Health Psychology Concepts

Health Psychology Study Notes

• Health Psychology Definition: Creating a special mindset to help you mentally and physically. Studies show psychological aspects influence physical health; learning how to stay healthy, why illness occurs, and how to respond.
• Mortality Changes: Increased mortality due to chronic, lifestyle-related illnesses in the 2000s, compared to acute infectious diseases in the 1900s.
• Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs): Diseases that cannot be directly transmitted from one person to another. Examples include respiratory diseases, cancer, and chronic conditions.
• Communicable Diseases: Infectious diseases transmitted from person to person. Examples include malaria, flu, measles, HIV, and tuberculosis.
• Experiments vs. Correlational Research: Experiments create different groups, randomly assign participants, and measure reactions to see if the experiment causes a response. Correlational research examines the relationship between variables without manipulating them.
• Randomized Clinical Trials (RCTs): Experiments used to evaluate treatments/interventions. Considered the gold standard for testing their effectiveness.
• Correlational Research: Studies relationships between variables without implying causation. Useful for identifying associations; difficult to determine causation.
• Epidemiology Definition: Study of frequency, distribution, and causes of infectious and noninfectious diseases in a population.
• Etiology Definition: Study of the cause or origin of a disease.
• Nervous System Divisions: Central Nervous System (brain and spinal cord), Peripheral Nervous System (nerves throughout body). Further subdivided into somatic (voluntary movement) and autonomic (involuntary) nervous systems.
• Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Systems: Sympathetic system gets the body ready for action (e.g., prepares for fight or flight), while the parasympathetic system restores balance and equilibrium.
• Nervous System Disorders: Examples include epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and Huntington's disease.
• Polio, Paraplegia, Quadriplegia, Dementia: Medical conditions for which the text provides a definition but no further detail.
• Endocrine System Role: Glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream to regulate bodily changes.
• Adrenal Glands Location and Hormones: Located above the kidneys, produce cortisol (stress hormone), aldosterone, and adrenaline.
• Diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2): A disease where the body has difficulty regulating blood sugar. Type 1 is an autoimmune disorder, and Type 2 is related to lifestyle choices.
• Cardiovascular System Disorders: Atherosclerosis (narrowed arteries), Myocardial Infarction (heart attack), and Ischemia (lack of blood flow/oxygen to the heart).
• Digestive System Structure/Function: The digestive system consists of multiple organs, glands, and processes necessary for food intake, digestion, and removal of waste.
• Respiratory System: Brings in oxygen (inspiration) and removes carbon dioxide (expiration). Diseases include asthma, viral/bacterial infections, COPD, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and lung cancer.
• Renal System (Kidneys, etc.): Regulates body fluids, urine production, and homeostasis.
• Reproductive Systems (Male/Female): Includes various organs and hormones essential for reproduction.
• Immune System (AIDS, Lupus): Defends against pathogens. Examples of diseases include AIDS, lupus, tonsillitis, infectious mononucleosis, and lymphoma.
• Health/Health Habits: The ways in which an individual establishes behaviors to promote health maintenance, including their associated activities.
• Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Prevention: Primary prevention is preventing a problem before it starts. Secondary prevention addresses or reduces the effects/impact of a problem. Tertiary prevention is aimed at addressing the effects of the illness or injury.
• Self-Reinforcement: Methods of increasing/decreasing a certain behavior, such as positive/negative self-reward or self-punishment.
• Motivational Interviewing: A counseling-style approach empowering clients to make their own decisions in the absence of coercion.
• Abstinence Violation Effect: The feeling of loss of control when violating self-imposed rules.
• Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change: Model that outlines five steps in the process of behavior change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.
• Social Engineering: Ways in which an environment is modified/altered to affect people's ability to practice healthy behavior, including factors such as laws, policies, and rules.
• Health Benefits of Regular Exercise: Improved weight control, reduced cardiovascular disease risk, reduced risk for type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, and more.
• Wearable Activity Trackers: Track steps, speed, and calories to measure physical activity.
• Stressors & Stress Response: Stress is a negative emotional experience, often accompanied by physiological changes. Stressors are events/experiences that cause stress.
• General Adaptation Syndrome: Three stages of stress response (alarm, resistance, exhaustion).
• Stress and Diet: Stress can affect diet choices which can be detrimental to health. Seeking 'comfort foods' can worsen the situation.
• Health Interventions for Diet: Educational and behavioral interventions for diet modification. Includes social support (group dynamics) and motivational interviewing (encouragement and goals).
• Sleep/Sleep Disorders: The amount of sleep needed changes during different stages of life. Sleep deprivation impacts cognitive functioning, mood, and quality of life.
• Alcohol Dependence: Includes statistics on mortality from alcohol and societal costs.
• Alcohol Consumption and Stress: The relationship between them.
• Chronic Stress and Brain: Associated health risks (memorization issues and mental health problems).
• Acute vs Chronic Stress: There are physiological, medical, and psychological changes associated with both acute and chronic stress, though their effects are different.
• Social Support and Stress: Ways in which support helps individuals cope better with the stress of different situations.
• Trier Social Stress Test: Standardized procedure that creates psychological stress in participants, used in research.
• Life Events: Defined events/experiences which can cause stress, such as significant traumatic moments and challenges.
• Daily Hassles: Minor stresses which can accumulate to health problems if frequent, such as those associated with relationships, work, or time management.
• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Early-life stressful events including abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction that contribute to later health problems.
• Effects and Pathways of ACEs: Cumulative effects of stress, impacting physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
• Prenatal Undernutrition: Can cause health problems during development and in the future, and is associated with lower birth weight.
• Diurnal Cortisol Rhythm: Describes the normal, cyclical fluctuation of the cortisol hormone throughout the day, typically high in the morning and lower in the evening.

This quiz covers key concepts in health psychology, including immune mechanisms, chronic conditions like Lupus, health habits, and levels of prevention. Questions also cover determinants of health behavior and the use of persuasive communication in health campaigns.