Mental and Physical Health Flashcards
WHO (1948) definition of physical health
“a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”
Is there a bidirectional Link between mental and physical health ?
There is a bidirectional link between mental and physical health. English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA, Ohrnberger et al., 2017)
Included 10,693 participants and found that past mental and physical health have strong direct and indirect effects on current mental and physical health.
What did the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019 (UK data; Murray et al., 2020) find
The Factors that drive the most death and disability combined:Tobacco, High body mass index, High blood pressure
The Factors less likely to drive the most death and disability combined:Drug use and Air pollution
What did Everest et al., 2022 say about risk prevention
Smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol use are all leading risk behaviours driving preventable ill health and premature mortality
Lifestyle choices are critical prevention targets
What do health psychologists do for physical health?
- use their knowledge of psychology and health to promote general well-being and understand physical illness.
- are specially trained to help people deal with the psychological and emotional aspects of health and illness as well as supporting people who are chronically ill.
- promote healthier lifestyles and try to find ways to encourage people to improve their health.
- use their skills to try to improve the healthcare system (e.g., doctor-patient communication) and health policy
What is personological epidemiology ?
The study of the links between personality traits and health & disease
What is cognitive epidemiology ?
The study of the links between intellectual abilities and health & disease
What did Murray & Booth (2015) systematic review find
They found that personality traits (in particular conscientiousness and neuroticism) have small but important effects on health and longevity (long life). E.g cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure
Strong link between personality and illness
What are the four links between personality and physical health according to Suls and Rittenhouse (1990) and Smith and Williams (1992).
- Personality -> behaviours -> illness
- Personality -> biological activities -> illness
- Biological causes -> personality -> illness
- Illness -> personality
Explain the Personality -> behaviours -> illness link
Having certain personality traits causes individuals to engage in (health) behaviours that influence their health/increase the risk of illness. Risky behaviours, e.g., smoking, substance abuse, unprotected sex
protective behaviours, e.g., proper nutrition, weight control, physical activity, sleep, immunizations, safe driving.
Research related to Personality -> behaviours -> illness link
- Lee et al., 2012 - Physical inactivity identified as one of the leading risk factors of global mortality
- Allen et al., 2014 - Personality traits associated with sport performance (athletic success) and physical activity (exercise participation) but also unhealthy exercise behaviour
- Allen et al., 2011 - athletes competing in national/international competitions report higher conscientiousness and lower neuroticism than do those competing in regional competitions
- Rhodes & Smith, 2006 - high extraversion and conscientiousness and low neuroticism relate to high levels of physical activity
- Tolea et al., 2012 - older adults with high extraversion have greater muscular strength
- Lichtenstein et al., 2014 - Excitement seeking (extraversion), achievement striving (conscientiousness), and straightforwardness/compliance (agreeableness) have strongest associations with exercise addiction
- Hakulinen et al. (2015); meta-analysis of 9 cohort studies
non-smokers: higher extraversion and lower conscientiousness predicted smoking initiation. ex-smokers: higher neuroticism predicted smoking relapse - Hajek et al. (2020); meta-analysis of 15 studies
higher neuroticism linked to; increased use of general practice/physician visits, dental care use, use of medication, use of any emergency department
Explain the link between Personality -> biological activities -> illness
Personality may directly influence biological activities that influence the development of a physical disease
Explain the link between Personality -> biological activities -> illness and coronary heart disease
Friedman and Rosenman (1959) identified a coronary-prone behaviour pattern which they labelled Type A personality
What are Type A personality traits
- Achievement oriented and competitive
- Hardworking and at high levels of alternness
- Unhappy with time wasting and serious about deadlines
- Easily roused to anger when goals are obstructed
What are Type B personality traits
- Less interested in achievement and competition
- Relaxed and unhurried
- Rarely driven in a compulsive manner
- More likely to take life as it comes