Health Psychology
more likely to exercise if
-if the form of exercise is convenient and enjoyable -attitudes favor exercise -they come from families in which exercise is practiced
Biopsychosocial Model
-illness caused by a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors -should be treated with changes in behaviors, thoughts, and beliefs of overall treatment -patient partly responsible for treatment -health and illness lie on a continuum that varies by degree -the mind and body interact, each influencing each other -direct psychological factors, such as behaviors, can contribute to illness
Rise of Health Psychology
-increase in chronic or lifestyle-related illness -expanding role of healthcare in economy -realization that psychological and social factors contribute to health and illness -demonstrated importance of psychological interventions in improving people's health -rigorous methodological contributions of health psychology researchers
Research Tools
1. Useful theory 2. accurate measurement
Influencers of placebo effect
1. expectancy 2. culture 3. learning and conditioning
2 methods of communication in nervous system
1. neural 2. hormonal
4 pathways by which stress affects health
1. physiology - alters biological functioning (e.g., increased BP, decreased immune functioning, changes in lipids levels and cholesterol) 2. health behaviors - positive and negative 3. psychosocial resources 4. use of health services
Which of the following statements is accurate regarding safety and prevention?
Accidents in the workplace have decreased since the 1930s.
Selye
General Adaptation Syndrome -reactions to stress go through three phases: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion
social engineering
Modifies the environment in ways that affect people's ability to practice a health behavior
For which of the following patients is a placebo most likely to be effective?
Sarah, who has anxiety.
T or F: Believing that stress is bad for your health increases risk of death
T
reliable
consistent
Randomized clinical trials
experiments to evaluate effectiveness of treatments or interventions over time
Attitudinal approaches
fear appeals, information appeals; limited effects on behavior change
Incidence
frequency of new cases during a specific time period
approach-related coping
more successful, related to better mental and physical health outcomes
Mortality
number of deaths due to particular causes
best predictor of success is _________________.
the patient
Chronic illness
(especially heart disease, cancer, and respiratory disease) are main contributor to disability and death, particularly in industrialized countries
Relative risk
- RR = [a/(a + b)] / [c/(c + d)] -The relative risk or risk ratio is the ratio of the probability of an outcome in an exposed group to the probability of an outcome in an unexposed group. It is computed as, where is the incidence in the exposed group, and is the incidence in the unexposed group
Which of the following statements about coping are true?
-Providing social support has health benefits. -There is likely a genetic component related to the ability to establish supportive networks.
Which of the following issues would health psychologists be *most* likely to address? (Check all that apply.)
-The influence of peers on a healthy diet. -Improvement of the health care system. -Helping adults to maintain an exercise program.
Which of the following statements would Sapolsky endorse?
-The same stress-response is turned on during every stressor experienced. -If you repeatedly turn on the stress-response, it can become damaging.
Which one of the following statements is/are NOT accurate regarding current screening recommendations? (mark all that apply)
-Yearly mammograms are recommended for women from age 30-60. -Men without symptoms or a family history of prostate cancer should have a routine PSA every other year.
Nocebo effect
-adverse effects caused by a placebo (when people led to believe that tx could worsen symptoms, nocebo effect can be as strong as placebo effect) -occurs on both physical and psychological basis
Which of the following characteristics places an individual at risk for poorer coping and/or greater likelihood of negative health outcomes due to stress?
