Psychology 401-003

Psychology 401-003

Research Issues in Health Psychology
Winter 2001

Contents

Course/Instructor Information

Course Overview

Course Requirements

Required Readings

Links to Useful Resources

Course/Instructor Information

Dr. Robert Sellers

Office 3254 East Hall (647-3949)

Email: rsellers@umich.edu

Office Hours: Mon. 1- 3 and by appointment

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Course Overview

The focus of the class is on research issues related to the field of health psychology. Health psychology is a growing discipline within psychology that brings the tools and conceptualizations from the field of psychology to issues of illness, health maintenance, and health promotion. The course is divided into two major sections. The first session provides an introduction to the field of health psychology. In particular, it discusses the history of health psychology, how it differs from other related field, what are some of the principal concepts and constructs associated with health psychology, and research designs often used by health psychologists. The second section of the course focuses on current research in health psychology at the University of Michigan. Several researchers will come and present their work to the class. Course activities will include lectures, group discussions, guest speakers, and films. Class attendance is mandatory. If a student is forced to miss a class, it is her/his responsibility to obtain notes from the lecture. The lectures and the readings are designed to supplement each other without being redundant. Thus, it is in the student's best interest to read before attending the course.

Group work is an important part of the course. Students will be divided into groups. These groups will work together to complete three projects and to serve as discussion leaders for a course. The group projects are worth approximately 35% of their grade. Students are encouraged to use the groups as a study tool for the course exam.

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Course Requirements

Course Grades:

Student's grades are based on: a course examination; a term paper; and two group projects. The course examination will consist of multiple choice, true and false, and short answer questions covering materials from both the lectures and the readings. The term paper will focus on a review of the health psychological literature related to an important public health issue. The two group projects consist of (1) a public service campaign and commercial affecting a major public health issue and (2) a research study on a health issue relevant to college students. Under no circumstances will other extra credit projects be given. Make-up exams will be given only in extraordinary circumstances.

The distribution of points for the course assignments are as follows:

Exam 60 points

Final Paper 60 points

Group Project I 30 points

Group Project II 40 points

Class Participation 10 points

Required Readings

Readings will be on reserve in Shapiro library. Most will be available in both hard copy and electronic form. To access course reserves, go to http://www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/Reserves/

Lecture Notes

Intro to Health Psychology (intro.htl)

Research Issues/ Health Behaviors (research.htm, health.htm )

Medical Care (medical.htm)

STUDY NOTES FOR EXAM (exam1notes.htm)

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Course Readings

Revised Schedule

Feb. 14 Medical Care

Hamilton, J. C. & Janata, J. W. (1997). Dying to be ill: The role of self-enhancement motives in the spectrum of factitious disorders. Jouranl of Social and Clinical Psychology, 16, 178-199.

Fogarty, J. S. (1997). Reactance theory and patient noncompliance. Social Science & Medicine, 45(8), 1277-1288.

DiMatteo, M. R., Sherbourne, C. D., Hays, R. D., Ordway, L., Kravitz, R. L., McGlynn, E. A., Kaplan, S. & Rogers, W. H. (1993). Physicians’ characteristics influence patients’ adherence to medical treatment: Results from the Medical Outcome Study. Health Psychology, 12, 93-102.

Feb. 21 Pain

Mayerson, N. H. & Rhodewalt, F. (1988). Role of self-protective attributions in the experience of pain. Journal of Social and Clincal Psychology, 6, 203-218.

Skevington, S. M. (1983). Social cognition, personality, and chronic pain. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 27 (5), 421-428.

Turk, D. C. & Flor, H. (1999). Chronic pain: A biobehavioral perspective. In R.C. Gatchel & D.C. Turk (Eds.), Psychosocial Factors in Pain: Critical Perspectives (pp. 18-34), New York: the Guilford Press. (Hard copy only)

Feb. 28 Spring Break

Mar. 7 Eating Disorders

Abrams, K. K., Allen, L., & Gray, J. J. (1993). Disordered eating attitudes and behaviors, psychological adjustment, and ethnic identity: A comparison of Black and White female college students. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 14 (1), 49-57.

Crandall, C. S. (1988). Social contagion of binge eating. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 588-598.

Fortson, M.T. & Stanton, A. L. (1992). Self-discrepancy theory as a framework for understanding bulimic symptomatology and associated distress. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 11, 103-118.

Mar. 14 Stress and Coping

GROUP ASSIGNMENT 1 IS DUE

Cohen, S., Tyrrell, D.A.J., & Smith, A. P. (1991). Negative life events, perceived stress, negative affect, and susceptibility to the common cold. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 131-140.

Crandall, C. S., Priesler, J. J., & Aussprung, J. (1992). Measuring life event stress in the lives of college students: The Undergraduate Stress Questionnaire (USQ). Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15, 627-662.

Danoff-Burg, S., Ayla, J., & Revenson, T. A. (2000). Researcher knows best? Toward a closer match between the concept and measurement of coping. Journal of Health Psychology, 5 (2), 183-194.

Kanner, A., Coyne, J. C., Schaefer, C. & Lazarus, R. S. (1981). Comparison of two modes of stress measurement: Daily hassles and uplifts versus major life events. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4, 1-39.

Mar. 21 Oliver Schultheiss

MID-TERM EXAM

Jemmott, J. B. (1987). Social motives and susceptibility to disease: Stalking individual differences in health risks. Journal of Personality, 55, 267-298.

McClelland, D. C. (1989). Motivational factors in health and disease. American Psychologist, 44, 675-683.

Mar. 28 Marc Zimmerman

Zimmerman, M.A. & Arunkumar, R. (1994). Resiliency research: Implications for schools and policy. Social Policy Report, 8, 1-18.

Zimmerman, M.A., Steinman, K.J., & Rowe, K.J. (1998). Violence among urban African American adolescents: The protective effects of parental support. In X.B. Arriaga & S. Oskamp (Eds.), Addressing Community Problems: Psychological Research and Interventions (pp. 78-103). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (Hard copy only)

Zimmerman, M.A. Bingenheimer, J.B., & Notaro, P.C. (In Press). Natural mentors and adolescent resiliency: A study with urban youth. American Journal of Community Psychology.

April 4 Cleopatra Caldwell

Beyth-Marom, R., & Fischhoff, B. (1997). Adolescents' decisions about risks: A cognitive perspective. In J. Schulenberg, J. Maggs, and K. Hurrelmann (Eds.), Health risks and developmental transitions during adolescence. New York: Cambridge University Press. (Hard copy only)

April 11 Woody Neighbors

Neighbors, H. W. & Williams, D. R. (In Press). The epidemiology of mental disorder among African Americans: 1985 to 2000. In R. L. Braithwaite & S. E. Taylor (Eds.), Health Issues in the Black Community (Second Edition). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

April 18 CLASS MEETS FROM 9AM - 12AM

GROUP PROJECT 2 IS DUE

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Links to Useful Resources

Library Reserves http://www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/Reserves/

Assignments

Instructions for Group project 1. (project1.htm)

Instructions for Group project 2. (project2.htm)

Health Beliefs discussion questions ( healthq.htm )

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Last Revised: