CHAPTER 8: self-regulation and self-control

Question 1

Self-regulation

Answer 1

A sequence of actions intended to attain a personal goal.

Question 2

Personal goals

Answer 2

An (un)desired consequence to be achieved/avoided.
Specific aspirations individuals set for themselves to achieve desired outcomes in their personal lives.

Question 3

2 goals regarding self-regulation

Answer 3

• Approach goal: to be achieved.
• Avoidance goal: to be avoided.

Question 4

Taxonomy of human goals (Ford&Nichols)

Answer 4

• Within-person goals: affective, cognitive and subjective organisation gaols (happiness, exploration, transcendence).
• Person-environment goals: social, relationships and task goals (individuality, belongingness, mastery).

Each goal can be formulated as an approach and avoidance goal:
- I want to ATTAIN tranquility.
- I want to AVOID stress.

Question 5

Types of goal orientatoin

Answer 5

1. Promotion focused: focus on growth and personal development - making good things happen.
2. Prevention focused: focus on protection and safety - keeping bad things from happening.

Question 6

Promotion focussed goal orientation

Answer 6

Focus on growth and personal development - making good things happen.
- Goal attainment results in happiness.
- Failure results in distress.

Question 7

Prevention focussed goal orientation

Answer 7

Focus on protection and safety - keeping bad things from happening.
- Goal attainment results in relief.
- Failure results in anxiety.

Question 8

Goals orientation in anxiety and depression

Answer 8

• In mood disorders (depression) there is often an inadequate focus on promotion orientation.
• In anxiety disorders, there is often an excessive engagement with prevention focus.

Question 9

Importance of self-regulation for therapy

Answer 9

Many clinical disturbances reflect dysfunctional self-regulation of someones thought-processes, emotionality, physiological responses or behaviours (catastrophising, BPD, substance abuse, MUPS).

SO… client should learn skills to self-regulate. Effective, lasting therapeutic change is best achieved when people acquire and apply these self-regulatory skills (becoming your own therapist).

Question 10

3 phases of self-regulation

Answer 10

1. Phase 1: Goal selection, setting and construal representation (making clear what the goal is exactly).
2. Phase 2: Active goal pursuit
3. Phase 3: Goal attainment, maintenance or disengagement

Question 11

Phase 1 of self-regulation: Goal selection, setting and construal representation

Answer 11

A. Self-monitoring: becoming aware of unwanted behaviours, their antecedents and their consequences.
B. Personal goal-setting: should be specific, important to the individual, not too easy/difficult and attainable in a restricted time frame.
C. Action planning (bridging the motivation-action gap): forming implementation intentions (when, where, how and with whom).

Question 12

Phase 2 of self regulation: Active goal pursuit

Answer 12

A. Feedback: allows to evaluate the (lack of) goal progress.
B. Feedforward: consists of outcome expectancy (OE) and efficacy expectations (EE).
C. Control mechanisms: attention, emotion, motivation, coping and goal-control.
D. Self-talk: minimise negative and boost positive self-talk. Should be realistic.
E. Self-reward: increases self-esteem and self-motivation.
F. Self-punishment / self-criticism: should be avoided, is demotivating.

Question 13

Feedforward (in active goal pursuit)

Answer 13

Identifying external conditions and internal capacities that influence the attainment of the goal:
- Outcome expectancies (OE): belief that behaviour will lead to certain external outcomes. –> external.
- Efficacy expectancies / self-efficacy (SE): belief that you are capable of executing behaviours to reach these outcomes. –> internal.

Question 14

Control mechanisms (of active goal pursuit)

Answer 14

• Attention control (instead of distraction)
• Emotion control (disengage from negative mood)
• Motivation control (enhancing goal attractiveness)
• Coping with failure (as an opportunity for learning)
• Control over competing goals (different goals at the same time)

Question 15

Self-talk and self-administered consequences

Answer 15

Minimise negative self-talk and promote negative self-talk. Shouldn’t be overly optimistic, but should be realistic.
Modelling: copying examples of others, is equally important. This is why AA works.
Cognitive restructuring can also be an important aspect to improve self-talk.

Question 16

Self-reward

Answer 16

Increases self-esteem and increases self-motivation.
Goal-laddering / conquering small battles: different small steps to get to the ultimate goal. Rewarding yourself at each step.
Rewards are very personal and you have to choose something that the client likes. A reward should NOT be self-destructive (going for a drink when you’re an addict).

Question 17

Self-punishment and self-criticism

Answer 17

Can be perfectionism (I have to be perfect), or procastination, non-cooperation. They should always be avoided, because they are demotivating!

Question 18

Phase 3 of self-regulation: Goal attainment, maintenance or disengagement

Answer 18

Behaviour change is phasic and not an all-or-none affair.
Important aspects for maintenance are:
- Satisfaction with outcomes
- Social support
- Self-efficacy

Disengagement from the goal can be used when the goal is unattainable –> leads to reformulation of more realistic goals.

Question 19

Self-control

Answer 19

Is a part of self-regulation.
= Acquiring skills to break through/alter (habitual) response patterns. These habits are characterised by temporal consequences:
1. Short-term rewarding consequences, but delayed punishment (smoking).
2. Short-term aversive consequences, but delayed rewards (sporting).

Question 20

Difference between self-regulation and self control

Answer 20

• Self-regulation = a sequence of actions intended to attain a personal goal (approach- or avoidance goal).
• Self-control = (a part of self-regulation) acquiring skills to break through/alter (habitual) response patterns / habits.

