S6) Health-related Behaviour

Question 1

What are health-related behaviours?

Answer 1

Health-related behaviours are anything that may promote good health or lead to illness e.g. smoking, drinking, drug use, exercise, healthy diet, safe sex

Question 2

Why is there a concern about health-related behaviour?

Answer 2

• At least 1/3 of all disease burden in the developed world is caused by tobacco, alcohol, BP, obesity and cholesterol
• Behaviour risk factors are responsible for 80% of CHD and cerebrovascular disease

Question 3

Identify 7 behaviours that promote longevity

Answer 3

• Sleep 7-8 hours a night
• Don’t smoke
• Eat breakfast
• Near your “ideal” weight
• Don’t eat between meals
• Regular exercise
• Drink alcohol in moderation/not at all

Question 4

Classical conditioning is a learning theory to help understand people’s health-related behaviour.

Outline it

Answer 4

Classical conditioning: behaviours can become linked to unrelated stimuli

E.g. behaviours such as smoking & drinking can become unconsciously paired with environment (work break) or emotions (anxiety)

Question 5

Which aversive techniques can arise from classical conditioning?

Answer 5

• Pairing a behaviour with an unpleasant response
• E.g. Alcohol & medication to induce nausea (nausea is result of medication + alcohol but comes to be associated with alcohol)*
• Break unconscious response – change habits

Question 6

What are the limitations of conditioning theories?

Answer 6

No account of social context, cognitive processes, knowledge, beliefs, memory, attitudes, expectations etc.

Question 7

Operant conditioning is a learning theory to help understand people’s health-related behaviour.

Outline it

Answer 7

Operant conditioning: behaviour is shaped by the consequences (reward or punishment)

• Behaviour increases if it is rewarded / a punishment is removed
• Behaviour decreases if it is punished / a reward is removed

Question 8

What are the limitations of operant conditioning?

Answer 8

• Unhealthy behaviours immediately rewarding e.g. alcohol, smoking, chocolate, unsafe sex
• Driven by short term rewards

Question 9

Social learning theory is a learning theory to help understand people’s health-related behaviour.

Outline it

Answer 9

• Social learning theory: people can learn vicariously (observation/ modelling)
• We learn what behaviours are rewarded, and how likely it is we can perform behaviour, from observing others

Question 10

What are the positives and negatives of social learning theory?

Answer 10

• Negative: harmful behaviours will be modelled e.g. drinking, drug use, unsafe sex
• Positive: peer modelling / education, celebrities in health promotion campaigns

Question 11

Cognitive dissonace theory is a social cognition model to help understand people’s health-related behaviour.

Outline it

Answer 11

Cognitive dissonance theory: discomfort when actions/events don’t match beliefs

• Either reduce discomfort by changing beliefs or behaviour
• Or provide health information which creates mental discomfort prompts behaviour changes

Question 12

The theory of planned behaviour is a social cognition model to help understand people’s health-related behaviour.

Outline it

Answer 12

Question 13

What are the limitations of the Theory of Planned Behaviour?

Answer 13

• Good predictor of intentions but poor predictor of behaviour
• Problem with translating intentions into behaviour

Question 14

The stages of change model is a transtheoretical model to help understand people’s health-related behaviour.

Outline it

Answer 14

• Stages of change model – 5 stages which people may pass through over time in decision making / change
• The way people think about health behaviours, & willingness to change their behaviour, are not static