PSY011 (B6) - Health Psychology

Prof. Jennifer Gay Carpio

Howard Kent Punayan
2nd Year BS Psychology - 2nd Semester
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
● Problems in behaviors are more common in lower social
CHAPTER 5 :Health-Compromising Behaviors classes.

Important Characteristics Shared By Health-Compromising

Outline:
Behaviors:
1. There is a window of vulnerability in adolescence.
I. Characteristics of Health-Compromising
2. Many of these behaviors are pleasurable, which can be
Behaviors
rewarding.
II. Marijuana Use
3. These behaviors develop gradually.
III. Obesity
4. Substance abuse of all kinds are predicted by the same
a. What Is Obesity?
factors.
b. Obesity in Childhood
● Low SE, deviant behavior, combining long
c. SES, Culture, and Obesity
hours at work and school, poor school
d. Obesity and Dieting as Risk Factors for
Obesity performance, family problems, low IQ, poor
e. Stress and Eating self-regulation, mental health disorders
f. Interventions ● *SE – Self-esteem
g. Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy (CBT) 5. Problem behaviors, including obesity, smoking, and
h. Evaluation of Cognitive–Behavioral alcoholism, are more common in the lower social
Weight-Loss Techniques classes.
i. Taking a Public Health Approach
IV. Eating Disorders
II. Marijuana Use
a. Anorexia Nervosa
b. Bulimia Drug Use:
c. Binge Eating Disorder ● Major issue in the US
V. Alcoholism and Problem Drinking
a. The Scope of the Problem Heroin (& other opioids) & Cocaine:
b. What Is Substance Dependence? ● Can lead to overdoses & death.
a. Alcoholism and Problem Drinking
b. Origins of Alcoholism and Problem Drinking Marijuana:
c. Treatment of Alcohol Abuse ● Most popular recreational drug.
d. Treatment Programs ● Over 94 million people admitted to using it at least
e. Preventive Approaches to Alcohol Abuse once, and 22 million of them in the past month.
f. Drinking and Driving ● Users [YA]:
g. Is Modest Alcohol Consumption a Health ○ Young Adults
Behavior? ○ Adolescents
VI. Smoking ● Common Effects [I-HEAR]:
a. Synergistic Effects of Smoking ○ Increased Appetite
b. A Brief History of the Smoking Problem ○ Heightened Sensory Perceptions
c. Why Do People Smoke? ○ Euphoria
d. Nicotine Addiction and Smoking ○ Altered Time Perception
e. Interventions to Reduce Smoking ○ Relaxation
f. Smoking Prevention Programs ● Less Positive Effects [PPAFcorn]:
○ Panic
○ Paranoia
I. Characteristics of Health-Compromising
○ Anxiety
Behaviors
○ Fear
Health-Compromising Behavior: ○ PPAFcorn Will Occur When:
● Behaviors that undermine or harm their current or ■ Marijuana is High in Potency
future health. ■ Person using it is inexperienced
● Are often habitual and several are addictive (e.g., ● Users develop a dependency in marijuana even
smoking). though it interferes with daily activities.
● With proper intervention, these behaviors can be ○ About 4 million users fall into this category
modified. and are adversely affected over the long
● Health compromising behaviors often start as term.
experiments (e.g., smoking, drugs, drinking, excessive ● Men in their 20s (low-income backgrounds):
eating) ○ Use of marijuana has been linked to changes
in brain neural circuitry.
 PSY011 (B6) - Health Psychology
Prof. Jennifer Gay Carpio
Howard Kent Punayan
2nd Year BS Psychology - 2nd Semester
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
■ Affects motivation & mood ● Studies suggest that obese individuals are prone to
neuroticism and psychiatric conditions esp. Depression
● Stereotypes of obese individuals are often negative
III. Obesity and unkind
● There are social and economic consequences of obesity
as well - e.g., rude comments, difficulty buying clothes
a. What is Obesity?
Weight stigma:
● An excessive accumulation of body fat.
● May actually undermine weight loss efforts.
● Contributes to low SE, social alienation, heightened
Obesity:
biological response to stress.
● Replaced malnutrition as the most prevalent dietary
contributor to poor health worldwide
● Obesity is most severe in US b. Obesity in Childhood
● Americans are the fattest people in the world
● OBESE: 650 million worldwide (WHO, 2018) ● In the US, 42 million children under 5 are overweight or
● OVERWEIGHT: 1.9 billion (WHO, 2018) obese.
2
● 3
of overweight and obese children have risk factors
Fat Should Constitute About: for cardiovascular disease, such as elevated blood
● (Women) 20% to 27% of body tissue pressure, elevated lipid levels, or hyperinsulemia.
● (Men) 15% to 22% of body tissue ● What causes the high rates of obesity in childhood?
○ Genetic knowledge contributes to
BMI: treatment.
𝑘𝑔
● Formula: BMI = 2
○ Genetic risks can combine with low SES risk.
𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 ○ Early life - vigorous feeding style
● Normal BMI ⇒ 19-24 ○ There are also (genetically based) tendencies
● Overweight ⇒ 25-29 to store energy as fat rather than lean tissue.
● Obese ⇒ 30-39 ○ Sedentary lifestyle:
