What is health psychology?

Question 1

Health psychology

Answer 1

Health psychology is concerned with how psychosocial factores relate to the promotion and maintenance of health, and the prevention and treatment of illness.

“Health Psychology is an interdisciplinary field concerned with the application of psychological knowledge and techniques to health, illness and health care. The objective is to promote and maintain the well-being of individuals, communities and population”.

Question 2

Health

Answer 2

The state of well-being with physical, cultural, psychosocial, economic and spiritual aspects, not simply the absence of illness.

Question 3

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Answer 3

1. Physiological needs
2. Safety and security
3. Love and belonging
4. Self-esteem
5. Self-actualization

Question 4

Seedhouse considers them as the higher importance for all people.

Answer 4

1. Access to the widest possible info.
2. Understand how the info applies to them and to be able to make a decision thanks to literacy and numeracy skills.
3. Sociality is a basic duty.

Question 5

Rationale for health psychology

Answer 5

The behavioural basis for illness and mortality requires effective methods to analyse behaviour change as there is an increasing evidence that much illness and mortality are caused by behaviour.

The search for a holistic system of health care requires expert knowledge of the psychosocial health needs of people. This brings us the need for a biopsychosocial model (BPS Model).

Question 6

Illness behaviour

Answer 6

“individual peculiarities of the responses to the situation of disease, mediated by differences in their
perception and evaluation that would be influenced both by social factors and personal characteristics of the patient”
Mechanic and Volkar

Question 7

Abnormal illness behaviour

Answer 7

“the persistence of an inappropriate or maladaptive mode of perceiving, evaluating or acting in relation to one’s own state of health, despite the fact that a doctor (or other appropriate social agent) has offered an accurate and reasonably lucid explanation of the nature of the illness and the appropriate course of management to be followed (if any) with opportunities for discussion, negotiation and clarification based on an adequate assessment of all biological, psychological, social and cultural factors”

Question 8

general hypochondriasis scale

Answer 8

assesses the extent of fearful attitudes toward illness that include some insight into the excessive nature of the fear

Question 9

disease conviction scale

Answer 9

measures the strength of the belief that a somatic disorder is present and the degree of reluctance to accept reassurance (questions focused on bodily symptoms and sensations and sleep disturbances)

Question 10

psychological versus somatic focusing scale

Answer 10

measures the extent of a psychological versus a somatic focus in perception of the disease

Question 11

affective inhibition scale

Answer 11

high scores indicate the inability to communicate feelings, especially negative ones;

Question 12

affective disturbance scale

Answer 12

assesses the presence of anxiety, depression, and tension

Question 13

denial scale

Answer 13

measures the tendency to deny life stresses and to attribute all current difficulties to a somatic disorder (high scores indicate a belief that a cure for physical problems would solve all life problems; low scores indicate a belief that ongoing life problems would continue even if the person was physically well);

Question 14

irritability scale

Answer 14

which high scores indicate the presence of interpersonal friction