Difficulty: Introductory | Prerequisites: None. This is the foundational chapter for the course.
Health psychology sits at the crossroads of psychology and medicine, asking how thoughts, emotions, behaviour and social circumstances shape physical health. This chapter lays out what the field does, who works in it and which research tools it uses. You do not need prior coursework in biology or medicine, but a basic familiarity with scientific method (variables, correlation vs. causation) will help. Everything here is scaffolding for the body-systems detail in Chapter 2 and the behaviour-change models in Chapter 3.
Health psychology studies how psychological, behavioural and social factors influence physical health, illness and recovery. It grew out of older models (biomedical, psychosomatic) and now uses the biopsychosocial framework. Researchers rely on correlational, prospective and longitudinal designs, and epidemiology tracks disease patterns across populations.
Health psychology
The study of psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why they become ill and how they respond when they get ill. In simple terms, it is the science of how your mind and social world affect your body.
Behavioural medicine
Scientifically proved strategies for improving health behaviours in patients' lives and communities. Think of it as the applied, clinical side of health psychology.
Social determinants of health
The five broad conditions that shape health outcomes: (1) education access and quality, (2) healthcare access and quality, (3) economic stability, (4) social and community context, (5) neighbourhood and built environment. In simple terms, these are the non-medical factors that predict how healthy a population will be.
Biomedical model
The view that all illness can be explained by aberrant somatic bodily processes such as biochemical imbalances or neurophysiological abnormalities. Think of it as the "body only" model of disease.
Biopsychosocial model
The framework holding that biological, psychological and social factors are all important determinants of health and illness. This is the dominant model in modern health psychology.
Conversion hysteria
Freud's concept (1856-1939) that unconscious psychological conflicts can produce physical disturbances that symbolise those conflicts. Think of it as the historical idea that emotional turmoil can show up as bodily symptoms.
Psychosomatic medicine
A field examining both psychological and somatic origins of health problems or disease. Historically linked to conditions such as ulcers, hypertension and asthma.
Correlational research
Research that identifies relationships between variables without establishing cause. For example, people who express more hostility also have higher risk for cardiovascular disease, but the link does not prove hostility causes heart disease.
Prospective research
A design that follows participants forward in time to observe how they change or how variables shift. In simple terms, you start watching now and see what happens later.
Longitudinal research
The same people observed at multiple points in time. Think of it as repeated check-ins with the same group over months or years.
Epidemiology
The study of the distribution and determinants of infectious and non-infectious diseases in populations.
Morbidity
The number of cases of a disease that exist at a given time. In simple terms, how many people are currently sick.
Mortality
The number of deaths. The counterpart to morbidity: morbidity counts the sick, mortality counts the dead.
Health promotion and maintenance
Prevention and illness treatment
Studying etiology (causes) and correlates of disease
Analysing and improving the healthcare system
Identifying psychological and social factors that enhance health
Five broad categories shape health outcomes independently of medical care:
Education access and quality
Healthcare access and quality
Economic stability
Social and community context
Neighbourhood and built environment
These determinants explain why two people with the same diagnosis can have very different outcomes depending on where they live, what they earn and what support networks they have.
Biomedical model: the traditional view that disease is purely biological. Useful for acute infections and injuries, but too narrow for chronic conditions where psychology and social context matter.
Conversion hysteria (Freud): the historical idea that repressed psychological conflict can surface as physical symptoms. Important as a stepping stone: it showed clinicians that the mind can produce bodily effects.
Psychosomatic medicine: examined both psychological and somatic origins of illness. Early examples included ulcers, hypertension and asthma.
Biopsychosocial model: the current standard. Biological, psychological and social factors all contribute to health and illness. This is the model exam questions will assume unless told otherwise.
Correlational research: identifies statistical relationships between variables (e.g. hostility and cardiovascular risk) but cannot prove causation.
Prospective research: tracks a group forward in time to see how variables change. Stronger than cross-sectional designs because the timeline is clear.
Longitudinal research: the same individuals observed at multiple time points. A subset of prospective research, but the defining feature is repeated measurement of the same cohort.
Epidemiology: the population-level study of disease distribution, covering both infectious and non-infectious conditions. Key metrics are morbidity (number of existing cases) and mortality (number of deaths).
Students often think the biomedical model is "wrong." It is not wrong; it is incomplete. It works well for acute, purely biological conditions but fails to account for the psychological and social dimensions of chronic illness.
Students confuse correlational and longitudinal research. Correlational describes a statistical relationship; longitudinal describes a time structure. A study can be both at once.
Students mix up morbidity and mortality. Morbidity = how many people are sick. Mortality = how many people died. The two often move together, but not always (a disease can have high morbidity and low mortality, like the common cold).
Students assume the biopsychosocial model replaced the biomedical model entirely. In practice, many clinical settings still default to biomedical thinking. The biopsychosocial model is the ideal framework, not universal practice.
⚠️ Know the five social determinants of health by name and be able to give an example of each.
⚠️ Be ready to compare the biomedical model with the biopsychosocial model: what each includes, what each leaves out.
⚠️ Distinguish between correlational, prospective and longitudinal research. Exam questions often present a study description and ask you to identify the design.
⚠️ Morbidity vs. mortality is a classic short-answer or multiple-choice item.
True or False: The biomedical model accounts for social factors in disease.
False. It focuses only on somatic/biological processes.
Fill in the blank: ______ is the number of existing cases of a disease at a given time.
Morbidity.
True or False: Longitudinal research always involves different groups of people.
False. It follows the same people over time.
Fill in the blank: The ______ model holds that biological, psychological and social factors all determine health.
Biopsychosocial.
True or False: Correlational research can establish that one variable causes another.
False. It identifies relationships, not causation.
Q: What is the key difference between the biomedical model and the biopsychosocial model?
A: The biomedical model explains illness only through biological processes (biochemical imbalances, neurophysiological abnormalities). The biopsychosocial model adds psychological and social factors as equally important determinants of health and illness.
Q: A researcher follows 500 college students for 10 years, measuring stress levels and blood pressure annually. What type of research design is this?
A: Longitudinal (and prospective). The same participants are observed at multiple time points, and the study looks forward in time.
Q: Name three of the five social determinants of health.
A: Any three of: education access and quality, healthcare access and quality, economic stability, social and community context, neighbourhood and built environment.
Q: What is the difference between morbidity and mortality?
A: Morbidity is the number of cases of a disease at a given time. Mortality is the number of deaths.
Q: How did conversion hysteria contribute to the development of health psychology?
A: Freud's concept showed that psychological conflicts could produce physical symptoms, which challenged the purely biomedical view and opened the door to considering psychological factors in physical health.
This chapter connects directly to Chapter 2 (body systems), because you need the biopsychosocial lens to understand why psychological stress affects cardiovascular, immune and endocrine function. It also sets the stage for Chapter 3 (health promotion and behaviour change), where the models introduced here, particularly the biopsychosocial model, inform the design of interventions. The research methods covered here (correlational, prospective, longitudinal) are the same ones used to evaluate those interventions.
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