Week 1 Goals of health psychology Flashcards
Exam prep.
Health is a ___ concept
dynamic
there is evidence that during the Stone Age (10000–2000 BC), ___were seen as a cause of ill health
‘evil spirits’
predominating through Ancient Hebrew (100–300 BC) and early Christian (600 AD) belief systems____was responsible for healh
Religion.
Greek physician Hippocrates (460–370 BC), believed that the mind and body were one, and that external____ could lead to humour imbalance, and in turn, ill health
pathogens
who believed temperament produced by body humours
and influenced susceptibility to illness
Galen (129 – 199 AD)
The Biomedical Model of Illness
- Founded in dualism (Descartes, 1596-1650) – mind and body as separate
- All illness arises from an abnormality in the body, referred to as disease
- All diseases give rise to symptoms
- Health is the absence of disease
- Mental disturbances are separate from and unrelated to bodily disturbances
- The patient has no responsibility for the disease
- The patient is a passive recipient of treatment
the ‘father of pathology,’
Virchow
biomedical science has produced ____, _____ and ____, which have led to substantive reductions in infectious illness (e.g. smallpox) in many societies
antibiotics, vaccines and countless pharmacotherapies
the majority of the healthcare burden is now driven by chronic illness including____,____,____,____ and ___
cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer and mental health conditions
In particular, ___,____,____,___ and ____ are critical and ubiquitous risk factors for chronic illness
smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, poor diet and physical inactivity
n Australia, the contribution of s___to ____ risk must also be acknowledged
sun exposure , skin cancer
Other behavioural factors, such as ____ and ___, are becoming increasingly recognised as risk factors for health
sleep loss and disruption of our daily rhythms
The elevated risk of chronic illness with increasing ____ is also a prominent concern for health psychology
stress
life expectancy has been estimated at 56 years in male and 63 years in female Indigenous Australians, compared to 76.6 years and 82.1 years or non-Indigenous males and females respectively. T or F
true
The___acknowledges the
importance of biological, psychological and social factors
in health and illness
biopsychosocial model
Even in the case where pain has an obvious physical cause, we know that the experience of pain can be influenced by ___ factors
psychosocial
___ ___ puts individual behaviour in context through interactions with social, environmental and societal factors
ecological model
Health psychology is informed by a spectrum of psychological perspectives, including the following: ___, ___, ___ and ___
evolutionary, cognitive, behaviourst, humanist
What is essential for health psychologists in Australia to produce optimal outcomes for clients?
The ability to approach different situations from any or all of the different perspectives on the biopsychosocial model.
What skills are expected of health psychologists in Australia according to the Australian Psychological Society?
Skills in areas of intervention, treatment, and research.
A model that integrates biological, psychological, and social factors in understanding health and illness.
Biopsychosocial Model
A workplace that involves professionals from various disciplines collaborating towards a common goal.
Multidisciplinary Workplace
A professional organization representing psychologists in Australia, which includes various colleges focusing on different areas of psychology.
Australian Psychological Society (APS)
What role do health psychologists play in hospitals?
Health psychologists work as critical players in multidisciplinary research teams, utilizing their skills to integrate different perspectives and research talents.
Research design refers to the plan that outlines how to conduct research, including various methodologies such as longitudinal studies and experimental evaluations of interventions.
Research Design
What skills do health psychologists contribute to research teams in hospitals?
Health psychologists contribute skills in research design, logistics, statistical analysis, report and manuscript writing, and grant and ethics application.
Adherence to treatment refers to the extent to which patients follow prescribed health instructions, ranging from cognitive-behavioral therapy to medication regimens.
Adherence to Treatment
How can health psychologists help improve hygiene practices in hospitals?
Health psychologists can improve hygiene practices by using research findings to implement educational interventions for staff, patients, and visitors to enhance adherence to best practices.
What role does a health psychologist play in health coaching?
A health psychologist incorporates health coaching to help clients develop health-friendly behaviors to cope with conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.
A process in which health psychologists help clients develop healthier behaviors and coping strategies for managing health conditions.
Health Coaching
Why is timing significant in the intervention strategies of health psychologists?
Timing is crucial because health psychologists may be able to help clients change damaging behaviors after they have been diagnosed with a health condition, rather than before problems have become evident.
The bonds that bring individuals together in a support network, which health psychologists can assist with during critical adjustment periods, such as chronic illness diagnosis and treatment.
Social Cohesion
How can cultural and social factors influence a client’s ability to change health-related behaviors?
Cultural and social factors, such as family norms, peer influence, and community standards, can sustain unhealthy behaviors and limit a client’s options for making changes, despite their desire to do so.
What do correlational designs in psychology research focus on?
Correlational designs focus on the relationships between variables.
