Psychological Influences on Health

Question 1

What are the 5 categories behaviours are defined as?

HAPPS

Answer 1

Health behaviour
-ill behaviours

Adaptive behaviour
-maladaptive

Prevention behaviour
-detection

Public behaviour
-private

Service-use behaviours
-self care

Question 2

What are the key risk factors for chronic disease? (5)

Answer 2

• smoking
• poor diet
• overweight/obesity
• lack of physical activity
• excessive alcohol consumption

Question 3

What are the 4 determinants of health behaviour?

Answer 3

Background factors: Characteristics that define the context in which people live their lives; shared understanding and ways of knowing the world

Stable factors: Individual differences (personality) in psychological activity that are stable over time and context

Social factors: Social connections in the immediate environment; mostly stable, but can be fragile, e.g. when in conflict with background factors

Situational factors: Appraisal of personal relevance that shape responses in a specific situation

Question 4

How can stable factor influence appraisal? (3)

Answer 4

they determine if, and to what extent, an event is salient, i.e. sensitivity towards particular types of event

they provide a generalised framework for understanding and evaluating the event, e.g. as threat or challenge

they make available, or suggest, potential responses, i.e. initial response options

Question 5

What are the 3 broad types of individual differences?

Answer 5

Emotional dispositions: Psychological processes involved in both the experience and expression (present)

Generalised expectancies: Psychological processes involved in formulating expectations in relation to future outcomes (future)

Explanatory styles: Psychological processes involved in explaining the causes of negative events
(past)