-being elderly -unemployed -low self-esteem -limited social relationships -working long hours
alcohol and smoking similarities
-both contribute to negative health outcomes (e.g., memory loss, liver disease) -both affect others, not just user (second-hand smoke, drunk driving accidents, inflict pain on innocent people)
Holmes & Rahe: Stressful Life Events
-created inventory of stressful life events based on the amount of change those events cause -people who experience a lot of stressful events are most vulnerable to illness -scores on life event inventories predict illness, but relation is quite modest
Double-blind design (both research and participants unaware of placebo's presence)
-creates ethical dilemmas -usually single-blind designs used, but control for expectancy not as complete -remedy: informed consent
affects of minor hassles on health
-cumulative impact of small stressors may wear a person down, leading to illness -such events may aggravate reactions to major life events or chronic stress to produce distress or illness
Which of the following are positive effects of both regular exercise AND a healthy diet? (Check all that apply but only check if the answer choice is a benefit of BOTH exercise and a healthy diet)
-decreased risk of cardiovascular disease -decreased risk of Type II diabetes -decreased risk of some cancers
Health Psychologist Tasks
-develop theories -research on interaction of biological, psychosocial, and social factors in producing health and illness -help treat patients -conduct counseling for psychosocial problems that illness may create -develop work site interventions to improve employees' health habits -medical settings to improve health and healthcare delivery
Biomedical Model
-disease comes from outside the body and causes physical changes -individual not responsible for illness and has no control over external causes of disease -illness should be treated with medicine, vaccines, surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy -medical professional responsible for treatment -health and illness are qualitatively different states -mind and body are separate entities, unable to influence each other as in traditional dualistic model -illness may result in psychological problems, but cannot be a result of psychological factors
Determining causation without experimental studies
-ex: can't make some people smoke and some not for experiment to prove that smoking causes diseases and poor health outcomes -make inferences based on dose-response (curve) relationship (not just for pharm., but applies to behaviors that affect disease processes) - there is a threshold below which no effect observed and an incremental increase in effect as dose increases
health-enhancing behaviors
-exercise (lowers heart rate), diet (modifies cholesterol), sleep (enhances efficacy of flu shot) - enhance daily functioning and lead to lasting good health -all 3 play a role in cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension
Experimental design
-gold standard of research because it allows researcher to interpret the cause -if it's unethical for a researcher to manipulate an independent variable, then an ex post facto design can be used (eliminates researcher manipulation -more so observation - and causal relationship cannot be identified as it could be in an experiment; can only observe associations (correlations) between variables
Why Dieting Doesn't Work (TED Talk)
-hypothalamus controls set point for weight (+/- 10-15 lbs.) -hunger and energy use controlled by brain without awareness -works like thermostat to keep weight stable as environment changes - resistance makes evolutionary sense -successful dieting doesn't lower set point -changing food environment = most effective solution for obesity -typical dieting outcome is weight gain -SOLUTION: mindful eating - eat when hungry and stop when full --> preventing weight gain instead of promoting weight loss
Epidemiology Research
-if trials fail to show effectiveness, researchers three times less likely to publish
Placebo
-inactive substance or condition that has the appearance of an active tx, and that may cause people to improve or change because of their belief in placebo's efficacy -patient's beliefs about tx rather than tx itself that provides benefits -complicates job of researchers because hard to tell what is result of tx and placebo -can lead to noticeable improvements in health outcomes, especially in cases of pain and nausea -likelihood of improvement largely attributable to the type of pain experienced -the more a placebo resembles the real tx, the stronger the placebo effect -physician and patient expectations strengthen the placebo effect -placebo effects not merely improvement but includes any change resulting from an inert tx (e.g., nocebo effect) -occurs on both physical and psychological basis -tribute to ability of humans to heal themselves
Mark all of the indicators of allostatic load.
-lowered heart rate variability -problems with memory
Neural communication
-nerves communicate using neurotransmitters (chemicals located in synaptic vesicles until released), travel through synaptic cleft, and attach to receptors in postsynaptic neuron -->when enough neurotransmitter received, it fires (electrical charge passed down length of neuron until it reaches presynaptic terminal) -ex: norepinephrine (sympathetic nervous system)
Brain Structures associated with stress
-nervous system: central and peripheral (CNS and PNS)
Oxytocin
-part of the stress response - motivates you to seek support -role: protect cardiovascular system from stress; helps cardiovascular cells regenerate from any damage and strengthens the heart -enhanced by social support or by supporting someone else -recovery from stress is faster by mechanisms of human connection because caring for others creates resilience
Issues With Research (TED Talk)
-publication bias - unflattering data is lost, not published -provides biased sample of the truth of all research because publication is selective ("freaks get published, not failures") -> need to make it easier to publish negative results -misleading because doesn't give full picture -based on marketing approval -about half of all trials are buried -publication bias affects all fields of medicine -positive findings are twice as likely to be published -research misconduct, research fraud --->suffered fake fixes of this phenomenon -can't know the true effects of meds we prescribe if we don't have access to all information -need to force people to publish ALL trials (not just after 2008 as ordered by FDA) SOLUTION: 1. Publish all trials in humans, including older trials, for all drugs in current use 2. Tell everyone about this problem
Social support has an effect on health, both through its impact on health behaviors and its direct impact on physiological functioning. According to Taylor, which of the following effects are associated with social support?
