Health Beliefs and Behaviours

Question 1

What is health psychology?

Answer 1

Health psychology is understanding the psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why they become ill, how people respond when they do become ill.
It looks at people’s risk perceptions and how they respond to health behaviour advice.

Question 2

What is a health behaviour?

Answer 2

An activity people perform to maintain or improve their health, regardless of whether the behaviour actually achieves that goal (so can be adaptive or maladaptive).

Question 3

What are the two broad categories of health behaviours?

Answer 3

1) Health protective/ Health enhancing (e.g balanced diet, regular exercise, attending screening appointments)
2) Health compromising (legal highs, smoking)

Question 4

What are examples of health behaviours that could show the “Health protecting/Health enhancing” category needs to be split into two?

Answer 4

Vaccinations and screening are purely health protective and not health enhancing.
However, diet and exercise could be a mix of both.

Question 5

Why are health behaviours important?

Answer 5

People will not usually seek help for a symptom until it impedes on their ability to carry out normal behaviours.

Question 6

What are the 5 reasons that it is important to study health behaviours?

Answer 6

1) Treatment protocols are behaviours, patients must carry out instructions to access interventions
2) There was an epidemiological transition as public health behaviours reduced infectious diseases, but that now means that lifestyle behaviours have increased cancer and CHD
3) Rising medical costs
4) The ageing population means there should be more emphasis on primary prevention, as medication and surgery are costly and cause problems
5) It is necessary to increase health protecting and enhancing behaviours and decrease health compromising behaviours to aid primary prevention

Question 7

What is the common problem with theories that explain and predict health behaviours?

Answer 7

They put too much emphasis on cognitive and rational explanations, and not enough on the role of emotions in controlling and predicting health behaviours.

Question 8

What are the three theories that explain specific health beliefs and cognitions?

Answer 8

Self-Efficacy
Health Locus of Control
Leventhal’s Common Sense Model of Illness Cognition

Question 9

What is the theory of Self-Efficacy?

Answer 9

Self-efficacy is people’s belief in their own capacity to exercise some measure of control over their own functioning and over environmental events.
A person needs sufficient self-efficacy to be able to carry out a health promoting behaviour.

Question 10

What is an example of Self-Efficacy?

Answer 10

Graphic images on cigarette packets used as fear messages.
For people with sufficient self-efficacy this may prompt a change in smoking behaviours.
For people with insufficient self-efficacy, they may become defensive and reject the message.
Helplines are included on the cigarette package as a way of increasing self-efficacy.

Question 11

What is the theory of Health Locus of Control?

Answer 11

People will attribute the cause of a situation differently, and this can be classified in two ways:

1) Internal Health Locus of Control (attribute the situation to your own self)
2) External Health Locus of Control (attribute the situation to the action of external controls)

Question 12

What were the 4 classifications proposed in the multi-dimensional health locus of control theory?

Answer 12

1) Internal health locus of control
2) Powerful others - can still be said to be internal as you yourself select a healthcare professional to transfer control to
3) Chance - external health locus of control
4) God - can be internal or external depending on whether you think your behaviours can influence God’s will

Question 13

Why is Leventhal’s Common Sense Model of Illness Cognition called the “common sense” model?

Answer 13

It was developed using focus groups, so is from the perspective of non-medically trained lay people.

Question 14

What is Leventhal’s Common Sense Theory of Illness Cognition?

Answer 14

Illness cognition is comprised of:

1) Identity - diagnosis and labelling
2) Timeline - perceived duration
3) Cause
4) Consequences
5) Cure/Control - can it be self-managed?

Question 15

What are the three theories that predict changes in health behaviours?

Answer 15

Stages of Change (Transtheoretical Model)
Health Belief Model
Theory of Planned Behaviour

Question 16

What are the five stages in the Staged of Change Model?

Answer 16

1) Precontemplative - not aware that health behaviour is an issue
2) Contemplative - beginning to be receptive to health messages
3) Determination/Preparation - doing something to prepare for change e.g joining a gym, getting advice from a smoking cessation clinic
4) Action - lasts 6 months and is period where most support is needed
5) Maintenance - six months and beyond

Question 17

What intervention is needed to move someone from precontemplative to contemplative?

Answer 17

Concious raising - to show that the behaviour is an issue (experiential intervention)

Question 18

What intervention is needed to move someone from contemplative to determination/planning?

Answer 18

Self-reevaluation (experiential intervention)

Question 19

What intervention is needed to move someone from determination/planning to action?

Answer 19

Counter-conditioning (behavioural intervention)

Question 20

What intervention is needed to move someone from action to maintenance?

Answer 20

Reinforcement and management (behavioural intervention)

Question 21

What is the Health Belief Model?

Answer 21

(Percieved Benefit - Pericieved Barriers) + (Percieved Threat) = likelihood of a person undertaking preventative action.
People also need Cues To Action to remind them to undertake the preventative action e.g text message reminders about appointments.

Question 22

According to the Health Belief Model, what three things will increase the likelihood of preventative action being taken?

Answer 22

1) Increase perceived threat - increase perceived susceptibility with more information on prevalence, increased perceived severity with more information on prognosis with early vs late diagnosis
2) Increase perceived benefit - give information on the effectiveness of treatment with early detection
3) Decrease perceived barriers - give information on the ease of procedure, the low cost, the low radiation risk

Question 23

What is the Theory of Planned Behaviour?

Answer 23

The strongest predictor of future behaviour is having Intention to change, the next strongest predictor if past behaviour.
Other factors affect your Intention to change, e.g your perceived control over the behaviour (low control over diet if someone else is cooking for you)