HEALTH PSHYCOLOGY

• Coping

  Managing the internal and external demands of stressful situations using thoughts and behaviors
• Stress moderators


  • Modify how stress is experienced and the effects it has
  • The process is dynamic
• The Coping Process


  1. Stressful event, its stage, and anticipated future course

  2. Appraisal and interpretation of the stressor

  3. Coping responses and strategies

  4. Coping tasks

  5. Coping outcomes
• Coping resources or impediments


  • External: Tangible resources
  • Social support
  • Major life events and daily hassles
  • Internal: Usual coping styles
  • Other personality factors that influence selection of coping responses and strategies
• Negative affectivity


  • Marked by anxiety, depression, and hostility
  • Associated with poor health habits
  • People do not respond well to treatments
  • Can create an illusion of poor health
• Positive emotional states


  • Linked to lower levels of stress indicators
  • Triggers better immune responses
  • Improves coping
• Psychosocial Resources


  • Optimism
  • Self-esteem
  • Being smart
  • Emotional stability
  • Psychological control
  • Resilience
  • Sense of coherence and purpose about life
  • Sense of humor and trust in others
  • Sense that life is worth living
  • Religious beliefs
• Coping Style


  • Avoidant coping style: Coping by avoiding
  • Emotion-focused coping: Regulating emotions experienced because of the stressful event
  • Approach coping style: Coping by gathering information or directly taking action
  • Problem-focused coping: Attempting to do something constructive about the stressful conditions
  • Emotional-approach coping: Clarifying, focusing on, and working through the emotions experienced in response to a stressor
  • Proactive coping: Anticipating potential stressors and acting in advance
• Coping Outcomes


  • Reducing or eliminating stressors
  • Tolerating or adjusting to negative events or realities
  • Maintaining a positive self-image
  • Maintaining emotional equilibrium
  • Continuing satisfying relationships with others
  • Enhancing recovery when ill and keeping low physiological, neuroendocrine, and immune reactivity
• External Resources

  • Time
  • Money
• Mindfulness Meditation

  Have a higher awareness of the present and focus on the present and accept it
• Expressive Writing


  • Reduces psychological and physiological indicators of stress
  • Aids in effective coping
  • Helps organize thoughts and find meaning
  • Helps to focus attention on positive aspects
  • Provides an opportunity to clarify emotions
  • Affirms one's personal values
• Self-affirmation


  • Helps individuals feel better about themselves
  • Lowers physiological activity and distress
  • Reduces defensive reactions to health threats
• Relaxation Training


  • Deep breathing
  • Progressive muscle relaxation training
  • Guided imagery
  • Transcendental meditation and yoga
  • Self hypnosis
• Coping Effectiveness Training


  1. Assess stressful events and disaggregate the stressors into specific tasks

  2. Maintain their social support

  3. Phases of stress management

  4. Stress management program
• Social support


  Information from others that one is loved and cared for, esteemed and valued, and part of a network of communication and mutual obligations
• Types of Social Support


  • Tangible assistance
  • Informational support
  • Emotional support
  • Invisible support
• Effects of Social Support on Illness


  • Lowers the likelihood of illness
  • Speeds up recovery
  • Reduces the risk of mortality
  • Encourages individuals to use health services and stick to their medical regimens
  • Can lead to some bad health habits
• Biopsychosocial Pathways


  • Social support has positive effects on the cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune systems
• Hypotheses about Social Support


  • Direct effects hypothesis: Social support is generally beneficial during nonstressful as well as stressful times
  • Buffering hypothesis: Physical and mental health benefits of social support are chiefly evident during periods of high stress
• Effectiveness of social support


  • Depends on how an individual uses a social support network
• Extracting Support


  Social skills influence the ability to develop social support
• Matching hypothesis


  Support that meets the needs of a stressful event is the most effective support
• Who provides support?


  • Emotional support is best provided by someone close to the individual
  • Social support is effective when the person from whom one is seeking support is perceived to be responsive to one's needs
• Threats to Social Support

  • Controlling or directive support
  • Intrusive social contact
  • Stressful events
• Giving social support benefits both mental and physical health
• Problem-focused coping


  Coping mechanism that involves taking action to address the source of the stress. Examples include developing a plan to solve a problem, seeking support from others, or learning new skills.
• Coping


  Thoughts and behaviors used to deal with stressful situations. Can be divided into emotion-focused coping (managing emotional response) and problem-focused coping (taking action to address source of stress).
• Managing internal and external demands of stressful situations


  Coping involves dealing with both the internal (emotional) and external (situational) demands of stress. This means managing your emotional response and taking action to address the source of the stress.
• Emotion-focused coping


  Coping mechanism that involves managing your emotional response to a stressful situation. Examples include talking to a friend, practicing mindfulness, or engaging in a hobby.
• Health-compromising behaviors

  Behaviors and activities that individuals do that could harm current or future health
• Obesity and Weight Control


  • Excessive accumulation of body fat
  • 20-27 percent in woman
  • 15-22 percent in man

  
• Body Mass Index


  Measure of body fat based on height and weight

  
• Risks of Obesity


  • Cancers (colon, rectum, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, kidney, esophagus)
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Increase risks in surgery (anesthesia and childbearing)
  • Poorer cognitive skills
  • Disability
  • Early mortality
  • Psychological distress
  • Economic consequences
• Risk factors for childhood obesity


  • Elevated blood pressure
  • Elevated lipid levels
  • Hyperinsulemia
  • Genetics
  • Sedentary lifestyles
  • Consumption of junkfood
  • Family values
  • Amount and size of fat cells

  
• Risk factors for obesity


  • Women of low socioeconomic status
  • Depression
  • Personality type
  • Socialization
  • Set point theory of weight
  • Stress
• Interventions for obesity


  • Exercise
  • Sleep
  • Dieting
  • Surgery
  • Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
  • Self monitoring
  • Attentional retraining
  • Stimulus control
  • Control eating
  • Self reinforcement
  • Controlling self-talk
  • Stress management
  • Social support
  • Relapse prevention
• Eating Disorders


  Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are two eating disorders that begin as attempts to control weight. Binge eating is a third eating disorder and a significant factor in being overweight or obese
• Anorexia Nervosa


  An eating disorder characterized by intentional self-starvation or semi starvation, sometimes to the point of death. Restriction of energy intake, fear of gaining weight, and disturbance in self-perceived weight or shape
• Anorexia Nervosa Risk Factors


  • Genetics
  • Personality Characteristics (Body Image Distortion)
  • Family Interaction