-reduced physiological and neuroendocrine responses to stress -reduced activation in neural systems related to threat responses -better adherence to medical regimens
Epidemiological research
-same as research methods used in psych., and same caveats apply -results reported in terms of relative risk is most common
Longitudinal research
-same people are observed at multiple points in time -best way to find out how people change over time -disadvantages: takes a lot of time and funding, many participants drop out or can't be contacted, which leads to data loss
Theory
-set of analytical statements that explain a set of phenomena -a set of related assumptions that allow scientists to use logical deductive reasoning to formulate testable hypotheses; should generate research (descriptive and experimental), organize and explain observations derived from research and make them intelligible, serve as a guide to action (permitting practitioner to predict behavior to implement strategies to change behavior)
Dunbar & Alexander
-shaped emerging field by offering profiles of particular disorders believe to be psychosomatic in origin (i.e., caused by emotional conflict) - Ex: ulcers, hyperthyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, neurodermatitis, colitis, bronchial asthma
Obesity, Anorexia, and Bulimia
-these patterns of disordered eating have similar determinants such as genetics and stress, low SES (obesity in American women), perfectionism (anorexia),. hormonal dysfunction (bulimia) -treatment: ---behavioral approaches (e.g., food monitoring, positive reinforcement) effective for all 3 ---food diaries for obesity and bulimia ---interventions for anorexia and bulimia similar in that they both may involve psychotherapy ---meeting with a psychologist to discuss maintaining lifestyle changes for obesity
Tarahumara Tribe
-unchanged tribe in Copper Canyons -evolved as hunting pack animals -can run far without overheating (no other animals can do) = our only advantage -get rid of all packaging, sales, marketing and restore sense of playfulness, joyfulness, and nakedness to restore natural ability of running again
It was found that ice cream sales decrease significantly as the temperature outside decreases; a very strong relationship was found. What is the most likely correlation coefficient from this hypothetical study?
0.80
Risk Factor Approach
1. Absolute Risk - persons chances of developing a disease or disorder independent of any risk other people may have for this disorder (small chances usually) 2. Relative Risk - ratio of incidence (or prevalence) of a disease in an exposed group to the incidence of that disease in an unexposed group
Order of ideas that led to biopsychosocial model of health and illness
1. Illness was thought to be the result of evil spirits 2. Greeks identified role of bodily functioning in health and illness such as the four humours 3. Church asserts that disease is God's punishment 4. The biomedical model emerged, asserting that illness was caused soley by bodily processes. 5. Freud's work with conversion hysteria provides a mind/body link. 6. Dunbar and Alexandar's work influenced the field of psychosomatic medicine which asserts that some disorders are the result of emotional difficulties. 7. biopsycosocial model emerged which assumes that a balance of health and illness relies on an interaction between
How does social support moderate effects of stress? 2 possibilities:
1. direct effects hypothesis - social support is generally. beneficial during nonstressful as well as stressful times 2. buffering hypothesis - physical and mental health benefits of social support are chiefly evident during periods of high stress; when there is little stress, social support offers few such benefits
Epidemiology Causal Relationship Criteria
1. dose-response relationship must exist (direct, consistent association between an independent variable, such as behavior, and a dependent variable, such as disease) 2. prevalence or incidence of disease should decline with removal of possible cause 3. cause must precede the disease 4. cause and effect relationship between the condition and the disease must be plausible (consistent with other data) 5. relevant research data consistently reveal a relationship between the condition and the disease (research findings must be consistent) 6. strength of association between condition and disease must be relatively high 7. existence of appropriately designed studies
SAM Stress Response
1. higher brain centers STIMULATE HYPOTHALAMUS (sometimes consciously aware of stimulus, sometimes not) 2. nerves of sympathetic nervous system are stimulated by the hypothalamus. NOREPINEPHRINE RELEASED AND AFFECT TARGET ORGANS (heart, blood vessels, stomach, including adrenal medulla) 3. EPINEPHRINE AND NOREPINEPHRINE (hormones) circulate through bloodstream and affect target organs in same way as the direct influence of sympathetic nerves
HPA-axis Stress Response
1. higher brain centers stimulate hypothalamus 2. hypothalamus releases CRH 3. CRH flows into anterior pituitary gland and stimulates release of ACTH 4. ACTH flows into bloodstream and reaches adrenal cortex (outer edge of adrenal glands), which releases hormones called glucocorticoids (mostly cortisol) into bloodstream, which increases circulating glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids, increases BP and heart rate, and mobilizes energy from muscle and bone 5. cortisol "feeds back" to stimulate hypothalamus to release less CRH and ACTH ---> in this way, body regulates cortisol levels to keep them from getting too high = negative feedback loop
Epidemiology research methods
1. observational studies (similar to correlational) -reveals association between variables but not cause -a) retrospective studies - done with a group that already has disease vs. healthy control (disadvantage: relying on people's recollection of past behaviors) -b) prospective studies - follows group of people over time (same as longitudinal) 2. Randomized controlled trials
Connections between CNS and PNS
1. sensory info. comes in from environment through thalamus 2. signals travel to other parts of the brain, including hypothalamus, which detects and controls the internal state of the body, including release of hormones 3. hypothalamus sends signals to autonomic nervous system, which controls automatic functions like blood pressure, heart rate, digestion, etc. 4. other structures involved in the stress response include the amygdala, which is associated with anger and fear, and the hippocampus, which is associated with memory processing
2 branches of stress response
1. sympathetic - adrenal-medullary response (SAM) 2. hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-cortical response (HPAC) or HPA-axis
test-retest reliability or interrater reliability
2 or more judges observing the same thing
standard exercise prescription
30 minutes three times per week
1 in ____ people get treatment for addiction
9
Which of the following types of stressors are considered by Sapolsky to predispose humans to stress-related disease?
