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HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY:Understanding Health, Observational Learning

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Introduction to Psychology ­PSY101
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Lesson 41
HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
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The branch of psychology that focuses upon the role of psychological factors in the
development and prevention of illness, in coping with disease, and in health promotion.
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The branch of psychology that studies the relationship between psychological variables and
well-being of a person.
According to Brannon and Fiest (2000)
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Health psychology is the branch of psychology that concerns individual behaviors and
lifestyles affecting a person's physical health.
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Health psychology includes psychology's contribution to the enhancement of health, the
prevention and treatment of disease, the identification of health risk factors, the improvement
of the health care system, and the shaping of public opinion with regard to health.
A health psychologist works in the following areas:
Enhancement of health
Prevention of disease
Treatment of disease
Identification of risk factors
Improvement of the health care system
Shaping public opinion regarding health
Understanding Health
In order to understand the modern concept of health, we need to consider some questions:
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How would you define health?
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Who is a healthy person?
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Can lifestyles be healthy and unhealthy?
According to the World Health organization (WHO):
HEALTH is " a state of complete physical, mental, and social well ­ being and not merely
the absence of disease or infirmity".
·The modern approach towards health is more prevention - oriented rather than treatment ­ oriented.
Emergence of Health Psychology
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American Psychological Association established its Division 38, Health Psychology, in 1978.
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This was the formal establishment of health psychology as a separate discipline.
Facts leading to this newer definition and approach
a. The leading causes of death today are no more infectious diseases, but lifestyle ­ related diseases:
implying that they are preventable.
b. The escalating costs of health care have led to the realization that these costs could be controlled, even
reduced, by preventive strategies.
c. The dissatisfaction with the existing medical model has been on a constant increase.
· Dissatisfaction is primarily based on the observation that a person, even after taking proper medication
and receiving full medical care may still not be feeling healthy.
· This implies that something else may also be contributing to one's well-being. d. Research on the role
of psychological factors in health and illness:
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It was observed that psychological factors have a role in physical illness.
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Also, psychological interventions are helpful in altering physiological conditions and
symptoms.
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Today there is a growing consensus that health is essentially an individual responsibility '.
No community or state can give health BUT the required facilities.
No improvement in the health care system can be efficacious unless the citizens assumes
responsibility for their own well ­ being.
Different psychological theories and models have tried to explain health ­ related beliefs and behaviors.
·  The Health-Belief Model
·  The Protection Motivation Theory
·  The Theory of Planned Behavior
·  Self ­ Regulatory Model
·  Self ­ Efficacy Theory
All explanations agree on one point i.e.
A person's health, as well as the feeling of being healthy, depends to a large extent, on how much control
does one feel over one's life, circumstances and health.
Health or a State of Complete Well-Being has to be earned and maintained by the Individual himself, who
must accept this Responsibility
Some Psychological Variables Affecting Health
Health Locus of Control
Who is responsible for an individual's degree of health or illness? ...The doctors, family/ friends, fate, or
the person himself?
Perceived Control
The tendency to feel or experience responsibility about the personal health related acts and behaviors, as
well as the ability to get the desired outcomes.
Self Perceptions of Wellness
The individual's personal feeling and evaluation of experiencing well-being, especially in comparison with
others. ·Wellness dimensions include; emotional, intellectual, physical, social, spiritual, and general
dimensions.
Learned Helplessness
Proposed by Martin Seligman.
It is a belief that one has no control over the environment.
People conclude that unpleasant or aversive stimuli cannot be controlled.
This pattern becomes so ingrained that they do not try to remedy the aversive circumstances even if they
actually can exert some influence.
Health and Principles of Behavior Change
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Classical conditioning
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Operant conditioning
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Observational learning
Classical conditioning
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Many health-related behaviors are a result of classical conditioning:
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Fear of going to a doctor or dentist
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Fear of surgical procedures
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Fear of swallowing medicine
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Bulimia and Anorexia Nervosa: Fear of gaining weight after eating even in small amounts.
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Operant conditioning
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A number of health-related behaviors depend on operant conditioning:
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Children tend to over-eat when mothers encourage them for eating.
