Answer to Question 1
Behavioral medicine is the field of study that applies elements of the behavioral sciences to illness prevention and treatment. In practical terms, it uses a multidisciplinary approach including professionals from the medical field (e.g., preventive medicine specialists), registered dieticians, exercise physiologists, psychologists, health educators, or other professionals to assist those who wish to maximize their health goals through behavioral approaches to illness prevention. It also focuses on treatments of existing illnesses or health disorders with behavioral approaches using stand-alone interventions when appropriate or, more commonly, treatments that are designed to assist traditional medical approaches.
Answer to Question 2
Holmes and Rahe created an instrument called the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) to measure life change events. On the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, life change events range from a low of 10 points for events like minor violations of the law to a high of 100 points for death of a spouse. In their model of stress, higher life change event scores for the last 6 months to a year indicate a person has a greater likelihood of developing an illness. This idea spurred debate over whether stress is determined by objective life events or subjective appraisals of these events.