● Extreme Obesity ⇒ 40-54 ■ Snacks are often consumed during
sedentary activities (e.g., watching
Risks of Obesity: TV).
● Obesity is a risk factor for many disorders. ○ Adverse social relationships in childhood ;
● Obesity is a chief cause of disability - becoming too ■ Being bullied, are related to higher
heavy to do routine tasks or care of the self BMI into adulthood.
● Contributes to death rates for all cancers. ○ Children are less obese if they participate in
● Contributes to death rates for all cancers and for the organized sports or physical activity.
specific cancers of the: ○ Childhood is a window of vulnerability for
○ colon, obesity where the number of fat cells is
○ rectum, determined in the first few years of life.
○ liver, ■ Moderately obese people, fat cells
○ gallbladder, are typically large.
○ pancreas, ■ Large fat cells = greater capacity
○ kidney, and producing & storing fat
○ esophagus, as well as ■ Small fat cells = lower capacity to
○ non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and produce & store fat
○ multiple myeloma.
● Contributes substantially to deaths from cardiovascular
disease. c. SES, Culture, and Obesity
● Atherosclerosis, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart
failure ● Additional risk factors for obesity:
● Reduces likelihood of exercise ○ social class
● Associated with early mortality ○ culture.
● Abdominally localized fat - potent risk factor for ● Obesity and SES is very clear in women.
cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, ● Thinness is valued in women from high SES classes.
and decline in cognitive function. ● Depression, stress, & weight gain are linked
● An often ignored risk of obesity is psychological ● Depressed individuals - more likely to gain weight.
distress ● People high in neuroticism, extraversion, & impulsivity
& low in conscientiousness are likely to be obese.
 PSY011 (B6) - Health Psychology
Prof. Jennifer Gay Carpio
Howard Kent Punayan
2nd Year BS Psychology - 2nd Semester
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
d. Obesity and Dieting as Risk Factors for Obesity
● Obesity is a risk factor for becoming even more so.
● High basal insulin level = overeating due to increased
hunger
● Obesity in childhood is one of the fastest growing
health concerns in the US.
Yo-yo Dieting:
● Successive cycles of dieting and weight gain.
● Lower the metabolic rate = easy weight gain.
Set Point Theory of Weight:
● Idea that each individual has an ideal biological
weight.
● Set point acts like a thermostat regulating heat in a
home which cannot be greatly modified.
○ Ex. A person eats if his or her weight gets too
low & stops eating as the weight reaches its
ideal point
● High Set-point = Obesity
e. Stress and Eating
● Stress affects eating but in different ways
● When stressed, half eat more & half eat less.
For non-obese & non-dieting individuals:
● Stress & anxiety may suppress appetite
For overweight & obese people:
● Stress & anxiety can disinhibit food consumption
Women:
● Tend to eat more in stressful situations
Anxiety & Depression:
● figure into stress eating
● stress eaters experience greater fluctuations in anxiety
& depression
Overweight:
● Greater fluctuations in anxiety, hostility, & depression
Comfort Foods:
● Don’t lift moods
People who eat in response to negative emotions:
● Preference for sweet & high fat food; “comfort food”
f. Interventions
● More people are treated for obesity in the US than for
all other health conditions combined.
● Successful weight-loss programs show high rates of
relapse.
Dieting:
● Weight-loss programs begin with dietary treatment
● People trained to restrict their caloric and/or
carbohydrate intake
● Nutritional Literacy:
○ Knowledge of the nutritional qualities of food
○ Is important
● Sometimes food is provided (e.g., Weight Watchers)
● Low carbohydrate or low fat diets help people lose
weight:
○ but hard to maintain
Surgery:
● Represent a radical way of controlling extreme obesity
● Ex. stomach is stapled up to reduce its capacity to hold
food
● Side Effects:
○ gastric & intestinal distress
Lap Band Surgery:
● an adjustable gastric band is inserted surgically around
the top of the stomach
g. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
● Obesity shares the same brain circuitry as other
addictive disorders (e.g. smoking or drug addiction)
● CBT:
○ Used in obese people to combat maladaptive
eating behavior.
1. Screening:
● Programs begin by screening applicants for their
readiness to lose weight & their motivation to do so.
2. Self-Monitoring:
● Keep careful records of what they eat, when they eat it,
how much they eat, and where they eat it.
● Keeping simultaneously defines the behavior, makes
clients more aware of their eating patterns, & can lead
to beginning efforts to lose weight.
3. Attentional Retraining:
● People who are battling a health issue such as obesity
or smoking will often show an attentional bias in favor
of cues related to the issue.
