Health Psychology Lecture Notes

Exam Three Overview

• Covers Chapters 9, 10, and 11
• Contains 30 multiple-choice questions

Chapter 9: Illness Beliefs and Behaviors

Cognitive Biases

• Confirmation Bias: Seeking information to confirm beliefs about symptoms.
• Attribution: Assigning a cause to symptoms (e.g., blaming a food item).
• Misattribution: Incorrectly labeling physiological experiences to external factors.

Personality Traits

• Anxiety: Leads to reporting more symptoms.
• Neuroticism: Increases sensitivity to symptoms.
• Optimism: Buffers stress but may delay treatment seeking.
• Private Body Consciousness: Sensitivity to body changes, more common in women.
• Behavioral and Informational Involvement: Patient's role in self-care and information seeking.
• Hypochondriasis (Health Anxiety): Excessive focus on health, seeking multiple opinions.

Types of Delays

• Appraisal delay: Recognizing symptoms.
• Illness delay: Delay due to barriers such as cost.
• Use delay: Delay in seeking treatment after decision to seek care.

Triggers for Seeking Treatment

1. Fear of symptoms.
2. Nature and severity of symptoms.
3. Interference with relationships.
4. Social or occupational interference.
5. Social sanctioning (e.g., incentives).

Hospital Environment and Patient Experience

• Negative effects of harsh environments.
• Pattern of medical visits contributes to dissatisfaction.
• Cultural diversity affects interactions within the healthcare team.

Patient-Practitioner Communication Models

• Active-passive: Doctor makes decisions.
• Guidance-cooperation: Doctor leads, patient cooperates.
• Mutual cooperation: Joint decision-making.
• Influence of collectivistic vs. individualistic cultures.

Adherence to Treatments

• Higher adherence for acute versus chronic illnesses.
• Physician monitoring and technology increase adherence.

Chapter 10: Understanding Pain

Types of Pain

• Acute Pain: Short-term pain (<3 months).
• Chronic Pain: Long-lasting, considered a disease.
• Psychogenic, Neuropathic, Somatic Pain: Different origins and characteristics.

Pain Theories

• Specificity Theory: Pain from specific stimuli and receptors.
• Pattern Theory: Pain from patterns of stimulation.
• Pain-prone Personality: Emotional/psychological predispositions to pain.
• Cognitive Behavioral Theory: Conditioning and expectations increase pain.
• Diathesis-Stress Theory: Genetic/psychological predispositions impact pain perception.

Gate Control Theory

• A-beta, A-delta, C fibers involved in pain transmission.
• Counter-irritation occurs when A-beta fibers inhibit pain signals.

Cognitive Processes Affecting Pain

• Learned Helplessness: Belief in lack of control increases pain.
• Stable Outlook: Expectation of perpetual pain worsens experience.
• Catastrophizing: Exaggerating pain experiences.
• Distraction: Can alleviate pain perception.

Pain Tolerance vs. Threshold

• Threshold: Point at which pain is first felt.
• Tolerance: Maximum bearable pain level.

Acupuncture and Pain Management

• Placebo effect or endorphin release.
• Stress-induced analgesia reduces pain perception.
• Racial/ethnic disparities in opioid prescriptions.

Chapter 11: Chronic Illness and End-of-Life Care

Quality of Life Components

• Physical, psychological, and social functioning.
• Symptom management related to disease and treatment.

Coping with Chronic Illness

• Primary Appraisal: Assessing threat or challenge.
• Secondary Appraisal: Resources to cope.
• Anxiety and depression are common emotional responses.

Motivational Interviewing

• Helps resolve ambivalence regarding behavior changes.

Social Support in Chronic Illness

• Can be detrimental if excessive; existing support sufficient.

End-of-Life Care

• Palliative Care: Focus on comfort, not cure.
• Euthanasia vs. Physician-Assisted Suicide: Differences in administration.
• Withdrawal from Treatment: Ceasing life-sustaining measures.

Cultural Perspectives on Death

• Diverse rituals and beliefs in different religions.

Hospice Care

• Founded by Cicely Saunders in 1967.
• Emphasizes quality of life and comfort.
• Patients often report higher psychological well-being.

Kubler-Ross's Stages of Death

• Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.
• Criticized for lack of empirical support and fixed order.

Adherence in Folk vs. Western Medicine

• Enhanced by communication and family involvement.

Delays in Seeking Treatment

• Appraisal, illness, and use delays affect treatment seeking.

Pain Assessment Across Cultures

• Different scales (e.g., face, verbal, numerical) used for pain evaluation.

These notes cover significant points from the lecture on health psychology, focusing on illness beliefs, pain management, and end-of-life care, preparing for exam three.