Week 10 Flashcards
(28 cards)
What are health behaviours
Kasi and Cobb 1966 defined 3 types of health related behaviours:
-a health behaviour aims to prevent disease
- An illness behaviour aims to seek remedy
-a sick role behaviour aims at getting well
Health behaviours further defined by Mataarazzo 1984
-health impairing habits
-health protective behaviours
What is the attribution theory
Individuals are motivated to see their social world as predictable and controllable
There is a need to understand causality
Attribution theory focuses on attributions of causality
Kelly 1971-attributions of causality are structured according to causal schemata made up of the following criteria or attributions
Distinctiveness- cause specific to an individual carrying out the behaviour
Consensus- cause of a behaviour would be shared by others
Consistency over time- same attribution of causality made at other time
Consistency over modality- same attribution would be made in a different situation
Attributions on causality
Internal vs external
Stable vs unstable
Controllable vs uncontrollable
Risk perception
Weinstein 1983 suggested that one of the reasons people continue to practice unhealthy behaviours is due to inaccurate risk perceptions of risk and susceptibility
Most people believe they are less likely to get the health problem
He called this unrealistic optimism
What are the 4 cognitive factors involved in risk perception Weinstein
Lack of personal experience of the problem
The belief that the problem is preventable by individual action
The belief that the problem has not yet appeared it will appear in the future
The belief that the problem is infrequent
Risk compensation
Where there are competing desires
People believe one set of risk behaviours can be off set by a healthy behaviour
May explain why people dont stick to dietary and exercise programmes
Health locus of control
Wallston and Wallston 1982 developed a measure of the health locus of control
Measures: if an individual believes their health is controllable by them
Or whether their health is not controllable by them or in their hands
Health belief model
Helps to explain and predict health behaviours
A person will take a health related action if they think that:
- by doing so a health condition can/will be avoided
- they expect that they can avoid the negative health condition by doing this behaviour
-they believe that they can successfully take this health action
E.g. breast screening
The health belief model Rosenstock 1966
A persons readiness to take health action is determined by 4 main factors:
The perceived susceptibility of disease
The perceive severity of the disease
The perceived benefits of taking action
The perceived barriers to performing action
Revisions:
Health motivation
Demographic variables
Psychosocial variables
Cues to action
Interventions using health belief model
Explore a persons perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits and barriers as well as any cues
These perceived perceptions of threat and benefits can be improved through education
The theory of planned behaviour Ajzen 1988
Attitude toward act or behaviour
Subjective norm (motivation to comply with others)-focuses on everything around individual: social network, cultural norms, group beliefs etc
Perceived behavioural control: persons belief on how easy or hard it is to display certain behaviour
Theory predicts that a positive attitude towards act, favourable social norms and high level of perceived behavioural control are best predictors for forming a behavioural intention so leading to displayed behaviour
Keys to longer happier life from five decades of health psychology research
To maintain a sense of purpose
Positive relationships
Healthy habits including eating healthy
Sufficient exercise
Sufficient sleep
Implications for practice
A person is more likely to undertake a health related behaviour when they believe that:
Their health is important
They’re susceptible to a health threat which could have serious consequences
The proposed action will be effective and does not have too many costs
Others approve of the action and their approval is important
They can successfully carry out the action
Indicators of physiological stress
Novel situations
Unpredictable
Uncontrollable
Perceived control is a big predictor of stress
Lack of control over a stressor results in the cognitive schema of helplessness
Avoidance and distraction coping strategies
Avoidance
Active distraction
What is a stressful event- social readjustment rating scale, Holmes and Rahe 1967
Quantify life change that may cause stress
Signs of stress
Biochemical: alteration to endorphin levels
Physiological: high BP, rapid shallow breathing, digestive problems
Behavioural: sleep problems, increased alcohol intake, increased errors
Cognitive: poor concentration and memory
Emotional: mood swings, irritability
Effects of stress
Psychological: anxiety, depression, lowered self esteem, exacerbation of chronic pain, mood swings, memory problems etc
Physical: change in appetite, headaches, colds, ulcers, changes to immune function, angina, nausea , high BP etc
Stress and health behaviours
Stress can lead to risky health behaviours
-over eating
-road traffic accidents
-drinking alcohol excessively
-smoking more
-exercise less or excessively
Emotion and health
Increased risk of morbidity and mortality for those with clinical depression
Depression is a risk factor for all cause mortality and cardiac mortality in people with coronary heart disease (fierdorowicz 2014)
Stress and gastrointestinal health
Relationship between stress and the GI system
Stress and bowel function
Been shown that stress accelerates transfer of water for small intestine to large intestine
A biopsychosocial approach is required for Gi medicine
Stress in pregnancy and DNA changes
Project storm ice- study where they looked at 218 women who were pregnant during 1998 ice storm , looked at children age 13, differences in DNA methylation in young people
Differences in DNA methylation between young people depend on how mothers appraised storm
Not clear on whether this is due to how women perceived stress or the actual severity of the stressful event
