Health Psychology Glossary
25 essential terms — because precise language is the foundation of clear thinking in Health Psychology.
Showing 25 of 25 terms
The cumulative physiological burden on the body from chronic stress and repeated activation of stress response systems.
An interdisciplinary field integrating behavioral and biomedical science to understand and improve health and illness.
A technique that uses electronic monitoring to train individuals to control physiological processes such as heart rate, muscle tension, and blood pressure.
A long-lasting health condition that can be managed but typically not cured, such as diabetes, heart disease, or asthma.
Cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage, reduce, or tolerate internal or external demands appraised as stressful.
A glucocorticoid hormone released by the adrenal cortex in response to stress, regulating metabolism, immune response, and inflammation.
A theory proposing that neural mechanisms in the spinal cord can amplify or inhibit pain signals based on psychological and physiological factors.
Selye's model describing the body's three-stage physiological response to prolonged stress: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
Any activity undertaken by individuals to maintain or improve their health, or to prevent disease.
A psychological model that predicts health behaviors based on perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy.
The capacity of individuals to obtain, process, and understand basic health information needed to make appropriate health decisions.
The degree to which people believe their health is determined by their own actions, powerful others, or chance.
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, a neuroendocrine pathway that regulates the stress response through cortisol release.
A patient's personal beliefs and mental representations about their illness, including its cause, timeline, consequences, and controllability.
A collaborative, client-centered counseling approach designed to strengthen motivation and commitment to behavior change.
An individual's belief about the ease or difficulty of performing a specific behavior, a key component of the Theory of Planned Behavior.
A measurable health improvement resulting from a patient's belief and expectation that a treatment will be effective.
The study of how psychological processes interact with the nervous and immune systems to affect health.
A subjective evaluation of overall well-being encompassing physical health, psychological state, social relationships, and environmental factors.
An individual's confidence in their ability to successfully perform a behavior necessary to achieve a desired outcome.
The five stages of behavior change in the Transtheoretical Model: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.
A state of physiological and psychological arousal resulting from perceived threats or demands that exceed an individual's coping resources.
A behavior pattern marked by competitiveness, urgency, impatience, and hostility, associated with increased coronary heart disease risk.