health promotion

• Research shows that in some countries young children do not eat enough fruit and vegetables
• The UK Department of Health (2000) found that fewer than 4 per cent of children ate the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, with one in ten eating none
• Aim of the Tapper et al. (2003) study


  To increase consumption of fruit and vegetables through the use of 'Food Dudes' in schools
• Methodology of the Tapper et al. (2003) study

  1. Researchers used a video of the 'Food Dudes' - a group of four children who gain superpowers from eating vegetables

  2. The Food Dudes battle against 'Junk Punks', who threaten to take over the planet by destroying all the fruit and vegetables

  3. Throughout the video, fruit and vegetables were eaten regularly

  4. Rewards were stickers, pens and erasers, given for eating the target amount of fruit and vegetables

  5. This modelling plus rewards approach resulted in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption that persisted at the 15-month follow-up

  6. Extended research to a whole school programme with children aged 4-11 in three UK primary schools

  7. School staff implemented the programme: Food Dude video, Food Dude rewards, letters from the Food Dudes encouraging children and reminding them how they get rewards, staff manual, briefing video and support materials

  8. Children watched videos and listened to letters being read for 16 days, rewards were given to children for tasting target food or eating a whole portion

  9. A maintenance phase involved no videos but rewards and letters were used intermittently

  10. Two more schools were tested, one received the Food Dudes programme and another acted as a control and simply received extra fruit and vegetables during the study

  11. Parents completed questionnaires after the study commenting on whether their child had enjoyed/benefited from the intervention
• Promoting safe work practices is essential for reducing workplace accidents. South Africa recorded 32 mining fatalities in the first six months of 2021, with many other accidents
• Behaviour modification methods using operant conditioning principles, like token economies


  Have been used to try and decrease accidents in workplaces
• The long-term effects of these behaviour modification methods have rarely been studied
• Aim of the Fox et al. (1987) study


  To investigate whether token economies are an effective long-term way of reducing accidents and injuries in two USA mines
• Methodology of the Fox et al. (1987) study


  1. Miners were divided into four hazard groups: from Group 1 - least hazardous jobs, to Group 4 - most hazardous jobs

  2. Miners who avoided lost-time and/or medically treated compensation were rewarded with monthly stamps, to be exchanged locally for goods

  3. Miners in hazardous jobs received more stamps for avoiding injuries than miners in less hazardous jobs

  4. Special payments were given to employees suggesting how to prevent serious accidents or equipment damage

  5. Injured miners lost monthly stamps depending on the number of workdays missed
• Unrealistic optimism


  The cognitive belief that negative events are less likely to happen to us than other people and that positive events are more likely to happen to us. Individuals feel invulnerable to disease and may disregard health advice and engage in risky behaviour
• Aims of the Weinstein (1980) study

  1. To investigate whether people believe that negative events are more/less likely to happen to them than others
  2. To investigate whether the more control people feel they have over negative events, the more they think it will not happen to them
• Methodology of the Weinstein (1980) study

  Comparative rating group: In Study 1, a diverse group of American college students estimated their chances of experiencing particular life events compared to their classmates' chances. Researchers used 42 life events: 18 positive, 24 negative; randomly divided between two rating forms

  Comparative rating forms: Instructions said: 'Compared to other students... same sex as you ... what do you think are the chances that the following events will happen to you?' Beneath the description of each event were the choices: 100% less (no chance), 80% less, and so on - through to 90% more and 100% more (certain)

  Event characteristics group: The same life events were rated by 120 female students. They were instructed to estimate 'the percentage probability of each event occurring to students at the university. Events were rated for: Controllability, Desirability, personal experience
• In the 1990s, Seligman started looking at happiness and wellbeing, rather than mental health. This is a free will approach - we control our own lives and happiness
• Three components of a happy life

  Pleasant life, good life and meaningful life
• Seligman's (2004) positive psychology article


  It included weekly 'real-world' homework assignments where students reviewed scientific literature, focusing on: the past - contentment and satisfaction, the present - joy, comfort and pleasure, the future - optimism, hope, trust and faith

  Students learned about: depressive realism - unhappy people are more accurate in their life perceptions than happy people, the effect of major life changes on happiness

  They practised increasing their own optimism, to increase productivity, improve physical health and lower vulnerability to depression