A research design where participants answer a survey at one point in time.
Cross-sectional design
How can a longitudinal design be characterized?
A longitudinal design involves participants answering a survey multiple times, allowing researchers to link responses over time.
A study that compares two or more pre-existing populations, such as smokers versus non-smokers, without a baseline measure.
Quasi-experimental study
Why are animal models used in experimental studies?
Animal models are used due to ethical considerations in examining health outcomes related to exposures, allowing researchers to infer results for humans.
What is epidemiology in the context of health psychology?
Epidemiology is the study of control and progression in health and disease, involving indices such as odds and risk ratios.
What are the 3 key health psychology models?
the health belief model (HBM), the transtheoretical model (TTM) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB).
What are the psychology models for?
They are commonly used in health psychology to try to predict behaviour and to try to change behaviour for the better
HBM
Health belief model
Why was the Health Belief Model (HBM) developed, and when?
The HBM was developed in the 1950s by US Public Health Service psychologists to understand why the public did not follow health-related recommendations.
What is at the core of the Health Belief Model?
Perceptions, which may interact in different ways depending on the health behavior being predicted.
What are the key components of the HBM?
Perceived susceptibility – Belief about the likelihood of developing a condition.
Perceived severity – Belief about the seriousness of the condition and its consequences.
Perceived benefits – Belief in the advantages of taking action to reduce risk.
Perceived barriers – Belief about the obstacles to taking action.
Cues to action – Triggers that prompt action.
Self-efficacy – Confidence in one’s ability to perform the behavior.
How do barriers and benefits influence health behavior?
If perceived benefits outweigh perceived barriers, the likelihood of behavior change increases. For example, quitting smoking might involve barriers like losing social connections but may offer benefits like improved health and increased disposable income.
What role do cues to action play in the HBM?
Cues to action, such as a family member developing a health condition, can prompt individuals to re-evaluate their susceptibility, severity, and threat, leading to behavior change.
How does self-efficacy impact behavior change?
Self-efficacy reflects confidence in one’s ability to perform a behavior. Low self-efficacy can hinder behavior change, while high self-efficacy supports it.
How do demographic factors like age, sex, and income influence the HBM?
These factors frame the key components, affecting perceptions of threat, barriers, and self-efficacy. For example, low income may limit access to health resources.
In what areas has the HBM been applied?
The HBM has been used to predict behaviors like breast self-examination, children’s oral hygiene, parental vaccine decision-making, and mental health help-seeking.
What are the strengths of the HBM?
Flexibility in measuring constructs.
High variance explained in health-related outcomes.
Provides a strong framework for research and health programs.
What are the limitations of the HBM?
Lack of standardized measures.
Limited focus on habitual behaviors.
Reliance on cross-sectional studies, which do not clarify causal pathways.
Does not account for irrational behaviors.
What does the variance explained by the HBM indicate?
The HBM explains a significant proportion of variance in health-related outcomes, but additional variables may be needed to address unexplained variance.
How might a nurse use the HBM to encourage a diabetic patient to adhere to their treatment plan?
The nurse would:
Explain the threat and seriousness of non-adherence.
Evaluate and address barriers.
Highlight benefits like increased energy and better family engagement.
Enhance self-efficacy by showing the patient their ability to manage past challenges.
How might the HBM approach differ for a researcher and a healthcare professional in smoking cessation?
Researchers may study predictors of cessation using surveys, while healthcare professionals focus on interventions by addressing barriers, benefits, and self-efficacy.
How can you apply the HBM to a personal health behavior you want to change?
Evaluate perceived susceptibility, severity, barriers, benefits, self-efficacy, and cues to action for the behavior in question.
What is the Transtheoretical Model (TTM)?
The TTM, or stages of change model, was proposed by Prochaska and DiClemente (1986) to help in the treatment of addiction. It explains why individuals change behavior, especially regarding substance use.
What traditions is the TTM rooted in?
The TTM incorporates Freudian, Skinnerian, and Rogerian traditions of psychotherapy and behavior change.
What are the five core stages of the TTM?
1) Precontemplation, 2) Contemplation, 3) Preparation, 4) Action, and 5) Maintenance.
What happens during the precontemplation stage?
Individuals are unaware of the negative consequences of their behavior and have no intention to act in the next 6 months.
What characterizes the contemplation stage?
Individuals start thinking about their behavior and intend to act within the next 6 months.
What occurs in the preparation stage of the TTM?
Individuals explore options for change, such as using quit programs, and plan to act within the next 30 days.
What defines the action stage?
Individuals take action or have acted within the last 6 months to address the behavior, e.g., quitting smoking.
What is the maintenance stage?
Individuals work to prevent relapse and maintain behavior change for more than 6 months.
What is regression in the TTM?
