ASPPB Health Psychology & Behavioral Medicine 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In behavioral medicine, the operant conditioning approach to chronic pain management focuses on:
- Reducing the subjective experience of pain through cognitive restructuring
- Increasing well behaviors and decreasing pain behaviors through reinforcement contingencies (Correct answer)
- Using classical conditioning to pair pain cues with relaxation responses
- Pharmacological management of pain with psychological support
Correct 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.
Question 2: Which of the following accurately describes secondary prevention in the context of health psychology?
- Preventing a disease from occurring in healthy individuals through vaccination
- Early detection and prompt treatment to halt disease progression (Correct answer)
- Rehabilitation and management of established chronic conditions
- Eliminating environmental risk factors before exposure occurs
Correct 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.
Question 3: Biofeedback is most accurately described as a technique in which:
- Therapists provide verbal feedback about patients' behavioral patterns over multiple sessions
- Physiological information is converted into signals that help patients learn to voluntarily control bodily functions (Correct answer)
- Biological data from laboratory tests is used to give feedback about disease risk
- Patients record their own health behaviors in diaries for therapist review
Correct 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.
Question 4: The concept of adherence (previously called compliance) in health psychology refers to:
- The degree to which patient behavior matches healthcare provider recommendations (Correct answer)
- A patient's passive submission to a physician's authority and decisions
- The ability to tolerate side effects of prescribed medications
- A healthcare provider's obligation to follow evidence-based guidelines
Correct 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.
Question 5: The relaxation response, described by Herbert Benson, involves physiological changes that are the opposite of the stress response, including:
- Increased heart rate, elevated cortisol, and heightened alertness
- Decreased heart rate, reduced oxygen consumption, and lowered blood pressure (Correct answer)
- Increased adrenaline secretion with simultaneous muscle relaxation
- Elevated blood glucose with reduced inflammatory markers
Correct 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.
Question 6: According to research on stress and immune function, which of the following statements is most accurate?
- Acute stress always suppresses immune function, while chronic stress enhances it
- Chronic stress is generally associated with dysregulation and suppression of immune function (Correct answer)
- Psychological stress has no demonstrated effect on measurable immune parameters
- Social support reduces stress but has no effect on immunological outcomes
Correct 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.
Question 7: Which model of health behavior change emphasizes the role of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and observational learning?
- Health Belief Model
- Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change)
- Social Cognitive Theory (Correct answer)
- Theory of Planned Behavior
Correct 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.
ASPPB Health Psychology & Behavioral Medicine 2
In behavioral medicine, the operant conditioning approach to chronic pain management focuses on: