Psychology 2030A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 14: Biopsychosocial Model, Medical Psychology, Maladjusted
22 Sep 2020
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Psych The Maladjusted Mind Chapter 14 Textbook Notes – Health Psychology
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14.1 Define health psychology and the roles of a health psychologist
• Health psychology uses the principles and methods of psychology to understand how
attitudes and behaviours influence health and disease
• Health psychologists study how people develop positive and negative health habits, (e.g.
exercise, eating, smoking) how stress and health are related, and which psychological
variables affect the onset and treatment of medical illnesses
• Health = state of mental, social, and physical wellbeing, not just the absence of illness
• Behavioural medicine = interdisciplinary field that studies the relation b/w behavioural
and biomedical science
• Medical psychology = the study and practice of psychology as it relates to health,
disease, and medical treatment
• Biopsychosocial model = suggests that complex interactions among biological,
psychological, and social factors determine health
o At heart of health psychology
• In contrast to biopsychosocial model, biomedical model explains disease solely as
biological processes
14.2 Describe mind-body dualism and its significance for health psychology
• Recognition that mind and body were profoundly linked → mind-body dualism (our
current understanding)
• Concept is associated with Descartes
• Mind and body function independently although they may interact
• Only recently has psychology had any role in identifying and treating medical disease
o Now psychologists routinely offer services related to the prevention, treatment,
or management of physical health problems
o E.g. training diabetic children in relaxation techniques that reduce their fear of
injections
• It was in the early 20th century that the switch happened
o Freud linked mind and body to explain hysteria, now called conversion disorder,
a condition in which unconscious psychological conflicts caused unexplained
physical complaints
o In the 1930s and 40s, proposed associations b/w certain personality patterns and
specific medical diseases
▪ Dunbar and Alexander
o From these influences came the development of biopsychosocial models of
physical disease, which recognize the contributions of body, mind, and the social
environment to the development of disease
• Psychological influences on health
o Widely accepted that psychological variables (such as health habits, attitudes,
and personality characteristics) and social factors (such as stress and social
support) affect physical health
o Diseases can also affect psychological health and social functioning
Psych The Maladjusted Mind Chapter 14 Textbook Notes – Health Psychology
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o When medical disease and psychological problems coexist, functioning is
impaired to a greater extent
o Psychological and social variables also influence the treatment of medical
disease, especially chronic medical problems
▪ E.g. doctor-patient relationship, expectations for treatment outcomes,
and psychological coping and adjustment
14.3 Define stress, and describe how it’s measured
• Defining stress
o Stress = any negative emotional experience accompanied by biochemical,
physiological, cognitive, and behavioural responses that attempt to change or
adjust to the stressor
o A stressor = any event that produces tension or another negative emotion, and
that prepares the organism for a fight-or-flight response
o Stressors can be physical, environmental, interpersonal-social, or psychological
o The characteristics of an event affect the probability that it will produce stress
▪ Perceived stress is more likely if an event has a negative outcome, but
positive outcomes also can produce stress
o Stress is also more likely when the event is perceived as uncontrollable,
unpredictable, or ambiguous (leaving the person uncertain of what action to
take), or when it has an impact on a major area of life
o Because people may react differently to the same event, a stressor can be
understood fully only when the interaction b/w an event and a person is
considered
o After a stressful event, an interactive appraisal process occurs in which a person
assesses whether he/she has the resources or coping skills to deal with the event
▪ First, the person assesses potential harm or threat (primary appraisal)
• Perceptions of threat are heavily influenced by many
psychological and social variables, such as a person’s beliefs and
values that give meaning to the event or its expected outcomes
▪ Next, the person identifies available skills to cope with or overcome the
possible negative outcomes (secondary appraisal)
• Coping strategies fall into 2 categories:
o Problem-focused coping
▪ Involves taking action to manage a problem that’s
creating stress
o Emotion-focused coping
▪ Occurs when a person focuses on managing
emotional distress that results from a stressor
rather than trying to change the situation that
creates stress
▪ Positive emotion-focused coping might include
changing thoughts to decrease distress or engaging
in behaviours that make one feel better
Psych The Maladjusted Mind Chapter 14 Textbook Notes – Health Psychology
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▪ Problem-solving coping also seen as very effective
o Stress has many forms
▪ Acute stress occurs when a potentially threatening event and the
associated reaction last for only a brief time
▪ Chronic stress develops when a threatening event continues over time
▪ Daily hassles, or minor aversive events that occur day-day, can
accumulate to create stress
▪ Major life events that affect the way a person lives
▪ Under any of these conditions, the perceived or actual inability to cope
results in a stress reaction with symptoms of a fight-or-flight response,
e.g. increased blood pressure, heart rate, sweating, respiration rate
▪ Adaptive responses help the person react quickly and positively to
potentially harmful events
▪ Detrimental responses disrupt functioning
• Also potentially set the stage for poorer health
• Measuring stress
o Acute stress is often measured with an acute stress paradigm
▪ Short-term stress is created in the lab, and its effects on physiological,
neuroendocrine, and psychological responses is measured
▪ Stress can be created in different ways, e.g. giving impromptu speech
▪ This approach allows researchers to carefully examine biological
responses (heart rate, blood pressure, blood chemistry) and
psychological variables as measured by interviews and questionnaires
(level of chronic stress, personality style) at the same time
o Measuring the impact of life events is common in stress research
▪ Social readjustment rating scale
▪ The SRRS lists 43 potentially stressful life events, each of which has a
numerical rating that estimates how much life “readjustment” is related
to the event
Document Summary
Psych the maladjusted mind chapter 14 textbook notes health psychology. In contrast to biopsychosocial model, biomedical model explains disease solely as biological processes. It was in the early 20th century that the switch happened: freud linked mind and body to explain hysteria, now called conversion disorder, a condition in which unconscious psychological conflicts caused unexplained physical complaints. In addition, they rate severity of hassles, and intensity scores are calculated for both hassles and uplifts. Increased adrenal gland stimulation results in the secretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine: hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (hpa) axis, hypothalamus increases production of corticotrophin-releasing factor (crf), which causes increased cortisol. Increased cortisol helps the body store carbs, reduce inflammation, and return the body to a steady state after stress: stress and the immune system. Psych the maladjusted mind chapter 14 textbook notes health psychology: other white blood cells known as b-lymphocytes secrete antibodies or toxins into the blood to kill invading bacteria and viruses.