● Breaking or moderating automatic attentional bias by
distracting one’s self, focusing on other aspects of the
environment, or engaging in physical activity
4. Stimulus Control:
● Gaining control over eating.
● Ex. encourage slow eating; savoring food; the goal is to
teach people to eat less & enjoy it more; mindful eating
also reduces impulsive eating & food choices.
● Clients are trained to modify the stimuli in their
environment that have previously elicited.
5. Controlling Eating:
● Gain control over the eating process itself.
 PSY011 (B6) - Health Psychology
Prof. Jennifer Gay Carpio
Howard Kent Punayan
2nd Year BS Psychology - 2nd Semester
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
● Clients may be urged to count each mouthful of food.
6. Self-Reinforcement:
● Success in modifying eating habits can be supported
by positive reinforcement.
● Ex. going to a movie or posting a facebook message
7. Controlling Self-Talk:
● Cognitive restructuring is an important part of
weight-reduction programs.
● Participants in weight-loss programs are urged to
identify the maladaptive thoughts they have regarding
weight loss & to substitute positive self-instruction.
8. Exercise:
● As people age, increasing physical activity is essential
just to maintain weight, let alone avoid gaining it.
9. Stress Management::
● Reducing life stress can be helpful.
● Ex.
1. Mindfulness Training
2. Acceptance & Commitment Theory (ACT)
10. Social Support:
● Training in eliciting effective support from families,
friends, & coworkers
● Supportive messages from a behavioral therapist over
the Internet seem to help people lose weight.
11. Relapse Prevention:
● Matching treatments to the eating problems of
particular clients, restructuring the environment to
remove temptation, rehearsing high-risk situations for
relapse (such as parties & holidays), & developing
coping strategies to deal with high-risk situations.
h. Evaluation of Cognitive–Behavioral
Weight-Loss Techniques
● Produce modest success
Successful Programs Emphasize:
● Diet modification self-direction
● Exercise
● Relapse Prevention Techniques
i. Taking a Public Health Approach
● Prevention is essential in combating obesity.
● Parents should be trained in meal planning
● School-based interventions:
○ Making healthy food available and modifying
sedentary behavior.
● WHO:
○ Advocated for changes in food labels; special
tax on fatty & sugary food; required health
warnings.
Barbie Doll:
● Popularity with young girls may contribute to excessive
dieting & the development of eating disorders.
IV. Eating Disorders
● Restricting diet & weight loss efforts such as laxative
use , diet pills are used to attain the “perfect body.”
● Women with ED are likely to be depressed, anxious,
have low SE, & poor sense of mastery
Ages 15 to 24:
● (Women) are at high risk for these behaviors
Pursuit of Thinness:
● Public health threat
a. Anorexia Nervosa
● An obsessive disorder amounting to self-starvation
where a person diets and exercises to the point that
body weight is grossly below optimum level,
threatening health, and potentially leading to death.
Cause:
● Genetic factors.
○ Serotonin, Dopamine, & Estrogen Systems ⇒
implicated in both anxiety and food intake
● Perfectionistic behavior.
● Body image distortions.
● Family with poor communication.
● Insecure Attachment:
○ Expectation of rejection & criticism
Treatment:
● Bring the patient’s weight back up to a safe level:
○ Is the chief target
● CBT is usually used for weight gain
● Motivation issues should be targeted
● Family therapy:
○ Help families learn positive methods of
communicating emotion & conflict.
● Prevention:
○ Address social norms
○ Targeting the thinness ideal’ stressing the
health risks of ED
b. Bulimia
● Alternating cycles of binge eating and purging
through such techniques as vomiting, laxative abuse,
extreme dieting or fasting, & drug or alcohol abuse.
● Half of the people diagnosed with anorexia are bulimic
● Typically of normal weight or overweight
● Binge Phase:
○ out-of-control reaction to restore weight
● Purge Phase:
 PSY011 (B6) - Health Psychology
Prof. Jennifer Gay Carpio
Howard Kent Punayan
2nd Year BS Psychology - 2nd Semester
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
○ effort to regain control over weight
b What Is Substance Dependence?
Cause: ● Repeated self-administration, resulting in tolerance,
● High cortisol levels can promote eating withdrawal & compulsive behavior.
● Genetic basis
● Families that place a high value on thinness and Physical Dependence:
appearance ● When the body has adjusted to the substance.
● Physiological theories: ● Involved tolerance where the body adapts to the
○ Ex. Hormonal dysfunctions, substance.
○ Hypothalamic dysfunction, ● Requiring larger & larger doses of it to obtain the same
○ Disordered taste responsivity, effects
○ Disorder of the endogenous opioid system,
○ Food allergies, Craving:
○ Neurological disorder ● Strong desire to consume the substance
○ Low leptin functioning,