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Teenagers may begin drug abuse or smoking when peers dare them to try a drug or a cigarette.
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Many people exercise regularly because others appreciate their physical fitness.
Observational Learning
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Drug addiction usually results from observational learning.
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People whose peer's exercise regularly tend to indulge in regular exercise.
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Children may go for surgical procedures without fear if they observe other children doing the
same.
Stress, Health, and Illness
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Stress is the response of an organism to events that are threatening or challenging.
STRESSORS: circumstances that produce threats to our well-being (e.g. death of a loved one,
marriage, exams, illness).
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Uplifts: Minor positive events that make one feel good e.g. seeing an old friend, feeling healthy,
completing a task.
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Daily Hassles are also a source of stress.
The Nature of Stressors
There are three general classes of events that can be seen as stressful:
A. Cataclysmic Events
B. Personal Stressors
C. Background Stressors
A. Cataclysmic Events
Strong stressors that occur suddenly affecting many people at once e.g., natural disasters.
Once they are over people can look forward to the future, knowing that the worst is behind them.
But at times the victims may experience POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER i.e.,
Re -experiencing the original stress event and associated feelings in flashbacks or dreams
B. Personal Stressors
·Major life events that have immediate negative consequences, which generally fade with time (e.g. death of
a loved one, loss of job, broken love affair).
C. Background Stressors
Daily hassles causing minor irritations but have no long-term ill effects unless they continue or are
compounded by other stressful
Manifestations of Stress
A. Psychological: tension, anxiety, depression, and helplessness.
B. Physiological: Psychosomatic disorders i.e., medical problems caused by an interaction of emotional,
psychological, and physical difficulties (allergies, aches and pains, flu).
Impact of Stress
a. Direct Physiological Effects
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High blood pressure
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Decreased functioning of the immune system
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Elevated hormonal activity
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Psycho physiological conditions
b. Harmful Behaviors
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Increased unhealthy behaviors e.g. smoking, alcoholism, and/or drug abuse
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Poor nutrition
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Sleep disturbances.
c. Indirect Health-related Behaviors:
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Poor compliance with medical advice.
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Delayed medical consultation and diagnosis.
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Avoiding going to a doctor
Stress and Illness
Stress and Recovery from Disease
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The patients' emotional response may partially determine the course of their disease.
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A positive state of mind has been found to be associated with longevity of life.
Cancer and Stress
Research evidence supports the hypothesis that stressors have a role to play in the onset of cancer.
Smoking
Cigarette smoking has been found to be associated with stress, which in turn is associated with heart
disease, cancer, and a number of other diseases
Stress and Recovery From Disease
The patients' emotional response may partially determine the course of their disease.
A positive state of mind has been found to be associated with longevity of life.
Measuring Stress
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Major life events may be used as indicators of the stress one experienced.
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The Social Readjustment Rating Scale by Holmes and Rahe is one of the assessment tools that
can indicate the stress related risk that one may be facing.
Understanding Stress
General Adaptation Syndrome Model
A model explaining the course of stress. Proposed by Hans Selye.
It suggests that a person's response to stress consists of three stages:
a) Alarm and mobilization stage: a person's initial awareness of the presence of a stressor.
b) Resistance stage: coping with the stressor.
c) Exhaustion stage: failure to adapt to a stressor leading to physical, psychological, and emotional
problems.
Coping With Stress
The efforts to control, reduce, or learn to tolerate the threats that lead to stress.
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Strategies for Coping with Stress
Psychodynamic view
Defense Mechanisms: unconscious strategies people use to reduce anxiety by concealing its source
from themselves or others. COPING CAN BE
a. Emotion-focused
b. Problem-focused
Coping styles (hardiness) and social support play a significant role.
