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9 Biopsychosocial Interactions
Pages 86-91

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From page 86...
... The study of psychosocial and biological interactions, referred to as biopsychosocial or biobehavioral research, has demonstrated profound effects on biological systems of an array of factors. For instance, psychosocial and behavioral factors have been shown to affect organ systems (e.g., the cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, central nervous, and immune systems)
From page 87...
... . The hypothesis is that frequently activated and exaggerated cardiovascular responses to stress raise resting blood pressure levels over time and damage coronary arteries (Matthews et al., 1986; Turner et al., 1992)
From page 88...
... Those changes include having a chronically high level of resting physiological activity (e.g., high levels of stress hormones or high blood pressure) ; an exaggerated physiological response to psychosocial challenges; the relative inability of the physiological system to recover after acute stress; and, over time, an inadequate physiological response to stress (low reactivity)
From page 89...
... THE METABOLIC SYNDROME AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS The metabolic syndrome, also known as syndrome X or the insulin resistance syndrome, is characterized by a combination of central adiposity (abdominal fat) , insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, and hypertension (Reaven, 1988)
From page 90...
... Research Need 13: Clarify how biopsychosocial factors affect health outcomes over time in racial and ethnic groups of middle-aged and older adults. It has been hypothesized that psychosocial effects on biopsychosocial outcomes, such as cardiovascular reactivity, allostatic load, psychoneuroimmunology, metabolic syndrome, and neurovisceral integration are predictors of morbidity and mortality.
From page 91...
... The discovery of differences in such mechanisms, in their linkages to social factors or in their effects on health, would provide evidence of their involvement in differences. Besides longitudinal studies, laboratory experiments and ambulatory studies of physiological activity in the natural environment would be informative.


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