Lecture 7 Health Compromising Behaviours Flashcards
Characteristics that Health-Compromising Behaviours Share what traits
- Window of vulnerability
- Peer culture
- Self-presentation
- Rewarding
- Are learned gradually • Social context
What is Substance Abuse?
Repeatedly self-administered use resulting in social, medical, legal, and psychological problems
What is Substance Dependence?
Repeatedly self-administered that
• Results in social, medical, legal, and psychological problems
• Results in physical dependency
Substance Dependence results in physical dependance in what forms
high tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, and cravings
Example: Alcoholism
define Tolerance
Process by which the body increasingly adapts to the use of a substance, requiring larger and larger doses of it to obtain the same effects (reaches a plateau)
define cravings
Strong desire to engage in a behaviour or consume a substance; seems to result from a physical dependence and from a conditioning process
define withdrawal symptoms
The unpleasant symptoms (both psychological and physical) that people experience when they stop using a substance on which they have become dependent
what are the Implications for Health of substance dependance
- High blood pressure, stroke, cirrhosis of the liver, cancer, sleep disorders, and irreversible cognitive impairments
- Responsible for over 8000 deaths a year
Origins of Alcohol Abuse and Dependence
- Genetic factors (identical twin studies) • Stress (reinforcing)
- Social origins
what is the Path to Problem Drinking and Alcohol Dependence
- Gradual process
* Two windows of vulnerability
what are the 2 windows of vulnerability
Biggest window: Between 12 and 18 and associated
with physical dependency.
• Note: Alcohol abuse and smoking share a window of vulnerability in adolescence
• Second window: Late middle age
• Those who start abusing alcohol at this age are more likely
to use drinking alcohol as a coping method
is there a Treatment of Dependence, can people do it on their own
Only 10-20% can stop drinking on their own
what are the Treatment Programs
Goals of broad-spectrum CBT for alcohol dependence
explain Goals of broad-spectrum CBT for alcohol dependence
- Treat biological, social, and environmental factors involved in alcoholism simultaneously
- Reduce reinforcement associated with alcohol
- Teach new behaviours inconsistent with alcohol abuse
- Introduce reinforcement activities that do not involve alcohol
highly depended individuals need what
Highly dependent individuals –> detoxification
explain Relapse Prevention
Only 26% of individuals with substance dependence remain improved one year after treatment
what are the Prevention techniques
- Coping skills
- Social skills
- Drink refusal skills
is an alcoholic an alcoholic for life
Majority of self-help groups argue that “an alcoholic is an alcoholic for life”
can some people drink in moderation if an alcoholic
Controlled drinking skills • Some may be able to drink in moderation. Predictors: • Younger age • Longer time since stopping to drink • Being employed • Having social support
what is the single greatest cause of preventable death
Smoking
what are the Serious Health Implications of smoking
• Lung cancer, obviously
• But also important other serious health implications in
conjunction with other unhealthy behaviours: E.g., not eating a healthy diet
àSmoking and serum cholesterol interact to produce higher rates of morbidity and mortality by decreasing high-density lipoprotein (HDL) production (the “good cholesterol”)
àThis increases the probability of cardio-vascular disease and cardiac events such as heart attacks or strokes
Why Do People Begin to Smoke?
• multiple physiological, psychological, and social factors.
- Period of initial experimentation: • pressure by peers to smoke
- development of attitudes about what a smoker is like
what are the Factors Associated with Smoking in Adolescents
- Peer and Family influence
- Starts with social contagion process
- Self-Image
- Weight Control
- Mood/Stress
Why is Smoking Behaviour So Difficult to Change?
- Deeply entrenched behaviour pattern, highly practiced • Often associated with pleasurable activities
- Nicotine is addictive
- Reduces anxiety and reactions to stress
- Keeps body weight down
- Some unaware of the benefits of quitting
what are the Interventions to Prevent Smoking Onset
Attitude Change
what are the Interventions to help Quitting smoking
Therapeutic approach
It is not yet known how effective electronic cigarettes are for smoking cessation
• The research is ongoing
explain the Therapeutic approach to quit smoking
Nicotine replacement therapy (gum, patch)
• Using transdermal nicotine patches produces significant smoking cessation
• Multimodal intervention
Who Is Successful to Quit smoking on Their Own?
