Lecture 9 - Health

Question 1

Define Health Psychology

Answer 1

Is the understanding of psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why they become ill and how they respond when they do get ill.

Question 2

What is ‘health’ in the context of psych?

Answer 2

Complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (World health organisation, 1948)

Question 3

What is the fundamental role of health psychology?

Answer 3

To understand how psychological influences help people to stay healthy or contribute to illness. Searches for ways in which to prevent illness , thus are involved in government initiatives to establish health policy agendas.

Question 4

What 4 factors guide decisions about health related behaviours? (Rosenstock’s health belief model)

Answer 4

Perceiving a personal threat or susceptibility.
Belief that changing behaviour will reduce the threat.
Perceiving the seriousness and consequences of an illness.
Perceived costs and benefits of changing.

Question 5

What other cognitive factors may play a role in health related behaviour?

Answer 5

Self efficacy - the belief the one has the capacity to perform some behaviour.
Intention - To want engage in a behaviour for the essence of improving health. to improve health

Question 6

What are the 5 stages James Prochaska and his colleagues put forth?

Answer 6

Precontemplation: Perceives no threat and no intention to change.
Contemplation: Recognises that problematic behaviour need changing and thinking about doing it. (ppl often stop here).
Preparation: The person has a strong intention to change, has specific plans, and may take some initial steps.
Action: Successfully making behaviour change. Must remain successful for 6 months before they reach final stage.
Maintenance: The person uses their newly acquired skills to continue the healthy behaviour and prevent relapse.

Question 7

What is stress?

Answer 7

Refers to a challenge to a person’s capacity to adapt to inner and outer demands.

Question 8

What do stressful experiences do?

Answer 8

Psychobiological phenomenon. Produce physiological and emotional arousal. Also elicit cognitive and behavioural efforts to cope with the stress.

Question 9

What are the components of the stress process?

Answer 9

Stressors, stress reactions, stress mediators. These components affect one another.

Question 10

What are stressors?

Answer 10

Circumstances that disrupt or threaten to disrupt, individual’s daily functioning and can cause people to make adjustments e.g catastrophic events, daily hassles, life changes and strains

Question 11

What are stress mediators?

Answer 11

Perceptions of control of threat, social support and coping skills - in which minimise or magnify a stressors impact.

Question 12

What is the SRRS?

Answer 12

The Social Readjustment Rating Scale created by Holmes and Rahe based on the assumption that all change, positive or negative is stressful. Thus, stress = sum of recent life change units (LCUs). The more life changing events in history the more susceptible to stress,.

Question 13

What is LES?

Answer 13

Life experience survey. Measure life events and cognitive appraisals. New stressors may also be added by respondents.

Question 14

Define psychological stressors?

Answer 14

Any event that forces a person to adapt

Question 15

What are catastrophic events?

Answer 15

A psych stressor. Sudden, unexpected, potentially life threatening experiences or traumas. E.g physical and sexual assault, military combat, natural disasters, terrorist attacks and accidents etc.

Question 16

What are life changes and strains?

Answer 16

Psych stressor. Creates demands to which people must adjust, including divorce, family illness, and difficulties at work.

Question 17

What are chronic problems?

Answer 17

Psych stressor: Continue over a long period of time and include circumstances such as living near a noisy airport, or in a high crime neighbourhood, having a serious illness, being unable to earn a decent living, being the victim of discrimination, and even enduring years of academic pressure.

Question 18

What are daily hassles?

Answer 18

Psych stressor: Irritations, pressures, and annoyances that might not be significant stressors by themselves but whose cumulative effects can be significant.

Question 19

What is the General Adaptation Syndrome?

Answer 19

GAS- 3 stages of physical responses to stress;
Alarm: Release of adrenaline and other hormones (fight or flight response)
Resistance: Respiration and heart rate return to normal, glucose levels and some stress related hormones remain high.
Exhaustion: After prolonged stress the body’s defences break down, increased vulnerability to infection/disease

Question 20

What are the explicit emotional responses to stress?

Answer 20

If stressors are consistent emotional reactions may persist: may cause tension, sadness or anxiety.
Usually stops after stressors disappear.

Question 21

What is the cognitive response to stress?

Answer 21

Reductions in the ability to concentrate, think clearly or remember accurately. Thus, likely to be impulsive.
Ruminative thinking, catastrophising, mental sets, functional fixedness, impaired decision making.

Question 22

What is the behavioural response to stress?

Answer 22

Changes in how people look, act, or talk. May have negative impacts on health. Facial expressions, shaky voice, tremors or spasms, and jumpiness.

Question 23

Examples of some behavioural attempts to avoid stressors?

Answer 23

Alcohol abuse, overeating (high fat comfort foods), changes in sleep patterns, attempting suicide.

Question 24

Exporure to high levels or stress can lead to an increased mortality rate and greater incidence of coronary heart disease. True or false?

Answer 24

True

Question 25

What repercussions can chronic stress lead to?

Answer 25

Permanent cell death, alter structure of brain, influence on mortality, and may have a link to the vulnerability in developing cancer.
Headaches, flue, sore throat, intestinal ulcers, backaches, heart attack.

Question 26

What is the effect of stress on the immune system?

Answer 26

Psychoneuroimmunology. Impairs or suppresses the immune system i.e Leukocytes (T and B cells) macrophages. Thus, more susceptible to autoimmune disorders.

Question 27

What are the stress mediators?

Answer 27

Cognitive appraisal, predictability and control,coping methods (problem focused or emotional focused), social support.

Question 28

What are some cognitive coping strategies?

Answer 28

Thinking calmly, rationally and constructively.
Replace catastrophic thinking by viewing stressors as challenges rather than threats.
Cognitive restructuring: Identify upsetting thought and practice more constructive thoughts to use under stress. Will not eliminate stressors, but will seem less threatening and less disruptive.

Question 29

What are some emotional coping strategies?

Answer 29

Finding social support - feeling that you are cared about and valued by others. Associated with improved immune function and more rapid recovery from illness.

Question 30

What are some behavioural coping strategies?

Answer 30

Change behaviour in ways that minimise the impact of stressors e.g improved time management.
Helps control catastrophising thoughts by providing reassurance that there is a way to handle things.

Question 31

What are the effects of drugs as a physical coping strategy?

Answer 31

May becomes psychologically dependant on the drug.
Effects may interfere with the ability to use other coping strategies.
Could even perhaps make stressors seem more threatening or disruptive.

Question 32

What are some non-chemical physical coping strategies?

Answer 32

Progressive muscle relaxation training, physical exercise, biofeedback, yoga, meditation, tai chi.