Treatment:
● Barrier to treating bulimia is that many women do not
believe either that their problem is a serious one.
● First step:
○ Convince bulimics that the disorder
threatens their health and intervention can
help them overcome the disorder.
● CBT (moderately successful)
● Combination of Medication & CBT (most effective)
● Relaxation & Stress Management
c. Binge Eating Disorder
● Occur when the individual is alone, triggered by
negative emotions produced by stressful experiences.
● Person feels out of control during the binge.
● Low SE is implicated in binge eating
● People with BED also have depression & anxiety
● People with BED often do not seek treatment
● Binge eating increases as a response to stress.
● Potential binge triggers:
○ Overhauling body appearance, dieting,
symptoms of depression
V. Alcoholism and Problem Drinking
Addiction:
● A person becomes physically & psychologically
dependent on a substance following repeated use over
time.
Withdrawal:
● Unpleasant symptoms when substance use is stopped.
c. Alcoholism and Problem Drinking
● Are substance dependence disorders
● Include the need for daily use of alcohol, inability to
cut down on drinking, temporary abstinence, binge
drinking, occasional consumption of large quantities of
alcohol, memory loss while intoxicated.
Alcoholic:
● Term for someone addicted to alcohol; high tolerance &
show withdrawal symptoms; have little control over
drinking.
Physiological Dependence:
● Can be manifested in stereotypic drinking patterns
(particular types of alcohol in particular quantities at
particular times of day)

