primary prevention

(noun)

Efforts to avoid occurrence of disease either through eliminating disease agents or through increasing resistance to disease. Examples in the context of physical health include immunization against disease, maintaining a healthy diet and exercise regimen, and avoiding smoking.

Related Terms

Examples of primary prevention in the following topics:

  • Preventing Psychological Disorders

    • Primary prevention (discussed below) can help reduce the likelihood that a genetically predisposed individual will develop a given disorder.
    • Prevention falls into three levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary.
    • Primary prevention targets individuals who are at a high risk for developing a disorder; secondary prevention targets those who are in the early stages of a disorder; and tertiary prevention targets individuals who already have a disorder by seeking to reduce or eliminate its negative impact.
    • Primary prevention includes methods to avoid the occurrence of a disorder or disease altogether.
    • Give examples of primary, secondary, and tertiary approaches to preventing psychological disorders

  • Reactive Attachment Disorder

    • Such research broadened the understanding of the prevalence, causes, mechanism, and assessment of disorders of attachment and led to efforts from the late-1990s to develop treatment and prevention programs and better methods of assessment.
    • RAD arises from a failure to form normal attachments to primary caregivers in early childhood.
    • Mainstream treatment and prevention programs that target RAD and other problematic early attachment behaviors are based on attachment theory.
    • RAD arises from a failure to form normal attachments to primary caregivers in early childhood.

  • Introducing the Neuron

    • There are three primary types of neuron: sensory neurons, motor neurons, and interneurons.
    • Myelin's presence on the axon greatly increases the speed of conduction of the electrical signal, because the fat prevents any electricity from leaking out.
    • Interneurons can save time and therefore prevent injury by sending messages to the spinal cord and back instead of all the way to the brain.

  • Hallucinogens

    • Primary dissociatives are NMDA antagonists, which block glutamate from entering its receptors and regulating brain function.
    • PCP (or angel dust), a dissociative, prevents the actions normally caused when a neurotransmitter called glutamate is able to attach to its receptor in the brain.

  • Stimulants

    • MDMA differs from most stimulants in that its primary pharmacological effect is on the neurotransmitter serotonin rather than dopamine, epinephrine, or norepinephrine.
    • The increase in seratonin is caused because the MDMA prevents seratonin from entering the reuptake site, causing a continued flow, and eventually excess seratonin.

  • Other Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

    • When clinically significant enough to impair functioning, hoarding can prevent typical uses of space, enough so that it can limit activities such as cooking, cleaning, moving through the house, and sleeping.
    • This modality of treatment usually involves exposure and response prevention to situations that cause anxiety and cognitive restructuring of beliefs related to hoarding.
    • Most patients with excoriation disorder report having a primary area of the body that they focus their picking on, but they will often move to other areas of the body to allow their primary picking area to heal.

  • Introduction to Schizophrenia and Psychosis

    • Cognitive symptoms are the most harmful to the livelihood of the individual, as they prevent the individual from participating effectively in the workplace or in society.
    • The primary treatment of schizophrenia is antipsychotic medications, often in combination with psychological and social supports.

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder

    • The DSM-5 characterizes ASD by two primary symptoms: impairments in social communication and fixated or restricted behaviors or interests and associated features.
    • Even still, parental concern about a potential vaccine link with autism has led to lower rates of childhood immunizations, outbreaks of previously controlled childhood diseases in some countries, and the preventable deaths of several children.

  • Humanistic Therapy

    • This approach is based on the idea that fear of judgment prevents people from sharing their true selves with the world around them, causing them to instead establish a public identity to navigate a judgmental world.
    • While personal transformation may be the primary focus of most humanistic psychologists, humanistic approaches have also been applied to theories of social transformation related to pressing social, cultural, and gender issues.

  • Cluster B: Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic, and Narcissistic Personality Disorders

    • Psychotherapy is the primary treatment for borderline personality disorder.
    • Short-term hospitalization has not been found to be more effective than community care for improving outcomes or long-term prevention of suicidal behavior in those with BPD.
    • The primary forms of treatment for HPD itself involve psychotherapy, including cognitive therapy.