Health Behaviors Flashcards
What are health behaviors?
They are taken to enhance or maintain health. Ex: eating breakfast every day is a predictor of longterm health
Health Promotion
A perspective that approaches good health and well-being from both a personal and collective vantage point
What influences health behaviors?
Age, cultural/personal values, locus of control, social influence (inspiration, bullying, family members’ influence), perceived symptoms, access, knowledge and education,
Who are the target populations of health behavior promotional messages?
Children and adolescents (impressionable), at-risk populations, and adults (to provide best chances of longevity)
Health psychologists’ methods to promote attitude change
Education, fear appeals, positive or negative framing
Describe the considerations required when utilizing negative approaches to persuasion
Persuasive messages that use negativity (“don’t be like this”) must evoke just enough fear; not so much or so little that it is unrealistic or commical. Also, it is critical for a solution to the presented problem to be presented, so that people know what they are being persuaded to do.
Classical conditioning
Pairing a desired behavior with an initially neutral stimulus repeatedly so that the stimulus eventually triggers the behavior
Aversive conditioning
Ex of classical conditioning. Association of an undesirable health behavior with an unpleasant stimuli. Often proposed by health psychologists to help end a client’s undesirable behavior
Operant conditioning
Promoting a behavior with rewards or discouraging a behavior with punishment
Observational learning
Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment. Mode of learning that results from watching
Modeling and Mimcking
Basis of observational learning. The person demonstrating a behavior is modeling and the person learning/copying is mimicking
Are violent video games unhealthy?
Evidence shows that they promote aggression and violence, but only in the short-term (1-2 hours after playing).
U-shaped curve of health behaviors vs. age
A person practices the most health behaviors when young and when old. They practice the least when in their middle stage of life
Self-Determination Theory
Three factors lead to motivation for behavior-change: self-autonomy, competence, and relatedness
Health-Belief Model
One’s perceived risk surrounding their current unhealthy behavior and the perceived benefits of the possible behavior change drive their motivation to make said behavior change
Theory of Planned Behavior
States that an individual makes a plan (or formulates an intention) based on three factors: attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control
Intention-Implementation Model
Consists of two broad phases: motivational and volitional; or four more specific steps:
- Goal intention (deliberation)
- Implementation intention (action planning)
- Entrepreneurial action (action)
- Evaluation
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Uses principles from learning theories to modify beliefs and behaviors of undesirable health habits
Self-monitoring
Starts with identifying target behavior, then requires journaling/noting what specific stimuli trigger said behavior
Stimulus control
Removal of stimuli that trigger the target poor behavior and replace it with reinforcements for desired habit
Self-control of behaviors
Involves the client as a “co-therapist,” provide them with tools to deal with triggering situations and practice cognitive restructuring. May involve reinforcement schedules
Social skills and relaxation training
Deep breathing and other relaxing methods to help clients deal with anxiety or other affective reactions
Motivational interviewing
Client-focused method of CBT. Engages with client in a straightforward manner
Relapse prevention
Provides tools to clients to navigate relapses into their poor health habit (which is more likely to happen at some point than not). Will almost certainly involve LIFESTYLE REBALANCING
Transtheoretical Model Stages of Change
- Pre-contemplation: sees no issue
- Contemplation: realizing problem, will act within the next 6 mos.
- Preparation: preparing to act within next month
- Action: starting the plan of change, working to establish new habit
- Maintenance: habit has been established, working to continue it
- Termination: people have no desire to return to their unhealthy bhvr.
NOTE: this path is not linear
Name several predictors of regular exercise
Positive attitude on physical activity, self-efficacy, extraversion, social support, enjoyment, accessability, physical activity safety, prior phys activity
Recommended amount of exercise
At least 150 min per week, including at least 2 days of muscle strengthening exercise
Number 1 Cause of Death among children/adolescents
Motor accidents
Why do some people avoid health screenings/preventative medicine?
Fear (of vaccines), stigma, inconvenience, discomfort, ignorance, pride (being a “tough guy”), anxiety/fear over a positive result,
Hormonal impact of exercise
Increase in serotonin (boosts self-efficacy!)
Belgium’s Food Pyramid
Drink mostly water, then from greatest to smallest: fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean protein, fattier meat and dairy. As little as possible: sweets and fried foods
Trends among effective diets
Includes calorie deficit and removal of processed foods
Predictors of unhealthy diet
STRESS, preference for red meat, lack of awareness, lack of access to healthy options, preception of “no time to eat healthy”
T/F: Sleep has an impact on one’s response to intra-muslcular vaccines
True
Recommended nightly total sleep for young adults
7-9 hours
Obesity increase one’s risk of…
Cancer, diabetes, complications during surgery, all cause and early mortality, psychological distress, heart disease
Set-point theory
Each individual has an optimal weight, which is hard to modify when it has been achieved. Shortcoming: does not explain the “Freshman 15”
Anorexia and Predictors
Characterized by distorted body image, unwarranted fear of being overweight, maintaining below-healthy BW through restrictive diet, extreme exercise, and diuretics/laxatives.
Predictors: eating and weight concerns, family hx of anorexia, obesity, substance abuse, perfectionism, OCD, low self-esteem
Bulimia
Marked by binging and purging (forced vomitting). Often involves social isolation, refusing to eat in front of others, intense fear of weight gain
Binge-eating disorder
Frequently consuming unusually large amounts of food in one sitting and feeling like they are unable to control this behavior
Poor health outcomes linked to alcoholism
Liver disease, cirrhosis of the liver, cancer, brain atrophy, mortality
Physical and psychological dependence on alcohol
Present in alcoholism.
Physical: body’s tissues do not function “normally” without alcohol present
Psych: cognitive reliance on the substance to the point that it is required for stability, well-being, and decreased anxiety.
Disease model of addiction
Emphasizes genetic predisposition, faulty upbringing, environmental stress, and exposure as contributors to addiction
Adaptation model of addiction
Seemingly blames the addict for failure of their maturity, leading to “search and choice” of adaptation mechanisms, which can result in a variety of harmful addictions
Risk-enhancers of picking up smoking
Adolescent age, having family members/parents that smoke, low SES,
Smoking Interventions
Nicotine replacement therapy, CBT - attitude change, support groups, replase prevention
Describe the Disease Model of Addiction
The factors that contribute to one’s susceptibility to addiction are mainly a faulty upbringing and a genetic predisposition. Susceptibility, environmental stress, and exposure to the addictive substance lead to the disease of addiction. Consequences of addiction include: economicl dependence, family issues, depression, self-hate, aggression, selfishness
Describe the Adaptation Model of Addiction
The factors that contribute to one’s
