Theories About Health Belief

Question 0

How would the cognitive approach explain reasons for unhealthy behaviours?

Answer 0

• Right to choose our own behaviour
• Rewards outweigh the costs
• Faulty thought processes

Question 1

The free will vs. determinism continuum…

Answer 1

• Free will = Cognitive (we logically think through our actions before making a rational decision to behave in a healthy or unhealthy way).
• Determinism = Behaviourism (our healthy or unhealthy behaviour is a response to a stimulus and/or reinforced by the environment).

Question 2

How would the behaviourist approach explain reasons for unhealthy behaviours?

Answer 2

• See rewards of unhealthy behaviour which in turn enforces it
• See other people and imitate them for rewarding qualities

Question 3

How would the physiological approach explain reasons for unhealthy behaviour?

Answer 3

• Physical cravings for certain things
• Unhealthy behaviours can be physically addictive
• Can provide chemical releases that make us feel good/invoke good moods

Question 4

Health Belief Model

Answer 4

1.1

Question 5

Describe the Health Belief Model…

Answer 5

Health Behaviour is impacted by:

• Perceived threat (which includes seriousness and susceptibility)
• Cost-reward analysis (do the benefits outweigh the costs?)
• Internal cues (factors that are individual)
• External cues (situational factors)
• Demographic variables (age, gender, residential location and socio-economic status)

Question 6

Aim of Becker’s study…

Answer 6

To use the health belief model to explain mothers’ adherence to drug regimen for their asthmatic children.

Question 7

Method used in Becker’s study…

Answer 7

• Self-report using interviews (for some participants a blood test was also used to detect medication in the blood stream to test the vaildity of mothers’ answers).
• 111 mothers responsible for administering asthma medication to children under 17 took part in the study.
• Interviewed on their child’s susceptibility to asthma and illness, their beliefs about how serious asthma is, how much asthma has interfered with their child’s education, if their child’s asthma has caused embarrassment and if the child’s asthma has interfered with the mother’s activities.

Question 8

Results of Becker’s study…

Answer 8

• Positive correlation between mothers’ belief about their children’s susceptibility to asthma attacks and compliance to medical regimen.
• Positive correlation between mothers’ perception of their child having a serious asthma condition and their administration of the prescribed medication.
• Negative correlation between compliance to medical regimen and the disruption of daily activities, inaccessibility of chemists, complaints of the child about medication and the prescribed schedule for administering medication.
• Married mothers were more likely to comply with medical regimen,
• Educated mothers were more likely to follow the prescribed routine for administering the medication.

Question 9

Conclusion of Becker’s study…

Answer 9

The health belief model is a useful model to predict and explain different levels of compliance with medical regimen.

Question 10

Locus of Control

Answer 10

1.2

Question 11

What is locus of control?

Answer 11

A person’s belief about what or whom is the reason that determines the state of their health.

Question 12

Give the two kinds of health locus of control.

Answer 12

• Health internal = health is a result of your own behaviour. Health internal locus of control provides the greatest incentive for behaving in a health enticing manner.
• Health external = factors such as luck, chance and powerful others control your health behaviour. Health external locus of control is often a result of repeated failure to control aspects of personal health.

Question 13

Aim of Townsend’s study…

Answer 13

To assess whether teenagers who smoke cigarettes regularly have different beliefs concerning what controls their health.

Question 14

Method used in Townsend’s study…

Answer 14

• 255 patients aged 13, 15 and 17 from 3 GP practices (inner city, rural and small town), selected from a population of 350 people who had been invited by letter to attend a general health check at their local practice.
• Teenagers questioned on health, smoking, drinking, exercise and diet.
• Main outcomes measured were “internal” health locus of control and “powerful others” (external) health locus of control.
  A regular smoker is someone who smokes at least 1 cigarette per week.

Question 15

Results of Townsend’s study…

Answer 15

• Those who smoked regularly had significantly lower values of internal control over their health that those who had never smoked.
• 66% of smokers were in the 17 year old group.
• Teenage smokers tend to attribute their unhealthy behaviour to factors outside their control (external health locus of control).
• Teenage drinkers had significantly lower belief in “powerful others” controlling their health and had much higher levels of internal health locus of control.

Question 16

Conclusion to Townsend’s study…

Answer 16

Teenage smokers tend not to believe that their health is controlled by their own behaviour, whilst drinkers do. This could be due to smokers’ lack of understanding of what causes disease, which is why they don’t consider their own behaviour to be a threat to their health.

Question 17

Self Efficacy

Answer 17

1.3

Question 18

What is self efficacy?

Answer 18

The extent to which someone believes that the outcome of lifestyle changes would be beneficial to them, and whether they believe they would be successful in making that lifestyle change.

Question 19

Define outcome efficacy.

Answer 19

The extent to which someone believes that the outcome of lifestyle changes would be beneficial to them.

Question 20

Define efficacy expectation.

Answer 20

The belief that someone would be successful in making a necessary change.

Question 21

What are the 3 factors which affect a person’s efficacy expectation.

Answer 21

• Vicarious experience = seeing other people engage in behaviour and seeing them rewarded for it.
• Verbal persuasion = being persuaded and encouraged by others.
• Emotional arousal = feeling good about doing something proactive.

Question 22

Aim of Bandura and Adam’s study…

Answer 22

To assess the self efficacy of patients undergoing systematic desensitisation in relation to their behaviour towards previously phobic objects.

Question 23

Method used in Bandura and Adam’s study…

Answer 23

• Quasi-experiment
• 10 participants with a severe phobia of snakes recruited via newspaper advertisement.
• Each participant underwent pre-test assessment to establish the level of their avoidance behaviour towards a boa constrictor, their fear of snakes, fear arousal and efficacy expectation.
• These were measured on a rating scale of 1-10 and answers were reported verbally by participants.
• Each participant underwent a standardised systematic desensitisation programme during which they are exposed to a series of events involving snakes (ranging from imagining looking at pictures of snakes to handling live snakes).
• At each stage participants are taught relaxation techniques to overcome their anxieties.
• During the post-test assessment participants’ avoidance behaviours and levels of self efficacy were measured and compared to their pre-treatment answers.
• The average duration of the treatment was 4 hours 27 minutes.

Question 24

Results of Bandura and Adam’s study…

Answer 24

• Correlation between higher levels of self efficacy after the treatment and higher levels of interaction with the snakes during the treatment.
• This suggests people’s beliefs about success in changing behaviours is related to actual displays of such behaviours.

Question 25

Conclusion to Bandura and Adam’s study…

Answer 25

Systematic desensitisation enhances self efficacy levels in people with snake phobias. If people believe they can cope with phobic stimulus or a fearful situation then they are more likely to actually do so.