Health Psychology Flashcards
List three health compromising behaviours.
Obesity, smoking, alcohol abuse
What are the consequences of obesity?
Health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, some cancers and gallstones.
Increased mortality rate - a BMI of 30 increases the risk of mortality by 30%
Psychological problems - low self-esteem, depression, suicidal thoughts
Decreased cognitive abilities - problem solving tasks, reaction times, general mental abilities
Discrimination and stigma
What are the genetic and environmental factors of obesity?
Genetics contribute up to 40% of the variance in obesity. It has been linked to 200+ genes. Also in an indirect way as genetics contribute to personality trait
Environmental factors are also important as these are what we can manipulate - socioeconomic factors, education, psychological factors, screen time, exercise and diet
What are the genetic and environmental factors of smoking?
Genetic susceptibility to drug addiction - heritability estimates. Fast metabolisers are less likely to experience smoking as aversive
Environmental - peer pressure during adolescence, self-presentation
Socio-cognitive factors - rewarding properties of smoking such as relaxation, reduced anxiety and reduced pain sensitivity
What are some of the way we can prevent smoking?
Education Higher taxes Pharmacological treatments Behavioural therapy Hypnosis Social support
What is the difference between alcoholism and problem drinkers?
Alcoholism is when an individual is psychologically dependent on alcohol. Problem drinkers are not addicted, but face with work, family and health associated with alcohol consumption
What are the genetic and environmental factors of alcohol abuse?
Genetic predisposition to drug addiction
Socio-cognitive factors - mental escape from stressors, self-handicapping, learning from significant others
What are the consequences of alcohol abuse?
Liver damage Increased risk of some cancers Hypertension, stroke Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Poor judgement and decision making Loss of family and social relationships Elevated risk of affective and anxiety disorders
What are some of the treatments for alcohol abuse?
Detoxification
Aversion therapy
Cognitive-behavioural therapy - stress management techniques, AA groups
List some of the barriers to health promotion.
Individual barriers - short-term rewards of behaviours, negative effects are often not immediate and by the time they appear it’s too late, unrealistic optimism
Family barriers - health habits developed in childhood
Health system barriers - doctors trained to focus on illness, not health, doctor-patient relationships
Community, cultural and ethical barriers - norms
Self presentation - people engage in these behaviours to convey an impression to others
Describe the Health Belief Model.
First developed to address cigarette smoking. Attempts to explain and predict health behaviours by focusing on the attitudes and beliefs of individuals. Four constructs representing the perceived threat and benefits.
Perceived susceptibility - one’s opinion of chances of getting a condition
Perceived severity - one’s opinion of how serious a condition and its consequences are
Perceived benefits - one’s belief in the efficacy of the advised action to reduce risk of seriousness of impact
Perceived barriers - one’s opinion of the tangible and psychological costs of the advised action
Cues to action - strategies to activate ‘readiness’. Education, symptoms, media
Model has been tested and is useful, but the studies are somewhat low quality and questionable
Describe the Theory of Planned Behaviour
Developed to try and explain all behaviours that we engage in. Behaviour is largely predicted by intention to perform that behaviour. Perceptions of control as a key factor
Intention to act/perform a behaviour is influenced by ones:
Attitude - beliefs regarding behaviour, evaluation of outcomes
Subjective norms - beliefs important others have, motivation to comply with others
Perceived behavioural control (PBC) - control variables, power over control variables
Model extensions - one of the key criticisms of this model is that perhaps three predictors aren’t enough. Other studies have included anticipated guilt, descriptive norms, moral norms, self-identity
Intervention studies found that it is not as useful as say HBM as there are not many factors we can target. Seems PBC is the best aspect to target
Describe the Transtheoretical Model.
People move through 5 main stages: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, termination
Doesn’t explain how people move through the stages. Sometimes better when integrated with other theories such as self-efficacy theory. If we can boost someone’s confidence then you can move them through the stages
Want to target someone in the contemplation stage.
Studies seem to suggest that confidence and self-efficacy is more useful in the later stages, such as maintenance
Describe the Self-Determination Theory.
Theory of motivation concerned with rewards structures. If you give people a choice in what they do, they become more motivated.
The influence of social factors on motivation is mediated by psychological needs
- Autonomy: feeling free to choose one’s own behaviour
- Relatedness - feeling connected to significant others
- Competence: interacting effectively with the environment
Motivation varies on a continuum
- Intrinsic motivation -> extrinsic motivation -> amotivation
Extrinsic rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation
Interventions: psychological needs supporting, environmental changes to support basic needs leads to changes in intrinsic motivation
