"Health psychology is the study of psychological and behavioral processes in health, illness, and healthcare."
This subfield investigates how psychological, environmental, and biological factors influence health and illness.
Anatomy and Physiology: This includes the study of the different systems of the body, their functions, and how they are interconnected.
Neuroscience: This encompasses the study of the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord, and how they function.
Genetics: This includes the study of genes and how they influence behavior, health, and disease susceptibility.
Immunology: This encompass the study of how the immune system works, the response of the body during infection, and the role of the immune system in health and disease.
Pharmacology: This includes the study of drugs and their effects on the body, including the physiological and psychological responses.
Epidemiology: This encompasses the study of the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in populations.
Health systems and policies: This includes the study of the organization and delivery of health services, policies that affect health, and the role of healthcare providers in promoting health and wellness.
Developmental psychology: This encompasses the study of how individuals develop psychologically and how this affects their health and well-being.
Social psychology: This includes the study of how social factors, such as social support, culture, and socioeconomic status, influence health.
Stress and coping: This includes the study of how stress affects health and how individuals cope with stress.
Nutrition and physical activity: This encompasses the study of the relationship between diet and physical activity on overall health and prevention of diseases.
Health promotion and behavior change: This includes the development and evaluation of interventions aimed at promoting healthy behaviors among individuals and communities.
Mental health: This encompasses the study of psychological disorders, their treatment, and their impact on health and well-being.
Chronic illness: This includes the study of conditions that require long-term management, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Pain management: This encompasses the study of the psychological and physiological factors that contribute to pain and the development of interventions for pain management.
Behavioral Neuroscience: The study of the biological basis of behavior, including the structure and function of the brain, the nervous system, and the endocrine system.
Sensory Neuroscience: The study of the sensory systems and how they process information from the environment.
Cognitive Neuroscience: The study of the neural basis of cognitive processes, such as perception, attention, memory, and language.
Developmental Neuroscience: The study of how the brain develops and changes throughout the lifespan, including the neurobiological basis of aging.
Molecular Neuroscience: The study of the molecular mechanisms underlying neural function, including the role of genes, proteins, and neurotransmitters.
Computational Neuroscience: The use of mathematical and computational models to study the brain and its function.
Neuropsychology: The study of the relationship between the brain and behavior, including the effects of brain damage and disease.
Psychopharmacology: The study of the effects of drugs on behavior and on the brain, including the development of new drugs for the treatment of mental illness and other conditions.
Psychophysiology: The study of the relationship between psychological processes and physiological responses, including the measurement of brain activity, heart rate, and other bodily functions.
Evolutionary Neuroscience: The study of how the brain and nervous system have evolved over time and how this evolution has influenced behavior and cognition.
"The discipline is concerned with understanding how psychological, behavioral, and cultural factors contribute to physical health and illness."
"Psychological factors can affect health directly."
"For example, chronically occurring environmental stressors affecting the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, cumulatively, can harm health."
"Behavioral factors can also affect a person's health."
"For example, certain behaviors can, over time, harm (smoking or consuming excessive amounts of alcohol) health."
"For example, engaging in exercise can enhance health."
"Health psychologists take a biopsychosocial approach."
"Health psychologists understand health to be the product of biological, psychological, behavioral, and social processes."
"Health psychologists can improve health by working directly with individual patients or indirectly in large-scale public health programs."
"Health psychologists can help train other healthcare professionals (e.g., physicians and nurses) to apply the knowledge the discipline has generated when treating patients."
"Health psychologists work in a variety of settings such as hospitals, clinics, public health departments, universities, and medical schools."
"Four different divisions within health psychology [...] have developed over time."
"The four divisions include clinical health psychology, public health psychology, community health psychology, and critical health psychology."
"Professional organizations for the field of health psychology include Division 38 of the American Psychological Association (APA), the Division of Health Psychology of the British Psychological Society (BPS), the European Health Psychology Society, and the College of Health Psychologists of the Australian Psychological Society (APS)."
"Advanced credentialing in the US as a clinical health psychologist is provided through the American Board of Professional Psychology."
"One related field is occupational health psychology (OHP)."
"Although its early beginnings can be traced to the field of clinical psychology…"
"Public health psychology aims to work on large-scale behavior change and health promotion programs."
"Community health psychology focuses on the health of communities and the role of social systems in health."