14-1

Health PsychologyChapter 14

14-2

Health Psychology

• Health psychology is concerned with the social and psychological factors that influence health and illness.

14-3

Stress and Coping

Define stress

A biological reaction to external events; hormones are released that cause a rise in heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration.

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

14-4

Stress and Illness

• Stressors are demands that give rise to the general adaptation syndrome (GAS), which consists of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/livepsych/media/interface/index.htm?atitle=14.1%20Stress%20and%20Selye%27s%20General%20Adaptation%20Syndrome&id1=32_1&id2=32_2&id3=32_3&id4=32_4&sid=32_1

14-5

Stress and Illness

• Among the circumstances that could lead to stress are catastrophes, major life changes such as divorce, traumatic events and hassles.

• Associated with physiological responses such as increased levels of stress hormones

• High levels of life change associated with Illness.• Interpretation often determines whether event is stressful.

Schedule of Recent Experience: http://www.mindtools.com/stress/ps/ScheduleofRecentExperience.htm Social Readjustment Rating Scale: http://chipts.ucla.edu/assessment/Assessment_Instruments/Assessment_files_new/assess_srrs.htm

14-6

Stress and Illness

• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in aftermath of disturbing experience.

• A reliving of the traumatic event in dreams, flashbacks, or intrusive thoughts.

14-7

Stress and Illness

• Everyday minor annoyances can accumulate and become associated with subsequent health problems.

• Psychosomatic illnesses

• Conflicts

14-8

Stress/Perfomance Connection

14-9

Stress and Illness

• A wide variety of stressful events can affect immune system functioning.

• These sometimes result in psychophysiological illnesses

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/livepsych/media/interface/index.htm?atitle=14.2%20Stress%20and%20the%20Immune%20System&id1=33_1&id2=33_2&id3=33_3

14-10

• Differences in health among blacks and whites disappear when holding SES constant.

• Gender also makes a difference in health.– E.g., Arthritis more common

in men < 45; in women > 45

Ethnic and Gender Variations in Health

14-11

Lifestyle Influences on Disease Risk

• The number one cause of death in the United States is heart disease.

• There is a strong association between men and heart disease.

14-12

Heart Disease in Middle Adulthood

• A) Modifiable Factors• Stress• High Cholesterol• High Triglycerides• Low HDL Cholesterol• Lack of Exercise• Diabetes• High Blood Pressure• Overweight or obesity• Smoking /

Chewing Tobacco• Type A personality/

Behavior

B) Non Modifiable Factors• Increasing age• Male• Family History

14-13

Lifestyle Influences on Disease Risk

• Type A individuals tend to be aggressive, competitive, impatient, and have difficulty relaxing.

• The Western Collaborative Group Study indicated that a Type A individual was twice as likely to develop heart disease as the more relaxed and easygoing Type B person.

• Subsequent studies do not replicate this finding• Type H

14-14

Lifestyle Influences on Disease Risk

• Efforts to change type A behavior reduced the rate of recurrent heart attacks as compared with the rate among victims who received typical heart patient counseling

14-16

Lifestyle Influences on Disease Risk

• AIDS is now the 19th leading cause of death in the United States (5th among 35-44 yr-olds).

• Stress speeds onset of symptoms

• AIDS cases among men is substantially higher than the number of cases among women.

14-17

Lifestyle Influences on Disease Risk

• Men and women differ in their likelihood of being exposed to infection with HIV.

14-18

Coping With Stress

• Physical activity is associated with increased longevity and positive benefits on physical and psychological health.

14-19

Coping With Stress

• Hardiness

• Outlook

• Distractions

• Social Support

• Sense of humor