Stress and Health 437linked to developing cancer of the colon, lungs, breasts, or prostate (Heikkila et al., 2013).
While 5 percent of more than 100,000 participants in the 12 years over which the study
took place developed some form of cancer, there was no association between job-related
stress and risk of cancer.
OTHER HEALTH ISSUES Heart disease and cancer are not the only diseases affected
by stress. Studies have shown that children in families experiencing ongoing stress
are more likely to develop fevers with illness than are other children (Wyman et al.,
2007). (Oddly enough, this same study showed that in children, stress actually seems to
improve the function of their natural killer cells, just the opposite effect that is seen in
adults.) A review of research and scientific literature (Cohen et al., 2007) found stress to
be a contributing factor in a variety of human diseases and disorders, including heart
disease, depression, and HIV/AIDS. Another longitudinal study’s findings suggest that
experiencing work-related stress in middle age may increase an individual’s chances of
developing both physical and mental disabilities in old age (Kulmala et al., 2013).
Health Psychology
11.6 Describe the branch of psychology known as health psychology.
In the last three decades, people have become more aware of health issues and their rela-
tionship to what we do, what we eat, who we see, and how we think. A branch of psy-
chology has begun to explore these relationships. Health psychology focuses on how our
physical activities, psychological traits, and social relationships affect our overall health
and rate of illnesses. to Learning Objective B.6. Psychologists who specialize in
this field are typically clinical or counseling psychologists and may work with medical
doctors in a hospital or clinic setting, although there are health psychologists who are
primarily engaged in teaching and research. Some health psychologists focus on health
and wellness issues in the workplace or public health issues such as disease prevention
through immunizations or nutrition education. Others are more concerned with health-
care programs that service all levels of the socioeconomic layers of society (Marks et al.,
2005). Still others focus on the effects of stress on cognitive functioning, such as memory
and attention (Aggarwal et al., 2014; Korten et al., 2014; Munoz et al., 2015; Olver et al.,
2015). For more on the subject of health psychology, see the video Health Psychology.
health psychology
area of psychology focusing on how
physical activities, psychological
traits, stress reactions, and social
relationships affect overall health and
Watch the Video Health Psychology rate of illnesses.CC