Cognitive orientation and physical disease or health

Abstract

This paper deals with a new approach to physical disease and health based on the theory of cognitive orientation (CO) (Kreitler and Kreitler, 1976, 1982). It presents an outline of the theory which is a comprehensive cognitive‐motivational model of behaviour describing how cognitive contents and processes bring about the elicitation of behaviour. The theory generated a methodology for the prediction of behaviour that has been applied in different domains ofhealth psychology. Studies are described dealing with behaviours affecting health (quitting smoking, smoking, overeating, undergoing examinations for the early detection of breast cancer), behaviours of the individual in the role of sick person (hospitalization for safeguarding pregnancy, getting information on a cancer ward), aetiologies of physiopathologies (coronary heart disease, diabetes, vaginal infections) and disorders (menstrual and sexual disorders, and infertility in women), recovery and rehabilitation (from chronic pain, and following MI), and general health orientation. Finally, the outlines of an emergent CO model of physiopathology are presented, specifying how cognitions affect health, and in which sense the processes involved in physiopathology resemble and differ from those involved in the elicitation of overt behaviours.

An investigation of the relationship between general belief patterns and well-being

“…The emergent theory of cognitive orientation (CO) (Kreitler & Kreitler, 1991) is a new approach to physical disease and health. This comprehensive cognitive motivational theory generated a methodology for the prediction of behavior applied in different domains of health psychology.…”

Psychosocial Risk Factors of Cancer Diseases: How Specific Are They?

“…If all four belief types support the disease (i.e., the scores are high) the chances for the occurrence of the disease i the presence of a pathogene are increased. The CO model of health has been applied successfully in regard to different diseases, including cancer (Drechsler, Bruner, & Kreitler, 1987;Kreitler, Levavi, & Bornstein, 1996;Kreitler & Kreitler, 1991a;Nurymberg, Kreitler, & Weissler, 1996).…”

“…The characterization of the cognitions in terms of contents is based on a standard procedure of stepwise meaning probing administered in pretests with subjects, some of whom have the disorder and some who do not (Kreitler & Kreitler, 1991a). The procedure consists in asking the subjects to express the generally accepted meaning of the disease and related keywords, and then to express successively the personal meanings of the communicated meanings, three times in a row.…”

“…The first study (Figer, Kreitler, Kreitler et al, 2002) focused on identifying and establishing the psychological risk factors for colorectal cancer. The CO questionnaire included beliefs of the four types that referred to 44 themes that had been extracted from interviews conducted with pretest participants (15 colon cancer patients and 15 healthy controls) according to a standard procedure (Kreitler & Kreitler, 1991a). The final draft of the questionnaire was obtained after the completion of standard psychometric analyses and tests, and included a total of 181 items presented in four parts referring to each of the four types of beliefs.…”

“…A major version of the theory is the CO model of health, which provides a well-validated and empirically-based approach to the impact of psychological variables on diseaserelevant physiological processes (Kreitler & Kreitler, 1991a, 1991bKreitler, 2003). The CO approach to physical diseases is based on the assumption that three major factors are necessary for the occurrence of a disease: the pathogene which is the carrier or instigator of the disease, such as a virus or a microbe; background factors that modulate the vulnerability of the organism to succumb to the pathogene or resist its impact; and a physiological mechanism or procedure that implement the development and occurrence of the disease.…”