Introduction and Theoretical Perpsectives Flashcards
Health psychology is the combination of educational, professional and scientific contributions to the discipline of psychology involving…
Promotion and maintenance of health
Prevention and treatment of illness
Identification of etiologic and diagnostic correlates of health, illness, and related dysfunction
The cause(s) of an illness, disease or condition
Etiology
The identification of an illness or condition based on assessing/examining its symptoms
Diagnostic
Concerned with understanding health, illness, and related dysfunction, and the application of this knowledge to diagnosis, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation
Behavioural medicine
Name three subspecialties of health psychology
Clinical health psychology
Occupational health psychology
Community health psychology
Addresses management of symptoms and psychological consequences
Clinical health psychology
Addresses prevention and management of occupational stress
Occupational health psychology
Addresses community-wide health needs and healthcare systems
Community health psychology
Name three key contributions of health psychologists
Coping
Symptom management
Substantial savings in medical costs
Describe the holistic view of health as understood by Hippocrates and Galen
The mind and the body were part of the same system; A balance between physical and emotional states was necessary to sustain overall health
What does Cartesian dualism suggest?
Mind and body are separate entities; Explanations for illness can be found in the body alone
Initially focused on illness behaviour that could be attributed to psychological causes; Emphasized etiology and pathogenesis of physical disease
Psychosomatic medicine
Coined the term “psychosomatic medicine”
Johann Chritian August Heinroth
Father of modern psychiatry; “Actions of the mind can cause many illnesses”
Benjamin Rush
Believed that certain symptoms represented manifestations of unconscious conflicts
Sigmund Freud
Believed that physical disease can be the result of “fundamental, nuclear, or psychological conflict”
Franz Alexander
Founding editor of Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
Helen Flanders Dunbar
Created the biopsychosocial model
Guze, Matarazzo, and Saslow
What was the uptake in the popularity of mind-body balance reflected by?
A steady increase in understanding and endorsement of citations in which “biomedical”, “biobehavioural” and “biopsychosocial” are mentioned in medical publications.
Explain the biopsychosocial model
Forms the conceptual basis of health psychology
Considers the interplay and integration of biological, psychological, and social factors on health
How does the biopsychosocial model contrast with the medical model of disease?
The medical model of disease separates the physical and psychosocial
Magnification, rumination, and helplessness
Catastrophizing
What are three risk factors for chronic pain?
Anxiety, depression, and catastrophizing
Name three things the biopsychosocial model can be used to understand
Etiology (the cause of a condition)
The exacerbation or decrease in symptoms (maintenance)
Help plan intervention, help focus on certain areas.
What are three main criticisms of the biopsychosocial model?
Too eclectic, meaning that it does not indicate where to start when focusing our understanding, and suggests that our understanding must be divided evenly among the three components.
Poor boundaries between the components
Can confuse or conflate etiology and treatment.
In the health belief model, readiness to take action in relation to a health problem is a function of what two things?
Beliefs about health conditions (percieved severity, perceived risk, perceived barriers to action)
Perception of the benefits of taking action to prevent health problems
Describe the mechanism of the health belief model (study figure 1.3)
Individual perceptions impact modifying factors which impact likelihood of action
Name four types of individual perceptions (health belief model)
Perceived susceptibility
Perceived severity
Perceived benefits of preventative action
Perceived barriers to preventative action
What are four modifying factors (health belief model)
Demographic variables
Sociopsychological variables
Perceived threat
Cues to action
What are four types of cues to action (health belief model)
Information
Reminders
Persuasive communication
Experience
What does the health belief model help us understand?
Non-compliance
According to social cognitive theory, human behaviour is reflected by a three-way model including…
Interaction of personal factors
Environmental influence
Behaviour
What are the four central constructs of social cognitive theory?
The belief in one’s own ability to cope with and deal with pain
The belief in one’s own ability to cope with and deal with pain
Pain self-efficacy
What is the relationship between self-efficacy and health-related behaviours?
Self-efficacy plays a large role in determining health-related behaviours that influence healing, coping, and medication adherence
Low self-efficacy can be managed with which four things?
Social support
Address catastrophizing
Modeling
New or different coping strategies
According to the theory of planned behaviour, behaviour is determined by which three things?
Behavioural beliefs
Normative beliefs
Control beliefs
Lead to favourable/unfavourable attitudes; Beliefs about outcomes of behaviours (Theory of planned behaviour)
Behavioural beliefs
Lead to a perceived social pressure related to subjective norm; What others think (Theory of planned behaviour)
Normative beliefs
Lead to a perception of behavioural control; Things that make a behaviour more difficult (theory of planned behaviour)
Control beliefs
Study the theory of planned behaviour diagram
N/A
What has the theory of planned behaviour been criticized for?
Criticized for neglecting emotion and cultural factors.
Describe the common-sense model of self-regulation
Theoretical framework that describes the way people process and cope with health threats
Individuals form a lay view of their health based on various sources of information
Rules people use to make decisions and judgements about health (common sense model of self-regulation)
Health cognitive heuristics
In the common sense model of self-regulation, there is a continuous feedback between…
The efficacy of how people cope with health threats and their perceptions of the health threat
Describe the cognitive behavioural perspective
Most commonly, this is about helping the clinician conceptualize how the individual responds to symptoms or their medical condition
Thoughts, behaviours, and emotions are interconnected
Briefly describe the transtheoretical model of behaviour change
Describes stages of change people may experience when modifying health behaviours
Importance of matching treatments plans to stage/readiness for change leads to best results
What are the six stages of the transtheoretical model of behaviour change?
Precontemplation
Contemplation
Preparation
Action
Maintenance
Termination
The health psychologist’s knowledge base includes which three things?
Historical relationships between health psychology and basic sciences, public health, and clinical investigation
Mechanistic and mediational pathways between contextual, psychosocial and biological phenomena as they relate to disease progression, health promotion, and illness prevention
Dynamic interactions between populations and contextual variations (demographics) on health behaviour or health outcomes
What are three ways in which health psychologists apply their knowledge?
Assessing biopsychosocial and behavioural risk factors for the development of physical illness, injury, or disability
Design and evaluate empirically supported health promotion, prevention, and other interventions appropriate to target populations in the context of an interdisciplinary team
Work towards translation of research findings to applied settings
What are five things a clinical health psychologist might ask about?
Emotional impact of the health condition
Impact on quality of life and functioning
Pre-existing mental health or psychosocial variables impacting a person’s ability to cope
Potential maladaptive behaviours that may need to be addresses
Story of their illness and relevant information about them (and their family)
Understand their illness or condition, known risk factors, and consequences
Psychoeducation
What are three things a clinical psychologist might target?
Psychoeducation
Help the client identify, understand, and manage their specific challenges
Help the client develop new coping strategies, identify barriers, and form a plan
What are three things the future of health psychology will emphasize?
Cost-effectiveness
Translating knowledge into practice
Improve delivery of services through technology
