Chapter 6. Reacting To Health Problems

Intro

Reacting To Health Problems
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Before reading about theories of health behavior and how we stay healthy, let’s see how you generally react when your body is not healthy and/or has experienced illness or injury.

Check Your Health

COPING WITH HEALTH: INJURIES AND PROBLEMS SCALE

The following are ways of reacting to health problems, such as illness, sicknesses, or injuries. Think of the last illness, sickness, or injury you had before starting the questionnaire. Please select one of the boxes from “Not At All” to “Very Often” for each of the following items. Indicate how much you engaged in these types of activities when you encountered this health problem.

Question 6.1

Not At All A Little Occasionally Fairly Often Very Often

1. Think about better times.

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2. Stay in bed.

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3. Find out more information.

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4. Wonder "why me?"

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5. Be with others.

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6. Rest when tired.

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7. Seek treatment quickly.

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8. Feel angry.

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9. Daydream.

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10. Sleep.

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11. Focus on getting better.

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12. Become frustrated.

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13. Enjoy attention from people.

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14. Conserve energy.

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15. Learn more.

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16. Think about things I can’t do.

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17. Plan for the future.

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18. Stay warm.

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19. Comply with advice.

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20. Fantasize about being healthy.

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21. Listen to music.

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22. Make surroundings quiet.

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23. Follow doctor’s advice.

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24. Wish it hadn’t happened.

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25. Invite company.

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26. Stay quiet.

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27. Take medications on time.

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28. Think about being vulnerable.

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29. Have nice things around.

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30. Get comfortable.

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31. Find out about treatments.

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32. Worry about my health.

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{true} setModel("q1", qqMC1 )
{true} setModel("q2", qqMC2 )
{true} setModel("q3", qqMC3 )
{true} setModel("q4", qqMC4)
{true} setModel("q5", qqMC5)
{true} setModel("q6", qqMC6)
{true} setModel("q7", qqMC7)
{true} setModel("q8", qqMC8)
{true} setModel("q9", qqMC9)
{true} setModel("q10", qqMC10)
{true} setModel("q11", qqMC11)
{true} setModel("q12", qqMC12)
{true} setModel("q13", qqMC13)
{true} setModel("q14", qqMC14)
{true} setModel("q15", qqMC15)
{true} setModel("q16", qqMC16)
{true} setModel("q17", qqMC17)
{true} setModel("q18", qqMC18)
{true} setModel("q19", qqMC19)
{true} setModel("q20", qqMC20)
{true} setModel("q21", qqMC21)
{true} setModel("q22", qqMC22)
{true} setModel("q23", qqMC23)
{true} setModel("q24", qqMC24)
{true} setModel("q25", qqMC25)
{true} setModel("q26", qqMC26)
{true} setModel("q27", qqMC27)
{true} setModel("q28", qqMC28)
{true} setModel("q29", qqMC29)
{true} setModel("q30", qqMC30)
{true} setModel("q31", qqMC31)
{true} setModel("q32", qqMC32)
{true} setModel("palliativescore", qqMC2+1 + qqMC6+1 + qqMC10+1 + qqMC14+1 + qqMC18+1 + qqMC22+1 + qqMC26+1 + qqMC30+1 )
{true} setModel("instrumentalscore", qqMC3+1 + qqMC7+1 + qqMC11+1 + qqMC15+1 + qqMC19+1 + qqMC23+1 + qqMC27+1 + qqMC31+1 )
{true} setModel("distractionscore", qqMC1+1 + qqMC5+1 + qqMC9+1 + qqMC13+1 + qqMC17+1 + qqMC21+1 + qqMC25+1 + qqMC29+1 )
{true} setModel("emotionalscore", qqMC4+1 + qqMC8+1 + qqMC12+1 + qqMC16+1 + qqMC20+1 + qqMC24+1 + qqMC28+1 + qqMC32+1 )

Your Score

imagenavi/Getty Images

The questionnaire consists of four subscales, each of which is associated with a different style of coping with injury or illness.

Palliative coping – a self-help strategy that aims to reduce the unpleasantness of the condition.

Instrumental coping – a task-oriented strategy in which a person may actively seek more information, such as by consulting a doctor, researching symptoms, or checking family history for signs of genetic vulnerability for the condition.

Distraction coping – a strategy of avoidance in which a person tries not to think about the condition by seeking out the company of others, keeping busy, and keeping the mind focused on pleasant thoughts.

Emotional preoccupation coping – in which a person ruminates on the condition, often to the exclusion of other more positive or less stressful thoughts. Health psychologists have found that emotional preoccupation with health conditions is often associated with greater distress and poorer recovery from injury or illness.

Your score for each subscale:

Palliative coping

{model.palliativescore}

Instrumental coping

{model.instrumentalscore}

Distraction coping

{model.distractionscore}

Emotional preoccupation coping

{model.emotionalscore}

Interpreting Your Score

The Injuries and Problems Scale is not a diagnostic instrument, so there are no cut-offs. However, you can compare your score to the median scores of college-aged people below.

Male

Female

Palliative coping

22.72

24.79

Instrumental coping

18.72

29.54

Distraction coping

20.16

22.0

Emotional preoccupation coping

28.76

29.41

IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH

How did you score on each of the four subscales? Were your scores close to the average of other college women or men? Did you score substantially higher (or lower) on one or more scales than other students? Keep these scores in mind as you continue your exploration of health psychology. One of the major themes of the biopsychosocial model is that how you think about events and conditions strongly influences the impact these events and conditions have on your health.

SOURCES

Endler, N. S., Parker, J. D., & Summerfeldt, L. J. (1998). Coping with health problems: Developing a reliable and valid multidimensional measure. Psychological Assessment, 10(3), 195–205.