Analysis of Biopsychosocial Forces in Human Development (PSY 240)

This report examines the biopsychosocial model, which views health and illness as products of biological characteristics, life cycle forces, and sociocultural conditions. The assignment involves an interview with a 60-year-old man, Mr. X, exploring how these forces shaped his life. The report analyzes biological factors like genetic predisposition to diabetes, sociocultural influences such as growing up in American culture, psychological traits including impulsivity and high IQ, and life cycle events like the death of his mother. The findings highlight the interconnectedness of these factors and their impact on individual development. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding and potentially altering these factors to influence developmental outcomes. References include works by Glymour & Spiegelman (2017) and Kail (2017).

Running head: BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL FORCES 1
Biopsychosocial Forces
Star Student
PSY 240: Human Development
Month Date, Year
Professor Fantastic
Westcliff University

BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL FORCES 2
Biopsychosocial Forces
The bio psychosocial model consider health and illness behaviors as products of
biological characteristics, lifecycle forces and socio cultural conditions factors that influence the
development of the human being. Hence, this paper aims to provide an in depth discussion of
role of bio psychosocial forces that shape the development by incorporating an interview of
the relative ( focus group).
Interview:
Me: hi ! I would like to interview you regarding bio-psychosocial factors that shaped your life?
You must have experienced both positive and negative experience throughout your life.
Interviewee: Yes! I have experienced various life experience which are shaped by bio-
psychosocial factors?
Me: yes! Tell me about the possible biological factor that shaped your development?
Interviewee: I think genetic factors since I was not previously diabetic. At the age of 45, I was
diagnosed with diabetes type two that restricted my lifestyle
Me: Now! Tell me about the possible sociocultural factors that shaped your development?
Interviewee: I think US culture. I am American who grow up in US culture. Consequently, I
have developed sense of individuality and strong self-image which helped me to interact with the
surroundings.
Me: lovely! Tell me about the possible psychological factors that shaped your development?
Interviewee: I feel I am very impulsive and sometimes low confidence which effects my
decision making. However, I feel I have excellent memory, attention span and IQ that facilitate
his success in his career.

BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL FORCES 3
Me: that is fine. Everyone have such trait that impact their development just like yours. Now tell
me about Life Cycle Forces that shaped your life.
Interviewee: there are many incidents that impacted my development. I am sharing most crucial
one. One of the most life changing incident was death of my mother since I was close to my
mother. I had to experience a loss of appetite, low mood and limited communication. It took 8
months to get over it.
Me: thank you for sharing your experiences. It is valuable for my research and career.

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Systems Thinking
This section of the essay will cover the bio-psychosocial forces that contributed to the
development of the participant. I got an opportunity to involve in the interview regarding the role
of bio-psychosocial factors in shaping individuals. The interviewee is Mr X who is 60 years of
old man and father of mine. He is currently a retired person who mostly involves in the reading
books and has enough experience of seeing life in a range of perspective
Biological Forces:
The interview highlighted that the genetic factors influenced the development of disease
since Mr X was not previously diabetic. However, at the age of 45, he diagnosed with diabetes
type two. As discussed by Glymour and Spiegelman (2017), genes are a major player in the
development of genetic disease as observed in the case of Mr X where HLA-DQA1 might be the
reason behind shaping development.
Sociocultural Forces
Villegas-Palacio et al. (2016), suggested that sociocultural forces play a crucial role in
shaping the cultural and personal development of individuals. The interview highlighted that Mr
X is American who grows up in US culture. Consequently, he has a sense of individuality and
strong self-image which positively impacted his development and future interactions with the
surroundings.
Psychological Forces

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Kail (2017), suggested that psychological forces such as emotional characteristics,
perceptual factors; cognitive abilities mostly impacted the personality development of the
individuals. The interview highlighted that Mr X is impulsive and sometimes low confidence
which negatively impacted much decision. However, since he has an excellent memory, attention
span and IQ that facilitate his success in his career.
Life Cycle Forces
Kail (2017), while bio-psychosocial factors play a crucial role in development, life events
also shape the quality of life. The interview highlighted that Mr X experienced a constant
period of low mood, loss of appetite, limited communication after the sudden death of his mother
since he was close to his mother which impacted his development.
Summary and Conclusions
Thus on a concluding note, bio-psychosocial factors are major contributor behind the
development of individuals. In this case, in order to alter the developmental trait, the alteration of
these factors are required. The interview highlighted that certain factors influence the
development that includes genetic factors, growing up in American culture, impulse and high IQ
and death of his mother.

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References
Glymour, M. M., & Spiegelman, D. (2017). Evaluating public health interventions: 5. Causal
inference in public health research—do sex, race, and biological factors cause health
outcomes?. American journal of public health, 107(1), 81-85.
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/44584/1/Brandenburg_2017.pdf
Kail, R. V. (2017). Essentials of human development: A life-span view (2nd Ed.). Boston, MA:
Cengage Learning
Villegas-Palacio, C., Berrouet, L., López, C., Ruiz, A., & Upegui, A. (2016). Lessons from the
integrated valuation of ecosystem services in a developing country: Three case studies on
ecological, socio-cultural and economic valuation. Ecosystem services, 22, 297-308.

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Addendum
Handout 1-1: Biopsychosocial Forces
Fill out the following chart with the primary biopsychosocial forces in your interviewee’s life.
Biological Forces
(Complications while in utero or while being
born; genetic issues seen through family
disorders or illnesses; diet; exercise; and
other biological factors)
Sociological Forces
(Race; ethnicity; cultural elements; family
and friends)
Genetic factors (HLA-DQA1) US culture that induces a sense of
individuality and strong self-image
Psychological Forces
(Personality traits; emotional characteristics,
perceptual factors; cognitive abilities; and
other psychological factors)
Life-Cycle Forces
(The favorable or unfavorable timing of life
events)
Impulsive, attention , memory and high IQ Death of his mother