Health Psychology & Behavioral Medicine Flashcards

In behavioral medicine, the operant conditioning approach to chronic pain management focuses on:

Answer: Increasing well behaviors and decreasing pain behaviors through reinforcement contingencies

Fordyce's operant approach targets observable pain behaviors (e.g., grimacing, resting, requesting medication) by modifying reinforcement contingencies—reducing social reinforcement of pain behaviors and rewarding well behaviors regardless of pain level.

Which of the following accurately describes secondary prevention in the context of health psychology?

Answer: Early detection and prompt treatment to halt disease progression

Secondary prevention involves screening for and detecting disease at an early stage to prevent it from progressing, such as mammograms for early breast cancer detection or blood pressure screening to catch hypertension before organ damage occurs.

Biofeedback is most accurately described as a technique in which:

Answer: Physiological information is converted into signals that help patients learn to voluntarily control bodily functions

Biofeedback provides real-time information about physiological processes (e.g., muscle tension, heart rate, skin temperature) through auditory or visual signals, enabling patients to gain voluntary control over typically involuntary functions.

The concept of adherence (previously called compliance) in health psychology refers to:

Answer: The degree to which patient behavior matches healthcare provider recommendations

Adherence refers to the extent to which a patient's health behaviors—taking medications, following diets, executing lifestyle changes—correspond with agreed-upon recommendations, with the modern term emphasizing patient collaboration over passive compliance.

The relaxation response, described by Herbert Benson, involves physiological changes that are the opposite of the stress response, including:

Answer: Decreased heart rate, reduced oxygen consumption, and lowered blood pressure

Benson's relaxation response is characterized by decreased metabolic rate, reduced heart rate, lower blood pressure, slower respiration, and diminished oxygen consumption—essentially the physiological counterpart to the fight-or-flight stress response.

According to research on stress and immune function, which of the following statements is most accurate?

Answer: Chronic stress is generally associated with dysregulation and suppression of immune function

Research consistently demonstrates that chronic stress dysregulates immune function—associated with elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines, impaired wound healing, reduced natural killer cell activity, and greater vulnerability to infections.

Which model of health behavior change emphasizes the role of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and observational learning?

Answer: Social Cognitive Theory

Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory places self-efficacy (belief in one's ability to perform a behavior) and outcome expectations at the center of health behavior change, also highlighting observational learning from models as a key mechanism.