Chronic psychological stressors
Which of the following statements regarding obesity are accurate?
Considering all of the countries, the U.S. has the biggest problem with obesity.
acute stress paradigm
Consistently finds that when people perform stressful tasks they become psychologically distressed and show physiological arousal
Although genetics play a role in obesity, evidence indicates that the environment plays an important role. Which of the following statements provides the strongest evidence for the environmental influence on obesity?
Dogs with obese owners are more likely to be obese than those with normal-weight owners.
T or F: One factor that lead to the emergence of the field of health psychology was the decline of chronic illnesses and rise in acute disorders that occurred in the US.
F
Which of the following systems of the body is activated during the stress response?
HPA-axis
According to some researchers, the ___ is the most damaging physiological stress pathway because of the effects of long-term exposure to increased ____ levels.
HPA-axis; cortisol
aftereffects of stress
Shortened attention span Poor performance on tasks Ongoing psychological distress Physiological arousal
In a study, the provider is aware of whether the patient is in the placebo or the treatment condition. The patient, however, does not know which condition he or she is in. This type of arrangement can be considered a _____________.
Single-blind design
T or F: CBT can produce weight losses of 2 pounds per week up to 20 weeks maintained over a 2 year period
T
T or F: Health-promotion efforts target children and adolescents before bad health habits are in place
T
T or F: How you think and how you act transforms your experience of stress
T
T or F: Psychology, biology, and sociology all contribute to health or disease outcomes
T
T or F: Social support is helpful in reducing negative habitual behaviors
T
T or F: The way we appraise the event will affect our experience of stress, and the physiological toll it takes on our bodies
T
T or F: We can generate stress-producing thoughts within our own brains and thus move from thought to stress response without the thalamus
T
T or F: chasing meaning in life is better for health than avoiding discomfort
T
T or F: cortisol is thought to be the hormone mostly responsible for negative effects of stress on body
T
T or F: events that are negative, uncontrollable, ambiguous, or overwhelming or that involve central life goals are experienced as more stressful than events that are positive, controllable, clear-cut, or manageable or that involve peripheral life tasks
T
T or F: health enhancing behaviors such as exercise can reduce stress
T
T or F: mammograms are recommended for women over age 50; annually between ages 45 and 55 and every other year for women between ages of 55 and 74
T
T or F: men who are symptomatic for prostate cancer should be screened
T
T or F: obesity linked to cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, diabetes, some cancers, and other chronic conditions
T
T or F: should rethink the stress response as helpful - physical stress response changes so that you are able to take on the stressor
T
T or F: when you change your mind about stress, you can change your body's response to stress
T
Morbidity
The number of cases of a disease that exist at a given point in time; it may be expressed as the number of new cases (incidence) or as the total number of existing cases (prevalence).