- Good self control skills
- High self-efficacy
- High perceived health benefit • High social support
what are the Two Types of Sleep
- Non-rapid eye movement (NREM or “N”) –> 4 stages
* Rapid-eye movement (REM or “R”)
explain Stage 1 of NREM Sleep
Transition between wakefulness and sleep • Sleep is easily disrupted
- Muscle activity slows
- Eyelids open and close
- Lasts about 10 minutes
what shows on an EEG for stage 1 NREM sleep
High amplitude theta waves (4-7 cycles per second)
explain Stage 2 of NREM Sleep
- Body temperature drops
- Breathing and heart rate slows
- Lasts about 20 minutes
what shows on an EEG for stage 2 NREM sleep
becomes irregular – theta waves, sleep spindles, K complexes
• Sleep spindles prevent one from waking up
explain Stage 3 of NREM Sleep
- Lasts about 5 minutes
- Similar to Stage 4
- Slow-wave sleep
what shows on an EEG for stage 3 NREM sleep
Large delta waves (1-3 cycles per second)
explain Stage 4 of NREM Sleep
The deepest sleep
• Can’t be awoken by noise
• Bedwetting and sleepwalking • Body does its “repair” work
• Lasts about 30 minutes
what shows on an EEG for stage 4 NREM
delta waves
explain REM Sleep (Stage 5)
- Eyes dart back and forth
- Blood flow to brain and oxygen consumption increases • Brain is highly active–> vivid dreams
- Muscles are inactive
- Variable in length (5mins - over an hour)
explain The Sleep Cycle
• Each cycle about 90 minutes • 4-5 cycles per night
what is the Importance of Sleep
“Even our brains need to take out the trash” (Huffington Post, 10/17/2013)
- Nedergaard et al. (2013, Science): Waste-flushing system in the brain called glymphatic system 10 times more active during sleep than wake
- Cerebral spinal fluid ushered through brain that cleans out toxic by-products of neural activity accumulated during wakefulness
- Also: Memory consolidation
essentially Sleep is restorative for the brain and for memory
what are some Consequences of Sleep Deprivation
- School/work performance:
- disrupts executive functioning
- Attention:
- leads to attentional difficulties
- Mood:
- causes depressed mood
- Psychoactive substances:
- ingestion of stimulants and sedatives
- Car accidents:
- causes impaired driving
- Physical health:
- Diabetes risk (higher insulin resistance)
- Obesity (through higher production of hunger hormone ghrelin and lower production of appetite-reducing leptin)
Ingredients of effective interventions:
- Motivational interviewing style • Stage-based intervention
* Tailored intervention
Transtheoretical Model of Change: How Do Shifts in Behaviour Occur?
Processes/Strategies of Change (Prochaska & Valicer, 1997)
= the cognitive/thinking and behavioural/doing strategies people use to when progressing to the next stage
explain Processes/Strategies of Change: Cognitive/Thinking Processes
increase knowledge being aware of risks caring about consequences to others understanding the benefits substituting alternatives enlisting socia support committing to oneself reminding oneself
Processes/Strategies of Change: Cognitive/Thinking Processes explain increase knowledge
Increasing information about oneself and the behaviour.
Change: Cognitive/Thinking Processes explain being aware of risks
Understanding the risks of not doing the behaviour.
Change: Cognitive/Thinking Processes explain caring about consequences to others
Recognising how not doing the behaviour might affect others, such as family and co-workers.
Change: Cognitive/Thinking Processes explain understanding the benefits
Increasing awareness of the benefits of the behaviour.
Change: Cognitive/Thinking Processes explain Substituting alternatives
Seeking ways to do the behaviour when encountering barriers of time etc.
Change: Cognitive/Thinking Processes explain Enlisting social support
Seeking support from others for one’s efforts.
Change: Cognitive/Thinking Processes explain Rewarding oneself
Praising and rewarding oneself, in a healthy way, for making successful efforts.
Change: Cognitive/Thinking Processes explain Committing oneself
Making plans and commitments to do the behaviour.
Change: Cognitive/Thinking Processes explain Reminding oneself
Establishing reminders and prompts for doing the behaviour.
Take Home Messages: Sleep
• Sleep is just as important as other health behaviours
• Insufficient sleep leads to many negative cognitive,
behavioural, and health outcomes
• Teenagers and adults do not obtain sufficient sleep
• Interventions should use motivational interviewing (if necessary), a stage-based approach, and be tailored