d. Origins of Alcoholism and Problem Drinking

a. The Scope of the Problem
● Genetic Factors
Alcohol: ● Sociodemographic factors (Ex. Low income =
● Third leading cause of preventable death. alcoholism)

Alcohol Consumption: Men:

● Linked to high blood pressure, stroke, cirrhosis, & some ● Have greater risk for alcoholism than women.
forms of cancer; brain atrophy; deteriorating cognitive
function; sleep disorders. Drinking & Stress:
● Drunk Driving Crashes ● Drink to buffer impact of stress
● Many drinkers keep their problem hidden ● Those with chronic stress & low social support =
problem drinkers.
● Financial strain
 PSY011 (B6) - Health Psychology
Prof. Jennifer Gay Carpio
Howard Kent Punayan
2nd Year BS Psychology - 2nd Semester
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
● Work issues ● A porgram
● Boost SE ● Founded and staffed by the families and friends of
● Lower Anxiety those killed by drunk drivers.
● Depression and alcoholism are linked ● Purpose ⇒ Put pressure on state & local governments
for tougher alcohol control measures & stiffer penalties
Two Windows of Vulnerability: for convicted drunk drivers.
1. Ages 12-21
2. Late Middle Age (as coping method)
i. Is Modest Alcohol Consumption a Health
Behavior?
e. Treatment of Alcohol Abuse
● Modest alcohol intake may contribute to a longer life
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): ● Approximately one to two drinks a day (less for
● A self-help group that is usually sought women) reduces risk of a heart attack

VI. Smoking
● One of the greatest causes of preventable death
f. Treatment Programs
● It remains a chief cause of death in developed
1st Phase: countries
● Detoxification (conducted in a carefully supervised & ● Accounts for at least 480,000 deaths each year in the
monitored medical setting) AS
● Cause of 9 out of 10 lung cancer deaths in men and
2nd Phase: women (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
● Therapy ● Related to a fourfold increase in women’s risk of
developing breast cancer after menopause
CBT:
● Decrease the reinforcing properties of alcohol, teach ● Increases the risk for:
people new behaviors, & modify the environment. 1. Chronic bronchitis
● Learning coping techniques to deal with stress and 2. Emphysema
relapse prevention skills. 3. Respiratory disorders
● Begin with self-monitoring 4. Damage and injuries due to fires and
● Family therapy and group counseling can be added accidents
5. Lower birth weight in offspring,
Relapse Prevention: 6. Retarded fetal development
● More than 50% of treated patients relapse within 3
months after treatment. ● Increases risk of erectile dysfunction by 50 percent
● Practicing coping skills or social skills for
high-risk-for-relapse situations is a mainstay of relapse Secondhand smoke:
prevention. ● reveal that spouses, family members, and coworkers
are at risk for a variety of health disorders

g. Preventive Approaches to Alcohol Abuse Parental cigarette smoking:

● lower cognitive performance in adolescents by
Social Influence Programs:
reducing blood oxygen capacity
● Teach adolescents drink-refusal techniques ; resist
● increasing carbon monoxide levels
social pressure
● Effects:
1. Enhance adolescents’ self efficacy. a. Synergistic Effects of Smoking
2. Can change social norms
3. Low-cost options for low-income areas ● Smoking acts synergistically with low SES
● Inflicts greater harm among disadvantaged groups.
● Smoking is more likely among people who are
h. Drinking and Driving depressed
● interacts synergistically with depression to increase
Drunk Driving:
risk for cancer and heart disease
● Result to thousands of vehicular fatalities.
● Cause of depression in young people
● Related to anxiety in adolescence
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD):
 PSY011 (B6) - Health Psychology
Prof. Jennifer Gay Carpio
Howard Kent Punayan
2nd Year BS Psychology - 2nd Semester
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
For men: ○ generally less health conscious
● nicotine can increase heart rate reactivity to stress ○ less educated
○ less intelligent
For women: ● Smoking and drinking often go together, and drinking
● smoking can reduce heart rate but increase blood seems to cue smoking
pressure responses to stress ● Smokers are:
○ more impulsive
Trauma exposure and Post-traumatic stress disorder: ○ more accidents and injuries at work
● increase the health risks of smoking ○ take off more sick time
○ use more health benefits to economy
Weight and smoking:
● interact to increase mortality ● Smoking is an entry-level drug in childhood and
Thin Cigarette smokers: adolescence
● increased risk of mortality, compared with ● Factors Associated with Smoking in Adolescents
average-weight smokers ○ 27.1 percent of high school students reported
current use of tobacco
○ Exposure to tobacco marketing (10-11 years
b. A Brief History of the Smoking Problem old)
19th Century and 20th Century ○ Young people start with menthol cigarettes
● often depicted men retiring to drawing room after ○ Period of initial experimentation–tries out
dinner for cigars and brandy cigarettes, experiences peer pressure to
● Cigarette advertisements (20th century) smoke, and develops attitudes about what a
smoker is like
1955 ○ Starting to smoke results from a social
● 53 percent of the adult male in the US smoke contagion process
● Women did not begin to smoke in large numbers until ○ 70 percent of all cigarettes smoked by
the 1940s adolescent are smoked in the presence of a
peer
1964 ○ Smoking runs in families
● The first surgeon general’s report on smoking came out ○ Adolescents start smoking if:
by the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and ■ From a lower social class
Welfare and U.S. Public Health Service ■ Feel social pressure
● extensive publicity campaign to highlight the dangers ■ Has been a major stressor in the
of smoking family
■ Watching people smoke in movies
Present and on television
● 27 percent of high school students use tobacco
products, with electronic cigarettes ○ Once adolescents begin to smoke, risks they
perceive from smoking decline

