Health Psychology
The field of psychological science concerned with the events that affect physical well-being (p. 428)
Well-Being
A positive state that includes striving for optimal health (p. 428)
Biopsychosocial Model
A model of health that integrates the effects of biological, behavioral, and social factors on health and illness (p. 429)
Placebo Effect
A drug or treatment, unrelated to the particular problem of the person who receives it, may make the recipient feel better because the person believes the drug or treatment is effective (p. 431)
Stress
A pattern of behavioral and physiological responses to events that match or exceed an organism's abilities to respond (p. 434)
Stressor
An environmental event or stimulus that threatens an organism (p. 434)
Coping Response
Any response an organism makes to avoid, escape from, or minimize an aversive stimulus (p. 434)
Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis
The biological system responsible for the stress response (p. 435)
Fight-or-Flight Response
The physiological preparedness of animals to deal with danger (p. 436)
Tend-and-Befriend Response
Females' tendency to protect and care for their offspring and form social alliances rather than flee or fight in response to threat (p. 436)
Oxytocin
A hormone that is important for mothers in bonding to newborns (p. 437)
Lymphocytes
Specialized white blood cells known as B cell, T cells, and natural killer cells that make up the immune system (p. 437)
Immune System
The body's mechanism for dealing with invading microorganisms, such as allergens, bacteria, and viruses (p. 437)
General Adaptation Syndrome
A consistent pattern of responses to stress that consists of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion (p. 438)
Type A Behavior Pattern
A pattern of behavior characterized by competitiveness, achievement orientation, aggressiveness, hostility, restlessness, inability to relax, and impatience with others (p. 440)
Type B Behavior Pattern
A pattern of behavior characterized by relaxed, noncompetitive, easygoing, and accommodating behavior (p. 440)
Allostatic Load Theory of Illness
When people are continually stressed, they are unable to return to bodily states that characterize normal stress levels (p. 441)
Primary Appraisal
Part of the coping process that involves making decisions about whether a stimulus is stressful, benign, or irrelevant (p. 442)
Secondary Appraisal
Part of the coping process during which people evaluate their options and choose coping behaviors (p. 442)
Emotion-Focused Coping
A type of coping in which people try to prevent having an emotional response to a stressor (p. 442)
Problem-Focused Coping
A type of coping in which people take direct steps to confront or minimize a stressor (p. 442)
Positive Reappraisal
A cognitive process in which a person focuses on possible good things in his or her current situation, looking for the proverbial silver lining (p. 443)
Downward Comparisons
A coping strategy that involves comparing oneself to those who are worse off (p. 443)
Creation of Positive Events
A coping strategy of infusing ordinary events with positive meaning (p. 443)
Body Mass Index (BMI)
A ratio of body weight to height, used to measure obesity (p. 445)
Anorexia Nervosa
An eating disorder characterized by an excessive fear of becoming fat and thus a refusal to eat (p. 449)
Bulimia Nervosa
An eating disorder characterized by dieting, binge eating, and purging (p. 450)
Acculturation
The extent to which individuals assimilate the customs, values, beliefs, and behaviors of the mainstream culture (p. 455)
Social Integration
The quality of a person's social relationships (p. 458)
Buffering Hypothesis
The idea that other people can provide direct support in helping individuals cope with stressful events (p. 458)