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Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine pp 1–3Cite as

Psychological Factors and Health

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Synonyms

Psychological variables; Psychosocial factors

Definition

Thoughts, feelings, and attitudes that influence behavior

Description

Behavioral medicine incorporates not only the effect of individual’s actions on their health but also how psychological factors affect the physical body. This is a progression from traditional biomedicine, which conceptualizes the mind and the body as separate entities. Behavioral medicine has started to break down this artificial boundary, illuminating the close relationship between mind and body, and therefore the role that psychological factors play in disease.

A key psychological factor is stress, which is known to affect many systems of the body. This summary will focus on the immune system, a system once thought to be independent of psychological factors. Research investigating the effect of stress on vaccinations generally indicates that chronic psychological stress impacts on the immune response. In a study conducted by Cohen and colleagues,...

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References and Further Reading

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  • Cohen, S., Tyrrell, D., & Smith, A. (1991). Psychological stress and susceptibility to the common cold. The New England Journal of Medicine, 325, 606–612.

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  • Marsland, A. L., Cohen, S., Rabin, B., & Manuck, S. (2001). Associations between stress, trait negative affect, acute immune reactivity, and antibody response to hepatitis b injection in healthy young adults. Health Psychology, 20, 4–11. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.20.1.4.

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  • Steptoe, A., Roy, M., & Evans, O. (1996). Psychosocial influences on ambulatory blood pressure over working and non-working days. Journal of Psychophysiology, 10(3), 218–227.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, William James College, Newton, MA, USA

    Jane Upton

Authors
  1. Jane Upton
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jane Upton .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc Gellman

Section Editor information

  1. School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Anna C. Whittaker (previously Phillips)

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© 2019 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

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Upton, J. (2019). Psychological Factors and Health. In: Gellman, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1562-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1562-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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