psychosocial

Meaning: Psychosocial combines the individual mind (cognition, emotion, personality, coping) with the social setting (family, peers, culture, socioeconomic status, social support). A psychosocial factor works through both, such as chronic stress made worse by low social support. In the biopsychosocial model, health and behavior arise from biological, psychological, and social influences together rather than from one source.

A second MCAT sense is Erikson's psychosocial development: eight stages across the lifespan, each built around a conflict between two outcomes. In order: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, integrity vs. despair.

On the MCAT: A passage describes a person or study with stressors, social ties, or life changes, and asks which factors are psychosocial or how they could affect an outcome. Another common item gives a scenario, such as an adolescent trying out roles, and asks for the matching Erikson stage.

Common confusion: Erikson's psychosocial theory is not Freud's psychosexual theory. Freud tied childhood stages to erogenous zones, while Erikson's stages are social conflicts that continue through adulthood. Also, psychosocial is not the same as psychological: it requires a social component too.