  Homework tasks: Gratitude night - gratitude increases happiness, Pleasurable day - students learnt skills of 'savouring' and mindfulness, Signature strengths - students completed a Values in Action (VIA questionnaire), identifying their top five strengths out of 24, Meaningful life - creating a family tree, mentoring a younger student, writing a positive vision for the future of humankind and their role in it, writing their own obituary from the viewpoint of their future grandchildren
• Many studies into positive psychology only look at short-term immediate effects of intervention
• Aims and hypotheses of the Shoshani and Steinmetz (2014) study

  To investigate whether participants in the positive psychology intervention group had better mental health outcomes throughout middle school compared with a control group

  To investigate if the efficacy of the intervention was moderated by any specific sociodemographic factors, including gender
• Research method of the Shoshani and Steinmetz (2014) study

  Longitudinal field experiment

  Mixed design: compared intervention and wait list control groups (independent measures), measured before and after intervention period (repeated measures)
• Procedure of the Shoshani and Steinmetz (2014) study

  A wide range of self-report questionnaires was used to gather quantitative data using rating scales

  Intervention group: Schoolteachers were trained in group dynamics and positive psychology throughout the school year, a teachers' textbook of lesson plans/activities was created to ensure all teachers delivered lessons in the same way, student sessions were conducted including activities, discussions, reading poems and stories and watching video clips, an intervention group discussed five or more things for which they were grateful each week, writing gratitude letters to people who had a positive impact on their lives

  Wait list control group: Teachers continued with their social science lessons, focusing on adolescents' issues
• 537 students from one school - experimental group; 501 from the other school - wait list control group
• Procedure


  1. Wide range of self-report questionnaires used to gather quantitative data using rating scales

  2. Intervention group: Schoolteachers trained in group dynamics and positive psychology, teachers' textbook of lesson plans/activities created, student sessions conducted including activities, discussions, reading poems and stories and watching video clips, gratitude awareness and appreciation of positive aspects

  3. Wait list control group: Teachers continued with their social science lessons, focusing on adolescents' issues
• By the time the intervention was introduced for the wait list control group, the oldest students would have moved on to high school. This meant the beneficial programme was withheld from some students.
• Both groups had slightly worse than expected mental health levels at the beginning of the study
• At the end of the study: Intervention group had significant decreases in psychological distress and depression, and significant increases in optimism. Wait list control group had increased poor mental health symptoms.
• The intervention was effective for both low and high-risk middle school students
• Longitudinal design


  • Intervention ran for one year and students were followed up over a two-year period, allowing monitoring of longer-term effects
• There is a focus on situational explanations of happiness - for example, strong social networks or faith can increase happiness. This ignores individual explanations, such as how for some people (e.g. people who are chronically ill) acknowledging negative aspects is important for them to be able to adjust their behaviour.
• The results may not apply to other cultures and other types of school
• Fear arousal


  A health promotion campaign uses a message that causes the public to feel afraid for their health and therefore makes changes in their lives to avoid this feared outcome
• The anti-smoking poster included the painful and serious consequences of smoking, and the threat level was high
• Sydney felt shocked and just went to sit somewhere where she could not see the poster
• Reasons why Sydney moved so she could no longer see the poster

  • Emotional distress and shock caused by the graphic images
  • To reduce the perceived threat
  • To regain a sense of psychological safety
  • To avoid a stimuli that evoked fear or discomfort
• According to the ethical guideline of protection from psychological harm, fear appeals may be unethical as they may put an individual in a state of psychological distress
• Forms of health promotion to reduce Soraya's anxiety about having another heart attack


  1. Providing information

  2. Following a self-help rehabilitation program including exercise, relaxation, and stress management programs
• Home-based exercise programmes


  • Improved cardiovascular fitness
  • Reduction in risk factors
  • Enhanced mental well-being
• Ways Mr Giannone could help the teachers prepare for delivering the positive psychology programme

  [Not specified]
• Participants in the intervention group showed significant decreases in psychological distress and symptoms of depression, whereas participants in the wait control demonstrated increased mental health symptoms
• Ways Mr Mallick could use positive psychology to increase his students' self-esteem

  1. Assign them homework to choose a boring task and find a way of using their signature strengths to complete it

  2. Create classroom programmes that include activities, discussions, reading poems and stories and watching video clips

  3. Discuss with the students five or more things they are grateful for each week
• Open question


  How do you perceive the impact of fear campaigns on public behavior and attitudes?
• Closed question


  Have fear campaigns influenced your decision-making process in relation to the issue being promoted?