Week Three Assignment - Transtheoretical Model or Stages of Change. 3 PAGES NOT INCLUDING TITLE AND REFERENCES

Introduction to Models of Interpersonal Influence on Health Behavior

COH604: Theories of Health Behavior

Overview

Introduction

Overview of Theories and Models

Future Directions

Introduction

Social connections influence health

Mechanisms that link individuals’ social contexts with health effects revolve around two social processes:

Social support

Social influence

Introduction

Fundamental assumption

Behavior is shaped by an individual’s social connections

One of the most consistent findings in public health literature

Documented divergent changes in social fabric over the last two decades, including

Decreased participation in traditional social groups and structure

Growth in social media and virtual communications

Social Cognitive Theory

Reciprocal determinism: human agency and the environment interact and influence each other, resulting in individual and social changes

Interaction of personal cognitive factors, human behavior, and social environmental influences

Individuals have the capacity to change and build the environment

Social Cognitive Theory

Concepts include:

Self-efficacy

Widely used and modifiable factor

Sources include personal experiences, persuasion, vicarious experiences

Observational learning/modeling

Potential source of intervention

Difficult to empirically test

E.g. media influence on knowledge, beliefs, behaviors

Models of Social Support and Health

Conceptualize how social support is linked to health. Two distinct types of support:

Perceived support

Expectation that others will provide support

Consistently associated with better health

Received support

Actual provision of support

Relationship with health more complicated

Models of Social Support and Health

Support providers should be trained to:

Assist the support recipient select and articulate the most helpful form of support

Ensure that the support recipient believes support is available when it is needed

Depending on the context, social relationships can be:

Sources of support

Sources of conflict and stress

Stress, Coping Adaptation, and Health Behavior

Transactional Model of Stress and Coping

How individuals experience and handle stress depends on stressor appraisal and available resources to cope with stressors

Stressors can be:

Acute

Chronic

Differential exposure to stress may help explain health disparities based on socioeconomic status

Stress, Coping Adaptation and Health

Two Competing Hypotheses:

Adaptation

Strong reaction at first exposure to stressor, followed by adaptation over time that diminish adverse stress

Accumulation

Successful coping with stressors during first encounter(s), but ability to cope is exhausted as exposure continues

Recent advances support accumulation hypothesis

Stress, Coping Adaptation and Health

It is important to match the coping strategy to the characteristics and context of the stressor

“Shift and persist” coping in low SES contexts

Involves trying different coping strategies in response to stressors, while maintaining confidence that the stressor can be successfully managed or addressed

Summary & Future Directions

Individual’s relationships influence learning, emotional responses, feelings of belonging, decisions, and coping strategies

Areas for future research include:

Matching the strategy to the situation

Understanding the role of social class, race and ethnicity

Examining how technology influences social support, networks, and health behaviors

References

Glanz, K., Rimer, B. K., & Viswanath, K. (Eds.). (2015). Health behavior: Theory, research, and practice (5th ed.) San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

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