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PSK 342 - Health Psychology

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences · Psychology (English) · Undergraduate

ECTS: 5 T+P+L: 3+0+0 Departmental Elective
Coordinator: Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Betül İLTER

Course Objective

The aim of this course is to teach the direct and indirect connections between health and illness, psychology and health, both theoretically and through examples.

Course Content

Health Psychology explores how knowledge from psychology can be used to promote a healthy lifestyle. This course will examine the behavioral changes needed to help people eat healthily, lose weight, or quit smoking, for example.

Required Resources

Taylor, S. E. (2017). Health Psychology (10th ed.). McGraw-Hill.


Sarafino, E. P., & Smith, T. W. (2020). Health Psychology: Biopsychosocial Interactions (9th ed.). Wiley.

Recommended Resources

  • Marks, D. F., Murray, M., Evans, B., & Willig, C. (2018). Health Psychology: Theory, Research and Practice. Sage.
  • Straub, R. O. (2018). Health Psychology: A Biopsychosocial Approach (5th ed.). Worth Publishers.

Core Area Distribution

(31) Social and Behavioural Science%50 (72) Health%50

Teaching Methods

ExpressionQuestion-AnswerDiscussionCase Study

Assessment & Evaluation

Testing (Essay / Tests: True-Falls, multiple-choice, short answer, matching)

ECTS / Workload

ActivityQuantityDuration (h)Total Workload
Course Duration (Including Exam Week)16348
Out of Class Study Period25375
Midterm111
Quiz000
Assignment000
Practice000
Final111

Course Schedule

WeekSubjectPreparation
1Concepts and definitions of health and illness, components of health, the biopsychosocial model in health psychology.Reading course materials
2Teaching healthy behaviors, changing health behaviorsReading course materials
3Sağlığı olumsuz etkileyen davranışlarReading course materials
4Models for changing health behaviors: Health Belief ModelReading course materials
5Health Action Process ApproachReading course materials
6Theoretical Approaches in Health Psychology: Attribution TheoriesReading course materials
7Patient-Treatment Team RelationshipReading course materials
8MidtermMidterm
9Stress and Stress ManagementReading course materials
10Coping and Social SupportReading course materials
11Crisis and Crisis Intervention in the Life CycleReading course materials
12Crisis and Crisis Intervention in the Life Cycle - Part 2Reading course materials
13Chronic Pain and its TreatmentReading course materials
14Chronic Pain and Its Treatment - Part 2Reading course materials
15Psychosocial Dimensions of Chronic DiseasesReading course materials
16General RepetitionGeneral Repetition