M2

• health behaviors


  activities that people perform to maintain or improve health - regardless of health status
• well behavior


  any activity people undertake to maintain or improve current good health and avoid illness
• symptom-based behavior


  any activity ill people undertake to determine the problem and find a remedy
• sick-role behavior


  any activity people undertake to treat or adjust to a health problem
• health-compromising behaviors


  smoking, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption, unprotected sex, etc.
• primary prevention


  involves actions taken to avoid disease or injury
• health belief model


  (1) the threat associated with a health problem

  (2) pros and cons of taking action
• perceived threat (belief in health threat); health belief model


  perceived seriousness, perceived vulnerability, cues to action/reminders
• perceived benefits and barriers (pros & cons); health belief model


  perceived "pros & cons"

  • belief that benefits outweigh costs
  • sum = benefits - barriers
• cognitive adaptation theory


  those who do not fully accept their physiological risk may have better mental health and may be better able to cope with risk
• factors that determine one's intention to perform a behavior; theory of planned behavior

  (1) attitude regarding the behavior: judgment of whether the behavior is good or bad

  (2) subjective norm: appropriateness or acceptability of behavior

  (3) perceived behavioral control: expectation of success
• transtheoretical model; stages of change model

  (1) pre-contemplation: not considering changing, no intention

  (2) contemplation: aware of need to change, contemplating change

  (3) preparation: ready to change, plan to implement change soon

  (4) action: start successfully making changes to behavior

  (5) maintenance: work to maintain new behavior, avoid relapse
• ways to help advance through the stages; transtheoretical model


  describe in detail how a person would carry out the steps of the behavior change, plan for problems that may arise, etc.
• motivated reasoning


  emotionally biased reasoning intended to produce justifications or make decisions that are most desired rather than those that reflect the evidence

  • people may search for reasons to accept supporting information towards their biases
• conflict theory


  when people are faced with health-related decisions, they experience stress due to conflict about what to do

  • people deal with this conflict differently depending on their evaluations of risk, hope, and adequate time
• emotional drivers found most effective; SuperAmma handwashing campaign


  disgust, nurture, status, affiliation
• results; SuperAmma handwashing campaign


  after 6 months, handwashing with soap increased by 31%
• empathy and disease threat

  increased empathetic responding –> increased recommended precautions
• social benefits of empathy


  reduce prejudice, reduce stereotype expression, reduce interpersonal aggression
• antisocial traits in a pandemic

  lower levels of empathy, higher levels of callousness, deceitfulness, and risk-taking were directly associated with lower compliance with containment measures (including social distancing, mask-wearing, and hand washing)
• anti-vax movement & vaccine hesitancy

  declining immunization rates and an increasing frequency of outbreaks of viruses
• vaccine hesitancy & resistance


  mistrust in the medical community, perceived dangers of vaccines, conspiratorial thinking, individualism, reactance

  • low agreeableness & conscientiousness
• Dunning-Kruger effect


  cognitive bias whereby people with limited knowledge or competence in a given intellectual or social domain greatly overestimate their own knowledge or competence in that domain
• overconfidence & anti-vaccine attitudes

  overconfidence in anti-vaccine ideas is highest among those with low levels of knowledge related to vaccines and diseases
• solution; anti-vaccine

  information on disease threat RATHER THAN information debunking vaccination myths
• backfire effect


  cognitive bias that causes people who encounter evidence that challenges their beliefs to reject that evidence and strengthen their support of their original stance
• effective anti-smoking ads

  emotionally evocative and contain personalized stories
• educational appeals


  providing general information; assuming that people will be motivated to improve health behavior if they have the correct information
• message framing


  whether the information emphasizes the benefits (gains) or costs (losses) associated with a behavior or decision
• gain-framed messages; message framing

  experiencing desirable consequences and/or avoiding negative ones

  • if you exercise, you will become more fit and less likely to develop heart disease
• loss-framed messages; message framing

  experiencing undesirable consequences and/or avoiding positive ones

  • if you do not get your blood pressure checked, you could increase your chances of having a heart attack or stroke, and you won't know that your blood pressure is good
• fear appeals; message framing

  assumes that instilling fear will lead to change
• cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

  evidence-based psychotherapeutic intervention that promotes self-observation and self-monitoring to increase awareness and control of negative thoughts and harmful behaviors

  • regulation through personal coping strategies
• lapses and relapses


  lapse: an instance of backsliding which does not indicate failure

  relapse: falling back to one's original pattern of undesirable behavior; very common when people try to change long-term habits
• abstinence-violation effect; lapses and relapses


  for some, experiencing a lapse can destroy one's confidence in remaining abstinent and precipitate a full relapse
• motivation interviewing


  a one-on-one counselling style designed to help individuals explore and resolve their ambivalence in changing a behavior

  • semi-directive, client-centeredcounseling
• two key features; motivational interviewing

  (1) decisional balance: clients list reasons for and against changing behavior; used for points of discussion

  (2) personalized feedback: clients receive information on their pattern of problem behavior, comparisons with norms, and risk
• brief alcohol screening and intervention for college students (BASICS)

  harm reduction approach

  • designed to help students make better alcohol-use decisions based on a clear understanding of the risks associated with problem drinking
• two brief interviews; BASICS

  (1) assessing the risk of problem behaviors, obtaining a commitment to monitor drinking between interviews

  (2) providing personalized feedback, including comparison to norms, risks, and advice on how to drinks safely
• decriminalization & harm reduction


  decriminalization does not typically increase the use of drugs – the harm reduction approach aims to reduce the negative consequences of substance/drug use; and to treat people who use drugs with respect and dignity