● Self-Identity and Smoking

○ Image of one’s self is a significant factor
○ These factors all increase the tendency to
imitate others’ behavior:
■ Low self-esteem
■ Dependency,
■ Feelings of powerlessness
■ Social isolation

○ Increase the likelihood of smoking:

■ Feelings of being hassled;
c. Why Do People Smoke? ■ Angry and
● There appear to be genetic influences on smoking ■ Sad
● Genes regulate dopamine functioning are candidates
for these heritable influences ○ Self-Efficacy and Good Self-control
● Smokers are: ■ skills help adolescents resist
temptations to smoke
 PSY011 (B6) - Health Psychology
Prof. Jennifer Gay Carpio
Howard Kent Punayan
2nd Year BS Psychology - 2nd Semester
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
○ Effective messages must be clear and based
○ Self Identity on facts
■ Impedes the ability to quit smoking ○ Emotional appeals may work better for
people whose knowledge of health issues is
low
d. Nicotine Addiction and Smoking ○ Pictures that evoke negative emotions are
● Smoking is harder to stop than heroin addiction or effective
alcoholism ○ Smoking- addiction with negative social
● So-called chippers consequences
○ able to smoke casually without showing signs
of addiction ○ Antismoking media messages
■ Effective in discouraging adults and
● People smoke to maintain blood levels of nicotine adolescents from beginning to
and to prevent withdrawal symptoms smoke
● Smoking regulates the level of nicotine in the body
● Nicotine Replacement Therapy
○ Therapies begin with some form of nicotine
● Smoking occurs:
replacement
○ When plasma levels of nicotine depart from
■ Nicotine patches- release nicotine in
the ideal levels
steady doses into the bloodstream
■ E-cigarettes- turning a
● Nicotine alters levels of:
nicotine-infused liquid into a vapor
○ Neuroregulators
○ Acetylcholine
● Therapeutic Approach to the Smoking Problem
○ Norepinephrine
○ Attentional retraining
○ Dopamine
■ involves helping smokers reorient
○ Endogenous opioids
their attention away from
○ Vasopressin
smoking-related cues
■ reduce craving and orienting toward
● Neuroregulators
smoking-related cues
○ produce temporary improvements in
○ Exercise
performance or affect
■ helps reduce attentional bias toward
smoking-related cues
● Acetylcholine, Norepinephrine, Vasopressin
○ enhance memory
○ Moving people from contemplation to
action requires
● Acetylcholine and Beta Endorphins
■ smoker develop implementation
○ reduce anxiety and tension
intentions to quit
■ timetable for quitting
● Alterations in dopamine, norepinephrine, and opioids
■ program for how to quit
improve mood
■ awareness of the difficulties
● Smoking among habitual smokers improves:
■ associated with quitting
○ Concentration
○ Recall
● Social Support and Stress Management
○ Alertness
○ Smokers are successful over the short term if
○ Arousal
they have a supportive partner and
○ Psychomotor performance
non-smoking supportive friends.
○ Improve performance
○ smokers in one’s social network is a hindrance
to maintenance and predicts relapse
e. Interventions to Reduce Smoking ○ Stress management training
■ provides an alternative method for
● Changing Attitudes Toward Smoking coping with stress or anxiety
○ Mass media
■ effective in providing the ○ Lifestyle rebalancing (Changes in diet and
educational base for anti smoking exercise )
attitudes ■ helps people cut down on smoking or
maintain abstinence after quitting
 PSY011 (B6) - Health Psychology
Prof. Jennifer Gay Carpio
Howard Kent Punayan
2nd Year BS Psychology - 2nd Semester
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
○ Image
■ helping people stop
■ People who have a strong sense of
themselves have a strong sense of
themselves as smokers
● Interventions with Adolescents
○ to induce adolescents to stop smoking have
made use of self-determination theory
○ Self-determination theory
■ targets those same cognitions
autonomy and self-control—but from
the opposite vantage point
○ adolescents often begin smoking to shore up
their self-image with a sense of autonomy
and control
● Relapse Prevention
○ Relapse Prevention Techniques
■ typically incorporated into smoking
cessation programs
■ important because the ability to
remain abstinent
■ begin by preparing people for;
1. Withdrawal
2. Cardiovascular changes
3. increases in appetite
4. Urge to smoke
5. Coughing
6. Discharge of phlegm
7. Increases in irritability
■ focuses on the ability to manage
high-risk situations that lead to a
craving for cigarettes
■ Coping techniques- dealing with
stressful interpersonal situations
○ Contingency Contracting
■ smoker pays a sum of money that is
returned only on the condition of
cutting down or abstaining
○ Abstinence Violation effect
■ reduces self-efficacy, increases
negative mood, and reduces belief in
success
● Evaluation of Interventions
○ Cognitive–behavioral interventions
■ Adult smokers are well served which
includes self-monitoring,
modification of the stimuli that elicit
and maintain smoking, reinforcing
successful smoking cessation, and
relapse prevention techniques
■ Who relapse often have a low sense
of self-efficacy, concerns about
gaining weight after stopping
smoking, more previous quit
attempts, and more slips
● Brief Interventions
○ can bring about smoking cessation and
control relapse
○ Providing smoking cessation guidelines may
improve the quit rate
○ telephone counseling and newsletters that
offered quitting guidelines
● Workplace
○ thought to hold promise in smoking cessation
efforts
○ when workplace environments are entirely
smoke-free, employees smoke much less
● Commercial Programs and Self-Help
○ Self-help aids
■ Developed for smokers to quit on
their own
■ Include nicotine patches, more
intensive self-help programs
○ Cable television programs
■ designed to help people stop initially
and to maintain their resolution to
broadcast in cities
○ Quitlines
■ provide telephone counseling to help
people stop smoking and are quite
successful
○ Internet interventions
■ People can seek them out when they
are ready to and without regard to
location.
○ American Cancer Society
■ Sponsored an Internet program for
smoking cessation was significantly
more helpful to smokers trying to
quit
○ Public health approaches
■ reducing smoking begin with
warning labels on cigarette packs,
billboards, and other places where
they are likely to be noticed
 PSY011 (B6) - Health Psychology
Prof. Jennifer Gay Carpio
Howard Kent Punayan
2nd Year BS Psychology - 2nd Semester
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

