S2 L5 - Health Psychology Flashcards
(17 cards)
What is Health Behaviour?
any activity undertaken for the purpose of preventing or detecting disease or for improving health/wellbeing
There are protective (positive) vs risky (negative) health behaviours
What are Non-Communicable Diseases? (NCD)
Kills >41 mill people each year worldwide
1.Cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke)
2. Cancer
3. Chronic Respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructed pulmonary disease and asthma)
4. Diabetes
- important to address due to risk of morbidity and increased burden on the health care system
Health behaviours as modifiable risk factors for NCDS - Important to reduce risk of NCDS
What are behavioural determinants of health and illness?
Cardiovascular disease
Stroke
Cancer
Obesity
Diabetes
Hypertension
COPD
what do health behaviours become?
habits (so theyre difficult to break)
often come w immediate costs and long-term benefits
^ there is a tendency to maximise immediate rewards and ignore long term benefits
eg changing from sedentary lifestyle to regular exercise
some health behaviours are reinforced by peers and the social environment
What are social cognitive models of health behaviour change based on ?
idea that our cognitions (our thoughts for eg) can change
individual differences ( eg social cognitions about health including beleifs, attitudes, knowledge etc)
> (social cognition is a modifiable risk factor for )health behaviours
> (modifiable risk factor for)non communicable diseases)
EXAMPLES OF MODELS INCLUDE
THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR
SOCIAL NORMS THEORY
PROTECTION MOTIVATION THEORY
How many units is considered binge drinking for men and women?
Over 8 in a single session for men
Over 6 units for women
what are intentions to binge drink predicted by?
higher levels of
attitudes
self efficacy and lower perceived control
and no significant effect of subjective norms on intentions which are against predicted hypothesis
What is the Social Norms Theory? (SNT)
An individuals behaviour is influenced by the perception of how their peers think and act
social norms can change health behaviour through influence and social comparisons
norms provide information about which action is desirable, along with how, when and where the action will be achieved
if a peer group engages in healthy behaviours, then this becomes a source of normative influence
what is one intervention to prevent binge drinking?
norm messages to correct misperceptions of social norms related behaviours ie drinking norms
influence normative drinking perceptions but only among norm believers
norm messages were ineffective for ps who overestimated peers’ drinking at baseline
ppl overestimate how much people binge drink
personalised feedback ab ones own drinking reduced drinking at 3-6 months follow up after intervention snt messages
highlight importance of perceived norms
when does smoking begin?
early in adolescence
there is an
initial experimentation
experiences peer pressure to smoke
develops attitudes about what a smoker is like
13/8% of ppl aged 18 years and above smoked cigarettes = around 8 million people in the uk
smoking is highest among those aged 25-34 years
What is the Protection Motivation Theory by Rodgers?
aims to change our behaviours
like TOP BUT
in top there is intention but
there is motivation to protect ourselves from developing a disease or being sick
TWO MAIN COMPONENTS:
Threat Appraisal - Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards given by the behaviour MINUS the severity of threat and the vulnerability to the threat
EG SMOKING MAKES ME FEEL CALMER
perceived severity of the threat - smoking means I COULD GET CANCER
PROBABILITY OF BEING VULNERABLE TO THE THREAT - (SUBJECTIVE) i wont get cancer from smoking bc my grandfather smoked and lived healthily
Coping Appraisal - The component of the model that relates to the adaptive responses (response efficacy together w self efficacy minus the response costs at what determine the coping appraisal)
response efficacy = the efficacy of the health behaviour for dealing with the threat - eg I SMOKED FOR 20 YEARS IT WONT MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO MY RISK OF CANCER IF I QUIT NOW
Self-efficacy or confidence for being able to engage in the behaviour - I TRIED TO QUIT 5 TIMES BEFORE AND IT NEVER WORKS
RESPONSE COSTS - IF I QUIT SMOKING I WILL BE LESS SOCIABLE / ANXIOUS
How is PMT used to understand health behaviour?
1 PMT components are manipulated via persuasive communication to see the effects on health behaviour
2 . PMT used as a social cognition model to predict health behaviour change eg associations w preventive behaviour
What are fear appeals’ 3 major components?
- The Message - addresses issues that instil critical amounts of fear
- The audience - Needs to be targeted to those whoa re the most susceptible to the risk
- The recommended behaviour - Gives instruction on what to do avert or reduce the risk of harm
in a study - 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 w fear appeals, smokers’ perceived level of threat was increased leading to some effects on behaviour
What is risk denial?
ppl who are most susceptible to the threat may react w denial
Severity of possible consequences does not always translate into effective change
messages that are too extreme can make people ignore the message
Fear appeals only work when what?
paired with an efficacy message
efficacy message - communication emphasising effectiveness of a specific action or behaviour in achieving a desired outcome
increases likelihood of compliance because aims to boost confidence in the ability of that action
need to outline how, why and when a recommended response eliminates or decreases the chances of experiencing the health threat
what produces the greatest behaviour change?
strong fear appeals and high efficacy messages
what produces the greatest level of defensive responses?
strong fear appeals with low-efficacy messages