Practical Strategies for Coping with Stress
1. Turn threat into challenge.
2. Make a threatening situation less threatening.
3. Change your goals
4. Take physical action.
5. Preparing for stress before it happens i.e., stress inoculation.
Psychological Interventions for Helping People cope with Stress:
Relaxation techniques
Biofeedback
Behavior therapy
Cognitive therapy
Hypnosis
Meditation
Behavioral/Psychological Factors in Major Disorders and Risky BehaviorsCoronary Heart Disease
Cancer
Diabetes
AIDS
Hepatitis
Accidents
Obesity
Eating Disorders
Addictive behavior
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Table of Contents:
  1. WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?:Theoretical perspectives of psychology
  2. HISTORICAL ROOTS OF MODERN PSYCHOLOGY:HIPPOCRATES, PLATO
  3. SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT:Biological Approach, Psychodynamic Approach
  4. PERSPECTIVE/MODEL/APPROACH:Narcosis, Chemotherapy
  5. THE PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH/ MODEL:Psychic Determinism, Preconscious
  6. BEHAVIORAL APPROACH:Behaviorist Analysis, Basic Terminology, Basic Terminology
  7. THE HUMANISTIC APPROACH AND THE COGNITIVE APPROACH:Rogers’ Approach
  8. RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY (I):Scientific Nature of Psychology
  9. RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY (II):Experimental Research
  10. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND NATURE NURTURE ISSUE:Nature versus Nurture
  11. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:Socio- Cultural Factor, The Individual and the Group
  12. NERVOUS SYSTEM (1):Biological Bases of Behavior, Terminal Buttons
  13. NERVOUS SYSTEM (2):Membranes of the Brain, Association Areas, Spinal Cord
  14. ENDOCRINE SYSTEM:Pineal Gland, Pituitary Gland, Dwarfism
  15. SENSATION:The Human Eye, Cornea, Sclera, Pupil, Iris, Lens
  16. HEARING (AUDITION) AND BALANCE:The Outer Ear, Auditory Canal
  17. PERCEPTION I:Max Wertheimer, Figure and Ground, Law of Closure
  18. PERCEPTION II:Depth Perception, Relative Height, Linear Perspective
  19. ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS:Electroencephalogram, Hypnosis
  20. LEARNING:Motor Learning, Problem Solving, Basic Terminology, Conditioning
  21. OPERANT CONDITIONING:Negative Rein forcer, Punishment, No reinforcement
  22. COGNITIVE APPROACH:Approach to Learning, Observational Learning
  23. MEMORY I:Functions of Memory, Encoding and Recoding, Retrieval
  24. MEMORY II:Long-Term Memory, Declarative Memory, Procedural Memory
  25. MEMORY III:Memory Disorders/Dysfunctions, Amnesia, Dementia
  26. SECONDARY/ LEARNT/ PSYCHOLOGICAL MOTIVES:Curiosity, Need for affiliation
  27. EMOTIONS I:Defining Emotions, Behavioral component, Cognitive component
  28. EMOTIONS II:Respiratory Changes, Pupillometrics, Glandular Responses
  29. COGNITION AND THINKING:Cognitive Psychology, Mental Images, Concepts
  30. THINKING, REASONING, PROBLEM- SOLVING AND CREATIVITY:Mental shortcuts
  31. PERSONALITY I:Definition of Personality, Theories of Personality
  32. PERSONALITY II:Surface traits, Source Traits, For learning theorists, Albert Bandura
  33. PERSONALITY III:Assessment of Personality, Interview, Behavioral Assessment
  34. INTELLIGENCE:The History of Measurement of Intelligence, Later Revisions
  35. PSYCHOPATHOLOGY:Plato, Aristotle, Asclepiades, In The Middle Ages
  36. ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR I:Medical Perspective, Psychodynamic Perspective
  37. ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR II:Hypochondriasis, Conversion Disorders, Causes include
  38. PSYCHOTHERAPY I:Psychotherapeutic Orientations, Clinical Psychologists
  39. PSYCHOTHERAPY II:Behavior Modification, Shaping, Humanistic Therapies
  40. POPULAR AREAS OF PSYCHOLOGY:ABC MODEL, Factors affecting attitude change
  41. HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY:Understanding Health, Observational Learning
  42. INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY:‘Hard’ Criteria and ‘Soft’ Criteria
  43. CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY:Focus of Interest, Consumer Psychologist
  44. SPORT PSYCHOLOGY:Some Research Findings, Arousal level
  45. FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY:Origin and History of Forensic Psychology