social factors in the BPSS model
SES, social support, class, environment, cultural norms
Approximately 1 in ___ Americans will have at least one mental disorder in their lifetime
2
___% of those with mental disorders are treated by a family MD
95
Define a somaticizer
Patient with vague symptoms that cannot be explained by a specific medical issue - ex stomachaches in anxiety disorder
What population is motivational interviewing useful for?
More stubborn people who don’t want to make changes
Describe the results of the asthma/RA and stressful writing study
Half of those in the experimental group who wrote about a stressful event improved versus 24% of those in control group that wrote about day’s activities
* thought it helped with coping
Which of the following is not true about the asthma/RA and stressful writing study?
a) It was a blind assessment
b) There was a follow-up at 2 weeks, 2 months, and 4 months
c) Participants were not aware that it was a study on stress
d) Arthritis results were only statistically significant at 16 weeks, whereas asthma was statistically significant at each follow up
c)
Participants were aware it was a study on stress
Describe advantages and disadvantages of asthma/RA and stressful writing study
Adv: study was brief so easy add on to treatment
Disadv: no mechanism known
Describe the limitations of the stressful writing study
Don’t know seasonal effects, no follow up after 4 months, no knowledge of mechanism
Describe the results of the psychosocial treatment of breast cancer study?
Survival time for intervention group was double that of control group
Describe the design of the psychosocial treatment of breast cancer study?
Patients had metastatic breast Cancer
Experimental group assigned to 3 90 min sessions weekly of therapy
Why were the patients in the breast cancer study not told the therapy would affect the course of the dz?
Ethics - cannot tell people that life elongation is expected with no data
When did the divergence in survival begin during the breast cancer study?
after 20 months from study onset
Out of the 15 trials included in the 2014 meta-analysis of trials, how many showed that psychotherapy does help cancer survival?
8
What are the 5 elements that Spiegel’s hypothesis postulates work together to determine cancer survival?
depression, endocrine activation, circadian rhythms, telomeres, immune defenses
Describe the results of the 11 year breast cancer study
More intervention group (83%) had survived versus control (70%) group. It was statistically significant only after 160 months
What are confounders in the 11 year breast cancer study?
treatment encourage pts to be more assertive with doctor, treatment encouraged adherence to meds
What can we conclude about studies investigating effect of psychotherapy on cancer survival?
MORE, LARGER studies need to be done
Describe the results of the psychological stress and cold virus study?
Rates of clinical infection and colds increase in a dose-response relationship with stress (even after variables such as age, sex, smoking, alcohol controlled)
What are alternative explanations of psych stress and cold virus study?
lack of sleep, lack of regular meals
Describe the results of the social ties and common cold study
Those with more diverse social ties had fewer colds and better recovery
What are confounders in the social ties and common cold study
Smoking and less exercise associated with people with less social ties
Describe the results of the psychosocial interventions for heart disease meta-analysis
Control subjects sent to standard rehab (no psychosocial tx) had greater mortality and cardiac recurrence within 2 years follow up
The psychosocial interventions for heart disease meta-analysis found great reductions in what (4)?
psychological distress, systolic BP, heart rate, cholesterol
Give some other examples of studies linking behavior and health
- leisure activities –> less risk of dementia
- laughter –> lower blood sugar in type II diabetics
- lonely students –> decrease immune response to flu shot
- 30 min marital argument –> delayed wound healing by a day
