Intro to health psychology

Question 1

What is psychology?

Answer 1

Formal study of the mind and behaviour

Conclusions are based on systematic observation and experiment

Question 2

What is health psychology?

Answer 2

relatively new field concerned with all aspects of health and illness across the lifespan

devoted to understanding the psychological influences on health and illness and people’s behaviours in response to illness.

Question 3

Why do we need health psychology?

Answer 3

investigate mind-body relationship

psychosocial factor are big influencers in health and disease

Question 4

What are the goals of health psychology?

Answer 4

• promote and maintain health
• prevent and treat illness
• ID cause and detection of illness (influence of personality and cognitive processes)
• improve healthcare and policy

Question 5

What is the biomedical model of health?

Answer 5

Illness and injury are biological problems with biomedical solutions

Ignores psychological and sociocultural factors that are important in diagnosis, treatment and recovery

Limiting model

Question 6

What is the biopsychosocial model of health?

Answer 6

Dx and Rx: should be informed by:

• BIOLOGICAL FACTORS (e.g., genetic predisposition)
• PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
  (e. g., personality, lifestyle, stress, health beliefs)
• SOCIAL FACTORS
  (e. g., cultural influences, family relationships, social support).

Mind and body cannot be distinguished in illness and health

Question 7

What are the type of research conduced in psychology?

Answer 7

• quantitative

- qualitative

Question 8

What does health psychology research examine?

Answer 8

• causes+development of illness
• methods to promote good health and prevent illness
• Rx people get for medical problems
• effectiveness that people cope and reduce stress/pain
• biopsychosocial connections in immune functioning
• recovery, rehab, and adjustment for serious health issues