Chapter 1 Introducing Health Psychology Only need to know this doc don t need to read 1 Objectives at the beginning of every chapter address them in your reading studying PowerPoints 2 Acute illnesses results of virus or bacterial infections relatively easy to cure 3 Chronic illnesses slow to develop number of years lived with that illness can t be cured but can be managed through lifestyle changes goal is to slow negative effects and make the patient more comfortable In the future chronic diseases are expected to be the major causes of death Life expectancy has increased tremendously 4 5 a 1900 47 3 years and in 2011 77 for Americans b Major Due to improved medicine technology sanitation chronic illnesses take longer to develop lower infant mortality widespread vaccinations safer drinking water and milk better nutrition and food storage better disposal of sewage c Minor Antibiotics surgical technology paramedic teams and skilled personnel 6 www livingto100 com 7 Differences in mortality and life expectancy to check your life expectancy 82 a Age i Older people are more likely to die than younger people ii People under 44 1 Intentional injuries car accidents and violent deaths homicides and suicides 1 Cardiovascular disease cancer and unintentional injuries i European Americans have a longer life expectancy than African Americans and iii People over 45 b Ethnicity Hispanic Americans 1 Socioeconomic status SES a person s income or level of education a Health insurance and medical care access 2 Preventative health behaviors diets high in fat less likely to eat fruits and veggies more likely to smoke less likely to e a Health insurance and medical care access b Preventative health behaviors diets high in fat less likely to eat fruits and veggies more likely to smoke less likely to exercise Status higher SES higher standing in society Lower SES more stress c d 3 Lower SES Lower life expectancy 8 How health is conceptualized a Biomedical model traditional view of western medicine explains diseases and somatic processes sees the body as a machine i Explanation of disease focuses on biological changes ii Germ theory popular disease caused by a pathogen iii Treatment of disease rather than person iv Person is healthy if they don t have an illness v Longstanding view in medicine 1 vi Ill suited to understanding illness 1 Reduces illness to low level processes 2 Fails to recognize social and psychological processes 3 Mind body dualism 4 Emphasizes illness over health doesn t emphasize preventative health behaviors 5 Model cannot address many puzzles that practitioners face b Biopsychosocial model health and illness are consequences of the interplay of biological psychological and social factors i Biological genetics viruses bacteria lesions ii Psycho behavior beliefs coping stress pain iii Social norms class employment ethnicity c How they differ i Biomedical model 1 Micro level processes 2 Emphasizes illness ii Biopsychosocial Model 1 Micro level and Macro level processes 2 Emphasizes illness and health a How people stay healthy preventative health behaviors b Why people get ill c How people respond when they do get ill d The relationship between psychology and health 9 Health psychology new 1980s field devoted to understanding psychological influences on i Psychological factors direct path physiological literature to health status ii Psychological factors indirect path to smoking drinking eating screening exercise sex indirect path to health status e A focus on variability i Psychological factors that account for variability ii Knowledge behavior Knowledge Variability Behavior iii Illness outcome Illness Variability Outcome 10 Who are health psychologists a Training i Ph D in health psych doctors of philosophy ii Ph D in social psych iii Ph D in clinical psych iv Psy D doctor of psychology b Additional training i Post doctorate fellowship ii Internships c Jobs of health psychologists i Academia ii Private practice iii Health care settings 2 iv Business government Chapter 2 Notes 8 29 2014 extra credit 1 point 1 The role of the placebo a Early treatments were bizarre and ineffective b Placebo inactive substance or condition that has the appearance of an active treatment and that may cause participants to improve or change i Some placebos are more effective than others ii Placebos that resemble true treatments are more effective a bigger placebo pill is more effective than a smaller pill c Beecher 1959 i Morphine or placebo for pain morphine ii Morphine more effective iii But placebo 35 effective d How do placebos work i Psychological effects may lead to physiological effect ex stress and pain e Why is the placebo important in research i Double blind experiment researcher gives one group a placebo and another group the treatment Both the patient and the researchers are unaware which group gets the placebo and which gets the treatment 1 After the experiment is done the effectiveness of the placebo is measured against the treatment ii Single blind experiment the participant doesn t know what they re receiving but the experimenter does The researcher might expect the participant to act a certain way 2 Correlational studies a Correlational method assessed ii Direction i Two or more variable are measured and the relationship between them is 1 Positive correlation as one variable increase so does the other a Ex the number of sunburns increase as the instances of skin 2 Negative correlation as one variable increases the other decreases a As the number of flu vaccines administered increases the flu cancer increase patients decrease 3 No correlation no relationship between variables a The amount of calcium you consume as a child does not affect whether or not you develop skin cancer iii Strength calculated by a correlation coefficient 1 Range from 1 to 1 2 Closer to 1 the stronger the correlation indicate the correlation 3 Closer to 0 the weaker the correlation because iv Correlation can t determine causation 3 1 Direction problem a Variable A causes variable B b Variable B causes variable A 2 Third variable problem a Another variable variable C could be responsible for both variable A and variable B 3 Cross Sectional and Longitudinal Studies a Goal to understand how health behaviors develop over time b Cross Sectional Studies participants of different ages are studies at one point in time i Nice and quick c Longitudinal studies one group of participant studied over time i More information about