Health Psychology

Catalog description

Introduction to health psychology. This course provides an overview of the field of health psychology, which is concerned with how behavior and psychological states influence physical health (i.e., how people stay healthy, why people become ill, and how people respond to illness). Application of psychological theory and research methods to such topics as: pain, stress and coping, helplessness and control, reactivity to stress, the effectiveness of behavioral interventions in health, illness prevention, health maintenance, recovery from injury and chronic pain, adjustment to chronic illness, treatment compliance.