In self-control, skills must not be acquired to approach/avoid goals, but to alter (habitual) response patterns that are characterised by conflicting temporal consequences:
a. short-term rewarding consequences, but delayed punishment.
b. short-term aversive consequences, but delayed reward.

Question 21

Motivation in self-control

Answer 21

Motivation is the key to START self-control. You have to make sure that the client is motivated.

Question 22

Will-power

Answer 22

Some people think that this is some sort of magical way to increase self-control. But it is more useful to look at how these problem behaviours/patterns could stem form, and are maintained by, their consequences.

Question 23

Behavioural excesses

Answer 23

Behaviours that need to be minimised (eating too much).

Question 24

Causes of self-control problems
(in behavioural excesses)

= reasons why the excess of behaviour is maintained.

Answer 24

A. Immediate positive consequence vs. delayed punishment (lying to parents about going out).
–> immediate positive consequence wins.

B. Immediate positive consequence vs. small cumulative negative punishment (eating a desert).
–> immediate positive consequence wins.

C. Choice between 2 alternative behaviours, both with positive outcomes: immediate positive consequence vs. delayed positive consequence (studying vs. hanging out with girlfriend).
–> immediate positive consequence wins.

SHORT TERM CONSEQUENCES ARE ALWAYS MORE POWERFUL!

Question 25

Behavioural deficiencies

Answer 25

Behaviours that need to be increased (being active). These behaviours often lead to small short-term negative consequences, which often overrule the (important, but longer-term positive outcome). Example: - Doing sports leads to immediate smalle negative consequences: muscle pain. - Doing sports leads to long-term positive consequences: being healthy.

Question 26

Causes of self-control problems (in behavioural deficiencies) = reasons why the lack of behaviour is maintained.

Answer 26

A. Immediate small negative consequence vs. small but cumulative positive consequences (sporting). --> immediate negative consequence wins. B. Immediate small negative consequence vs. immediate improbable (onwaarschijnlijk) major negative consequence (not wearing a helmet). --> immediate negative consequence wins. C. Immediate small negative consequence vs. delayed major negative consequence (not going to the dentist). --> immediate negative consequence wins. SHORT TERM CONSEQUENCES ARE ALWAYS MORE POWERFUL!

Question 27

Steps of a self-control program

Answer 27

1. Specify problem and set goals 2. Make a commitment to change 3. Take data and analyse causes 4. Design and implement program - Manage situation - Manage behaviour - Manage consequences 5. Prevent relapse and make gains last

Question 28

Step 1 of a self-control program - specify the problem and set goals

Answer 28

Write down the goals and make sure the goals are behaviours (quit smoking, drinking). Create different steps to reach the goal. If the goal is an outcome: write down the behaviours that wil help you to achieve the outcome.

Question 29

Step 2 of a self-control program - make a commitment to change

Answer 29

A high commitment is caused by a high probability of success. To do: - Make a list of benefits of change - Make your change public - Rearrange environment to provide frequent reminders

Question 30

Step 3 of a self-control program - take data and analyse causes

Answer 30

Self-monitoring about when, where and how often the behaviour occurs (when do you smoke, where do you smoke?). What are the consequences of the behaviour (positive and negative). Already start thinking about self-reward

Question 31

Step 4 of a self-control program - manage the situation

Answer 31

Capitalising on (profiteren van) the stimuli that control your behaviour. Start manipulating the stimuli that lead to the behaviour that you want to achieve: - Manage the situation - Manage the behaviour - Manage the consequences

Question 32

Ways to manage the situation (step 4 of a self-control program)

Answer 32

- Physical guidance: keep your hands in your pockets to avoid nailbiting. - Immediate surroundings: look for a surrounding that lead to behaviour (going to the library --> studying). - Other people: change people around you that lead to the behaviour (people who smoke). - Time of day: we learned to do certain things at certain times, change this (studying during the day instead of at night). - Shaping: starting with small steps, meeting mastery criteria before moving on to the next step and keep progressing.

Question 33

Ways to manage the behaviour (step 4 of a self-control program)

Answer 33

If a behaviour is very simple, you can just tackle the behaviour (like nailbiting). But if a behaviour is more complex, it's helpful to consider shaping: starting small, meeting mastery criteria before moving up to the next step, keeping progressive steps small (becoming more active)

Question 34

Ways to manage the consequences (step 4 of a self-control program)

Answer 34

- Eliminate reinforcers of undesirable behaviour (watching TV --> snacking). - Use self-reinforcement or ask others to reinforce you. - Vary reinforcers and set up immediate and more distant reinforcers

Question 35

Step 5 of a self-control program - Prevent relapse and make gains last

Answer 35

Just as situations, behaviours and consequences were valuable for designing and implementing the program, they also provide a framework for analysing and preventing relapse. Look at: - Avoidable setback situations - Unavoidable setback situations - Specification of the response - Consequences

Question 36

Avoidable setback situations

Answer 36

Look at what kind of situations are a risk for relapse (going to a bar), and how big the risk is per situation.

Question 37

Unavoidable setback situation

Answer 37

For example when you have a bad day and you are vulnerable. Recognise them before they occur and start planning coping strategies.

Question 38

Other reasons for setback

Answer 38

- A fuzzy target: phrase it clearly so others can recognise it. - A (too) long-term target: make smaller steps. - Trying too much too soon: goals are too ambitious. - Failure to incorporate rewards into your program. - Consequences that are only cumulatively significant (candy).