Health
a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease
theory of planned behavior
a health behavior is the direct result of a behavioral intention, which are made up of 3 components: attitudes toward the specific action, subjective norms regarding the action, perceived behavioral control
Biomedical Model
a reductionist, single-factor model of illness that treats mind and body as separate entities and emphasizes illness concerns over health
factors that contribute to nicotine relapse
addiction, lack of effective coping techniques for dealing w social situations, and weight gain
factors that influence health behaviors
age, personal control, social influence, cognitive factors
Relative Risk of Unexposed Group
always 1.00; thus, 1.50 relative risk means that exposed group is 50% more likely to develop disease
prevalence
amount of people that have specific disease at one time
perceived barriers
aspects of one's life that interfere with practicing good health behaviors
problem-focused coping
attempts to do something constructive about the stressful situations that are harming, threatening, or challenging an individual
Selye suggested that stress makes us sick ____, whereas Sapolsky indicates that stress makes us sick ____.
because the hormones of the stress response are depleted; because the stress response itself can become more damaging than the stressor.
health-compromising behavior
behaviors practiced by people that undermine or harm their current or future health; many cluster and first emerge in adolescence.
health behaviors
behaviors undertaken by people to enhance or maintain health
Attitudes related to health-habit modification
belief that a health threat is severe, that one is personally vulnerable to the threat, that one is able to perform the response needed to reduce the threat (self-efficacy), that the response will be effective in overcoming the threat (response efficacy), and that social norms support one's practice of behavior
Self determination theory
builds on the idea that people are actively motivated to pursue their goals; targets two important components fundamental to behavioral change: autonomous motivation and perceived competence
One of the potential draw-backs of a cross-sectional study is that it:
cannot reveal changes in an individual over time.
populations vulnerable to stress
children, elderly, poor
Meta-analysis
combines results from different studies to identify how strong the evidence is for particular research findings
reappraisals
continue to occur as we cope with the situation, and as we try to determine how effective our coping methods are
Secondary appraisal
determining if we have the necessary means to deal with the event (e.g., social support system, self confidence)
Cross-sectional studies
developed to approximate longitudinal study because people only measured once, and all during the same time period so it solves longitudinal drawbacks -disadvantages: interpretation of results is compromised by the fact that a comparison is made across different individuals when research question is asking how individuals compare to themselves over time
Obesity treatment
diets, surgical procedures, drugs, CBT (includes monitoring eating behavior, modifying environmental stimuli that control eating, gaining control over the eating process, and reinforcing new eating habits
matching hypothesis
different kinds of stressful events create different needs, and social support is most effective when it meets those needs
emotion-focused coping
efforts to regulate emotions experiences due to the stressful event
Health Psychology
examines psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why they become ill, and how they respond when they get ill; focuses on health promotion and maintenance, prevention and treatment of illness, etiology and correlates of health, illness, and disability, and improvement of healthcare system and formulation of health policy
High levels of self efficacy (belief that one can succeed) and social support are predictors of BOTH ________ and ___________.
exercise, diet
validity
extent to which an instrument measures what it's designed to measure; determined by comparing scores from that instrument with some independent or outside criterion ---> predictive validity
Causes of obesity
genetic predisposition, early diet, a family history of obesity, low SES, less exercise, consumption of large portions of high calorie food and drinks; dieting may contribute to the propensity for obesity
health habits
health behavior thats firmly established and often performed automatically, without awareness
Stage of change
helps in designing appropriate intervention
The demand-control-support model suggests that coronary heart disease risk is higher when demand at work is ____, there is ______ control, and there is _______ social support.
high, low, limited
Whereas the SAM (sympathetic, adrenal, medulla) system produces the stress response through both neural and hormonal communication, the HPA (hypothalamic, pituitary, adrenal) axis contributes to the stress response through ____.
hormonal communication via CRH and ACTH
Which of the following behaviors increases the risk of all of the following: diabetes, coronary heart disease, car accidents, and childhood behavior problems?
inadequate sleep
The number of new cases per year of cardiovascular disease has increased over the past 50 years. This statement refers to the ____ of cardiovascular disease, which is a term borrowed from the field of _____.
incidence; epidemiology
Which of the following occurs as a result of increased activation of the sympathetic nervous system?
