PERSONAL HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AS A BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL FRAMEWORK FOR STRESS PREVENTION AND HEALTH-PROMOTING DECISION-MAKING: A NARRATIVE REVIEW
Abstract
Background: Personal health psychology examines how individuals’ beliefs, emotions, coping patterns, and social context shape health behavior, stress responses, and illness experience. Objective: To synthesize core constructs of personal health psychology and articulate an integrated framework for stress prevention and health-promoting decision-making grounded in biopsychosocial principles, stress theory, and self-regulation strategies. Methods: A narrative review and concept-driven synthesis were conducted. Foundational and representative literature was mapped into four domains: (1) biopsychosocial determinants, (2) psychological resources and cognitive determinants, (3) stress theories and mechanisms, and (4) scalable self-regulation strategies. Reporting follows the logic of SANRA items (aims, search description, referencing, reasoning, and relevant endpoints).[1] Results: The synthesis supports an integrated pathway: biopsychosocial determinants shape vulnerability and resources; stress emerges through coupled physiological activation and cognitive appraisal; chronic stress contributes to mental and physical symptom burden through neuroendocrine, immune, and behavioral pathways; and prevention is operationalized through low-threshold regulation strategies (slow-paced breathing, mindfulness, cognitive reappraisal, time structuring, and reflective writing). Conclusion: Personal health psychology provides a coherent prevention framework linking appraisal, coping resources, and self-regulation skills to decision quality and health-supportive behavior. Future work should evaluate integrated training modules using validated outcomes and longitudinal follow-up.