5. Health Psychology

Question 1

What is health behaviour?

Answer 1

• any activity undertaken for the purpose of preventing or detecting disease/improving health/wellbeing

Question 2

What are the 2 types of health behaviours?

Answer 2

• protective: positive, promote good physical health
• risky: negative

Question 3

What are non-communicable diseases (NCD)?

Answer 3

• kill over 41 million people each year worldwide

stereotypical examples:
1. cardiovascular diseases (e.g heart attacks, stroke)
2. cancer
3. chronic respiratory diseases
4. diabetes

Question 4

What are behavioural determinants of health and illness?

Answer 4

• sedentary lifestyle (no/irregular physical activity)
• smoking
• alcohol consumption
• fruit and vegetable intake
• physical activity
• nutrition

Question 5

Why is it difficult to change health behaviours?

Answer 5

• habits can be difficult to break
• often come with immediate costs and long-term benefits
• some health behaviours are also reinforced by the social environment and peers e.g alcohol consumption, smoking etc

Question 6

Where in england has the highest proportion of binge drinking?

Answer 6

north west

Question 7

How does the theory of planned behaviour explain behaviour change and apply to drinking behaviour?

Answer 7

influencing factors for intentions:
- attitudes towards the behaviour
- subjective norms
- perceived behavioural control (self-efficacy + perceived control)

then… intentions lead to behaviour

Question 8

How did Norman and Conner assess TPB to predict binge drinking?

Answer 8

• 398 undergraduate students completed questionnaire on binge drinking

predicting intentions:
- attitudes, self efficacy and perceived control were significant predictors
- subjective norms was not

predicting behaviour:
- intentions, self-efficacy and past binge drinking were significant predictors

Question 9

What did Norman, Webb and Millings find about TPB to reduce binge drinking?

Answer 9

• exposure to TPB messages resulted in more negative conditions about binge drinking (weaker intentions and more negative attitudes)
• no effect of intervention was found on frequency of binge drinking
• interventions can change attitudes, norms, self efficacy and intentions
• need more work to bridge the intention-behaviour gap

Question 10

What is the social norms theory?

Answer 10

• an individuals behaviour is influenced by the perception of how their peers think and act
• social comparisons are linked to the potential influence of social norms for changing health behaviour
• norms provide info about which action is desirable
• if a peer group engages in healthy behaviours, this then becomes a source of normative influence

Question 11

How has the social norms theory been seen to predict binge drinking?

Answer 11

• students tend to overestimate alcohol consumption among other students
• those who correctly identify that most students drink less than 6 drinks in a session are more likely to responsibly drink
• correcting this overestimation of drinking norms may help reduce binge drinking

Question 12

How did Robinson et al aim to use the SNT to reduce binge drinking?

Answer 12

• used intervention of norm messages to correct misperceptions of social norms related to behaviours
• norm messages influenced normative drinking perception but only among norm believers
• norm messages were ineffective for PPs who overestimated peers drinking at baseline

Question 13

Why was Robinson et al not successful in using norm messages to increase responsible drinking?

Answer 13

• messages may not have been seen as credible
• heavy drinking is an important aspect of UK uni culture
• norm messages suggesting that majority of students don’t engage i binge drinking may not be believable

Question 14

How did Neighbors, Larimer and Lewis aim to use the SNT to reduce binge drinking?

Answer 14

interventions on 252 heavy drinking US students
- personalised feedback about own drinking
- perceived drinking norm
- actual drinking norm

• intervention lead to changes in perceived drinking norms, reduced drinking at 3 and 6 months follow up

Question 15

How did Dotson et al aim to use the SNT to reduce binge drinking?

Answer 15

• meta analysis of PNF interventions to reduce alcohol consumption among student drinkers
• significant but small effects vs control group (3 less drinks a week)

Question 16

What is the societal impact of smoking in the UK?

Answer 16

• begins early (adolescence)
• 13.8% of those 18 and above have smoked: less than other western countries
• smoking is highest between 25 and 34

Question 17

What are the 2 responses in the protection motivation theory?

Answer 17

1. maladaptive response
2. adaptive response

Question 18

What is threat appraisal, for the maladaptive response? (Rogers)

Answer 18

• intrinsic and extrinsic rewards: what you get from this behaviour
• the perceived severity of threat
• probability of being vulnerable to the threat

Question 19

What is coping appraisal, for the adaptive response? (Rogers)

Answer 19

• response efficacy: the efficacy of the health behaviour for dealing with the threat
• self-efficacy/confidence for being able to engage in the behaviour
• response costs

Question 20

What is Rogers protection motivation theory?

Answer 20

• designed to help understand what kind of messaging can help others can help change others health behaviour

messages focussing on threat appraisal:
- heighten threat by targeting the perceived severity of the problem/the probability of vulnerability
- threat alone can backfire

messages focussing on coping appraisal:
- assuring individuals of response efficacy
- increasing individuals self-efficacy

Question 21

How is the protection motivation theory used to understand health behaviour? (Normon et al)

Answer 21

• PMT components are manipulated via persuasive communication to see the effects on health behaviour
• PMT used as a social cognition model to predict health behaviour change

Question 22

What are the three major components of fear appeals?

Answer 22

1. the message
   - addresses issues that instil critical amounts of fear
2. the audience
   - needs to be targeted to those who are most susceptible to the risk
3. the recommended behaviour
   - gives instruction on what to do to avert or reduce the risk of harm

Question 23

What method did Dijkstra & Bos use to asses fear appeals in using the PMT to reduce smoking?

Answer 23

• 118 smokers assigned to either graphic fear appeals or text warnings on cigarette packages
• measured fear, disgust intention to quit smoking and quitting activity over 3 weeks
• also measured disengagement beliefs

Question 24

What results did Dijkstra & Bos find when assessing fear appeals in using the PMT to reduce smoking?

Answer 24

fear appeals + low disengagement beliefs:
- stronger intention to quit
- higher percentage of smokers cutting down
- no significant effect on quitting

• only when disengagement beliefs did not interfere with fear appeals, smokers perceived level of threat was increased

Question 25

What did Tannenbaum et al find about fear appeals?

Answer 25

- fear appeals are more effective when used for one time behaviour vs repeated behaviour - for women as they tend to be more prevention focussed than men (individual characteristis)