Regression occurs when an individual moves to an earlier stage, prolonging the behavior change process.
What is the proposed sixth stage of the TTM?
Termination, where individuals feel no temptation to return to the behavior.
Name three processes of change included in the TTM.
Consciousness raising, self-re-evaluation, and counterconditioning.
What did Marshall and Biddle (2001) conclude in their meta-analysis of the TTM?
The TTM is supported in physical activity research, but measures need standardization, and longitudinal studies are lacking.
What are West’s (2005) criticisms of the TTM?
West argues that the TTM has arbitrary stages, assumes rationality, and fails to explain unplanned behavior changes.
What are the strengths of the TTM?
Flexibility in application and a useful framework for planning and evaluating interventions.
What are the limitations of the TTM?
Lack of standardised measures and reliance on cross-sectional studies instead of longitudinal research.
How can healthcare professionals use the TTM effectively?
By identifying a client’s current stage and tailoring interventions to help them progress toward maintenance.
What is a key difference between the TTM and HBM in research and interventions?
The TTM focuses on stages of behavior change, while the HBM emphasizes perceptions of health threats and benefits.
Who developed the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and when?
Icek Ajzen in the 1980s.
What is the TPB an update to?
The Theory of Reasoned Action.
What is the main purpose of the TPB?
To predict behaviour as the final stage of its model.
Name the main components of the TPB model.
Behavioural attitudes and beliefs
Subjective norms and beliefs about norms
Control beliefs and perceived behavioural control
Intention
Actual behavioural control
Behaviour outcome
What do behavioural beliefs represent in the TPB?
Expectations about a behaviour and its potential benefits.
What is perceived behavioural control?
It reflects how easy or difficult an individual believes it will be to perform a behaviour, linked to self-efficacy.
How do subjective norms influence behaviour in the TPB?
They reflect whether significant others and society support or oppose the behaviour.
How does intention function in the TPB?
It represents the goal or purpose related to achieving a specific behaviour.
What moderates the move from intention to behaviour in the TPB?
Actual behavioural control.
What percentage of variance in behaviour does the TPB explain on average, according to McEachan et al. (2011)?
19.3%.
For which health behaviour does the TPB explain about 24% of the variance?
Physical activity.
What critique did Sniehotta et al. (2014) make of the TPB?
hey argued the TPB lacks utility, as changes in intention do not consistently lead to changes in behaviour.
What was Conner’s (2014) defense of the TPB?
The TPB explains considerable variance in many outcomes and should not be retired without a better model outperforming it.
What is a key strength of the TPB in research?
Flexibility in adding new variables and using appropriate measures for different behaviours.
What is a limitation of the TPB?
It lacks strong evidence from interventions and standardised measures for its components.
Why is a longitudinal design important in TPB research?
It allows researchers to examine the effects of variables over time, such as assessing measures at two time points.
What additional variables can improve the predictability of the TPB?
Past behaviour and demographics.
What is the Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM) similar to, and what are its strengths and limitations?
The PAPM is similar to the Transtheoretical Model (TTM), sharing comparable strengths and limitations.
What does Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) focus on, and which model is it similar to?
PMT focuses on factors like rewards, costs, self-efficacy, fear, and appraisal. It is similar to the Health Belief Model (HBM).
Why shouldn’t health behavior models be discarded if they don’t explain 100% of the variance in outcomes?
Discarding models for not explaining 100% of variance is unrealistic, as few theories achieve this. Models should only be replaced if a better alternative exists.
How can health behavior models be adapted for use in Australian contexts?
Their flexibility allows for the inclusion of measures assessing unique Australian variables, as demonstrated by studies like helmet use among cyclists.
How does self-efficacy influence health behavior?
It reflects an individual’s belief in their ability to achieve goals, such as quitting smoking or losing weight, and is a strong predictor of health behavior.
What demographic factors should be considered in health behavior models?
Age, sex, and SES, as these impact health risks, behaviors, and norms specific to different populations.
What program in Australia focuses on enhancing self-efficacy to improve mental health?
he Optimal Health Program (OHP), a self-management intervention that emphasizes self-efficacy, coping, social support, and goal setting.
What is the difference between internal and external locus of control?
Internal locus of control is the belief that life events are influenced by personal actions, while external locus of control attributes events to external factors like luck.
How does social support act as a buffer for stress?
High social support reduces the impact of stressful situations, mitigating negative health consequences compared to individuals with low support levels.
What are the two types of coping strategies, and give examples of each?
Adaptive coping (e.g., seeking social support) and maladaptive coping (e.g., using illicit drugs).
What are dual-process theories of cognition, and how do they address irrational behavior?
These theories incorporate both rational and irrational processes to predict health outcomes, such as binge drinking.
