8 Psychological Influences on Health Free Online FlashCards

What does the biopsychosocial perspective explain?

It views health and illness as outcomes of ongoing interactions among biological processes, psychological experiences, and social conditions.

How can prolonged stress affect the body?

Persistent stress can affect heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormones. Its effects vary among people and may contribute to or worsen some health problems.

How can psychological factors affect health indirectly?

Mood, beliefs, and coping can shape sleep, activity, eating, smoking, substance use, and treatment adherence, which in turn influence health.

How can mood and chronic illness influence each other?

Chronic illness, pain, or disability may worsen mood, while depression can make health habits and treatment plans harder to maintain.

Does an association between depression and physical illness prove direct causation?

An association may reflect multiple pathways and causes; it does not establish that a particular mood directly caused an individual’s disease.

What can positive well-being contribute to health?

Positive emotion, optimism, and purpose may support coping and health-promoting behavior, but positive thinking alone is not proven to prevent disease or produce recovery.

What factors does the health belief model propose can shape action?

It proposes that action may depend on perceived susceptibility and seriousness, benefits and barriers, confidence in acting, and cues that prompt action.

What is self-efficacy?

Self-efficacy is confidence in one’s ability to perform a specific behavior.

What is the placebo effect?

Expectations and treatment context can contribute to symptom improvement. This does not mean symptoms are imaginary or that expectations replace effective medical treatment.

What is the nocebo effect?

The nocebo effect is symptom worsening related to negative expectations.

How may personality influence health?

Personality may shape behavior, stress responses, coping, and communication with clinicians, but it is only one influence and does not determine an individual’s health.

Name coping strategies that may help with stress.

Options include problem-solving, seeking support, adapting goals, and relaxation skills. No single strategy works for every stressor.