Author Archives: Alexandra Maniglia

Class Overview

I have gained an extensive amount of knowledge from this course. I didn’t even know health psychology existed until this semester. I feel it is the most interesting branch of psychology because it really takes into account so many different … Continue reading

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Careers in Health Psychology

Having the chance to listen to two people who are in different stages in their career was really interesting. Dr. Olbirsch and Ebony both had valuable insight to share that was helpful to college aged students. For example, Dr. O. … Continue reading

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Dr. Heather Gardiner

I enjoyed Dr. Gardiner’s talk on Friday. I learned a great deal about chronic kidney disease. For example, I was unaware that it is a silent disease and how big of an issue it is. I wasn’t surprised to hear … Continue reading

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Chapter 14&15 with epilogue

Chapter 14 was about war and stress associated with it. The researchers found that men exposed to trauma or extreme stress are at an extremely high risk for increased drinking and drug use. Additionally, they found that the soldiers who … Continue reading

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Chapter 12 & 13

Chapter 12 sought to determine which elements of social ties played a significant role in longevity. The authors discovered that those who had a larger social network lived longer and that the clearest benefit of social relationships came from helping … Continue reading

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Chapter 10 + 11

Chapter 10 discussed the role that success plays in longevity. The researchers discovered that health threats could be predicted by career accomplishments as well as lack of accomplishments. They concluded that those with the most successful careers were the least … Continue reading

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Chapter 8 and 9

Chapter 8 sought to determine whether physical activity was very important to health and longevity. The researchers found out that participants’ activity levels remained stable throughout their life. In addition, they discovered that popular children grew up to be more … Continue reading

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Chapters 6 and 7

Chapter six and seven discussed the aspects of early life that play a role in longevity. Researchers found that breast feeding was associated with better infant health, but in the long run breast feeding made little difference. This finding did … Continue reading

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Chapter 4 and 5

In these chapters, the authors discussed the roles that optimism, neuroticism, and catastrophizing, play in longevity. Many believe that happiness is the secret to good health, but the researchers found that cheerful children were less likely to live into old … Continue reading

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Chapter 2 & 3

Chapter 2 went into greater detail on why the best childhood personality predictor of longevity was conscientiousness. Before reading this book, I had never thought that high conscientiousness might be a reason that certain individuals live longer than others. I … Continue reading

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