f. Smoking Prevention Programs

● aim to catch potential smokers early and attack the
underlying motivations that lead people to smoke
● These programs are implemented through the school
system.
● inexpensive and efficient because little class time is
needed and no training of school personnel is required

● Central components of social influence interventions

are:
○ Information about the negative effects of
smoking (adolescents)
○ Materials are developed to convey a positive
image of the nonsmoker
○ Peer group is used to foster not smoking
rather than smoking

● Norma Broyne
○ flight attendant with American Airlines
○ never smoked a cigarette, and yet, in 1989,
she was diagnosed with lung cancer
○ became the center of a class-action suit
brought against the tobacco industry
○ adverse health effects of the smoke they
inhaled while performing their job
responsibilities

● Passive smoking/secondhand smoke

○ third-leading cause of preventable death in
the US
○ Causes 3,000 cases of lung cancer annually;
62,000 heart disease death; exacerbation of
asthma in 1 million children
○ State of Montana imposed a ban on public
and workplace smoking
○ Physicians charted the number of heart
attacks that occurred before the
ban–dropped 40 percent when the workplace
ban on smoking was in place but immediately
bounced back when smoking resumed

○ Tax tobacco products

■ best way to reduce smoking; restrict
where people can smoke, and deliver
cost-effective cognitive–behavioral
interventions with relapse prevention
techniques.