increased BP
stress moderators
internal and external resources and vulnerabilities that modify how stress is experienced and its effects
intuitive vs. controlled eaters
intuitive = think about food less controlled = more vulnerable to overeating
emotional-approach coping
involves clarifying, focusing on, and working through the emotions experienced in response to a stressor; especially beneficial for women
tangible assistance
involves the provision of material support, such as services, financial assistance, or goods
Retrospective designs
look backward in time in an attempt to reconstruct the conditions that led to a current situation
Prospective research
looks forward in time to see how a group of people change, or how a relationship between two variables changes over time
correlational research
measures whether a change in one variable corresponds with changes in another variable -disadvantage: difficult to determine direction of causality -advantage: more adaptable (than experiments), enabling us to study issues when variables cannot be manipulated experimentally
evidence-based medicine
medical and psychological interventions go through rigorous testing and evaluation of their benefits, usually through randomized clinical trials, before they become the standard of care
Transtheoretical model of behavior change
model that analyzes the stages and processes people go through in bringing about change in behavior and suggested treatment goals and interventions for each stage: precontemplation stage (no intention of changing), contemplation (aware that theres a problem), preparation (intentions to change behavior but haven't yet successfully), action (modify behavior to overcome the problem), maintenance (work to prevent relapse and to consolidate gains) -->Spiral model of changes
stress
negative emotional experience accompanied by predictable biochemical, physiological, cognitive, and behavioral changes that are directed either toward altering the stressful event or accommodating to its effects
voltage-gated Ca2+ channels
open in response to action potential to normalize (regain homeostasis) concentration gradient again (by firing) --->diffusion
internal coping resources
optimism, personal control, self-esteem
Wellness
optimum state of health, which is an achievement of balance among physical, mental, and social well-being
Etiology
origins or causes of illness
According to Shelley Taylor, females may respond differently to stress than males. Their tendency to "tend and befriend" rather than "fight-or-flee" is associated with the secretion of ____ during stress in females.
oxytocin
primary appraisal
person trying to understand what the event is and what it will mean; may be appraised by harm (damage already done), threat (potential future damage), and challenge (potential to overcome or even profit from event)
In 1948, the World Health Organization defined health as ____.
physical, mental, and social well-being
allostatic load
physiological costs of chronic exposure to the physiological changes that result from repeated or chronic stress.
Venues for health-habit modification
practitioners office, family, self-help groups, schools, workplace interventions, community-based interventions, the mass media, cell phones and landlines, the internet
informational support
providing information that will help someone
A health psychologist interviews a patient about his current sleep patterns to see if they may be contributing to his declining health. This assessment would be considered ___________.
qualitative information
Epidemiologists regard _____________________________ as the 'golden standard' of research design.
randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials
emotional support
reassuring someone that they are important and cared for
Biopsychosocial Model
regards any health disorder as the result of interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors; recognizes the importance of interacting macrolevel and microlevel processes in producing health and illness -health regarded as an active achievement -guides health psychologists in research efforts to uncover facts that predict states of health and illness and in their clinical interventions with patients
Which of the following is the BEST predictor of regular exercise?
regular exercise
CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) Guidelines
requires researchers to register their clinical trial in a registry prior to starting study
Experiment
researcher creates two or more conditions that differ from each other in exact and predetermined ways - people randomly assigned conditions and responses/reactions are measured
Cognitive-behavioral approaches to health-habit change use principles of
self monitoring, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, modeling, stimulus control; draws on principles of self control and self reinforcement
Acute disorders
short-term illnesses, often the result of a viral or bacterial invader and usually amenable to cure
Conversion Hysteria (Freud)
specific unconscious conflicts can produce physical disturbances that symbolize repressed psychological conflicts (gave rise to psychosomatic medicine)
Barrier to both exercise and diet
stress and recommendations that are hard to follow
Epidemiology
study of the frequency, distribution, and causes of infectious and noninfectious disease in a population
Studies have shown that ____________ stress predict(s) psychological distress and can have negative health consequences.
subjective and objective
invisible support
support received from another person that is outside the recipient's awareness
__________________ activates body in times of stress
sympathetic nervous system
Clinical trial
tests effects of new drug or medical treatment
Self efficacy
the belief that one can control one's practice of particular behavior
According to Sapolsky, which of the following is the "master gland" and thus responsible for directing the hormones that regulate bodily systems, including the stress response?
the brain
coping
the thoughts and behaviors used to manage the internal and external demands of situations that are appraised as stressful
coping efforts considered successful when:
they reduce physiological arousal, enable person to resume desired activities, and free individual from psychological distress
external coping resources
time, money, absence of simultaneous life stressors, and social support
Risk factors for 4 of 5 leading causes of death (fifth = accidental injuries)
tobacco and smoking
Stress is associated with:
unhealthy diet, inability to stick to exercise program, increase in eating under some circumstances, binge-purge cycles in bulimics, insomnia, and drinking
Primary appraisal
when faced with a stressor, we immediately size up the event to determine how much of a threat it is
demand-control-support model
when high demands and low control are combined with little social support at work
According to set-point theory, the obese have difficulty losing weight because ____.
when they reduce their calories, their bodies compensate by reducing their energy expenditure.
Health Belief Model
whether a person practices a health behavior depends on two factors: whether the person perceives a personal health threat, and whether the person believes that a particular health practice will be effective in reducing that threat