psychology studies

Newcomer et al

Newcomer et al

Three experimental conditions:

High level: Participants were given a tablet with 160 mg of cortisol on each of the four days. This produces blood levels similar to those seen in people experiencing a stress event

Low level: 40 mg of cortisol over 4 days

Control: Participants given tablets with no active ingredient

Tested for verbal declarative memory. Participants with more cortisol intake did worse in verbal declarative memory. Participants were returned to normal.

Lowe

Investigated role of social cognitive theory in promoting healthy eating habits.

Made up of 749 children aged 5-11 years old. Two different primary schools were tested, one as a control and the other and an experimental intervention.

Food and vegetable intake were measured as a baseline. Fruits and vegetables were given as an option. Choice of foods was observed and measured on a 1-5 scale.

Then, children watched videos of the “food dudes”, who try to save the world from the “Junk Punks'“. The videos very often show the heroes eating fruits and veggies and describing their taste. Then, teachers gave kids a “Food Dudes’ Home Pack”, which encouraged kids to eat more fruits and vegetables at home and helped them determine self-efficacy.

Researchers found increase in fruit and vegetable consumption at both school and home. Students with from eating just 4% of the offered fruit to 68%.

Speisman

Tests the transactional model of stress and cognitive appraisal.

56 undergraduate students and 42 middle level airline executives tested.

Four conditions:

Trauma: Participants could hear surgery and told how painful it is

Intellectualization: Participants explained history of tradition

Denial: Overall tone was celebration of young boys becoming men

Control: Film shown without sound

Measured heart rate and skin responses. Stress higher in people with trauma condition, while emotional responses self-reported stronger for other conditions.

Quist-Paulsen

Determine if intervention in smoking affected smoking rates.

-Randomized control trial of a general hospital in norway

-240 smokers under 76 years.

-118 intervention, 122 usual care

-If intervention, patients were given a booklet based upon fear relapses, delivered by untrained nurses.

-Nicotine replacement and counseling offered to all.

-After 12 months, 57% of smokers stopped in intervention and 37% stopped in control.

-Health Belief model, perceived threat

Kiecolt-Glaser

29 female and 49 male first year psych students. Volunteer sample free of health problems.

Natural experiment/ quasi

Participants tested for level of stress with Social Readjustment Rating Scale of stress and split into high stress and low stress group. Levels of loneliness were measured and also put into two groups.

Blood sample taken, one before exams and one during. Tested for NK levels.

Decrease in NK. High stress more likely to have less NKs, High loneliness also had less NKs.

Unger et al

Unger et al. (2001)

A - Investigated smoking habits in relation to peer and cultural background

P - Sample was 5,143 with a mean age of 13

F - Results showed that white-students with close friends who smoked were much more likely to smoke than non-white students

C - Explained that:

In individualistic cultures adolescents typically create their own youth culture characterized by rebellion in order to set themselves apart from their parents.

In collectivistic cultures, the bond between the teen and the parents is considered important. Rebellion is not tolerated so adolescent are more likely to conform to roles and norms that their parents prescribe

Allen et al

48 NYC stockbrokers who suffered from mental stress and treated for hypertension.

24 allocated to condition where a pet was added to treatment program with a drug and 24 allocated to just drug.

BP and HR and other stress measures measured before and after experiment. participants also took stress test.

Participants in pet condition remained more stable during stress tests, and only slight increase in HR compared to non-pet condition but BP fell.

Marmot et al

7000 people in Whitehall II study, all civil servants aged 35-55.

All free of heart problems.

Researchers used questionnaires and health screenings to determine findings.

Status in the department was also measured.

Correlation between status and heart disease, but also about level of self-reported control they had.

Longitudinal Study

Joseph

Asses awareness of health hazards, and find correlation between fast food consumption and obesity.

Self-administered questionnaire, 300 high school boys in Mangalore city. Mean age was 13.5 years old. Asked about height and weight as well as frequency of physical activity. Questions about fast food were also asked.

Of 300 participants, 16.4% were obese. Of those 16.4%, 97.3% were fast food users, of which 14.4% consumed fast food every day. Researchers also found that:

Parents ahd a significant role

Increased frequency of fast food consumption found to be correlated with obesity.

Peer influence also was seen to play a role.

Morgan et al

First, dopamine levels were measured in monkeys who were individually housed. Then, the monkeys were put into groups of about n=20. At the end of the 18 months, the monkeys determined their rank in the group. There was a positive correlation between higher on the hierarchy and less dopamine. Then, the monkeys got cocaine and the subordinate monkeys took more coke than the dominant monkeys.

Singh et al

carried out a case study on a 31-year-old man named "Paul" who had smoked for 17 years and smoked on average between 15 and 20 cigarettes per day. He had been trying to quit smoking for almost six years. XXXX et al taught him three mindfulness techniques:

Intention. Paul was taught to verbally state his intention to quit smoke. This included statements like "I will not smoke today" and "I will not smoke anymore."

Mindful observation of thoughts. He was taught that desires were simply "thoughts" and should be "let go." In other words, he was to be aware of his thoughts, but not respond to them.

Meditation on the soles of his feet. If the desire thoughts were too strong and could not be let go, he was taught to move his attention to the soles of his feet. Within three months, Paul was no longer smoking, with the number of cigarettes smoked daily decreasing incrementally over the three-month period. Paul is checked every three months to determine whether he has been able to maintain his behaviour. After three years, he is still smoke-free.

Martinez- Gonzales

Structured interview of 15,239 participants in the EU. Stratified Random Sample of 15 countries. Fatasses asked how much time they spend in physical activities. Hours spent sitting down also measured by self-reported hours. BMI was also measured. Found a high correlation of sit down time (35 hours a week) and obesity and an inverse correlation between those with high amounts of physical time and obesity.