PSYC 365: Week 6 - Health Compromising Behaviours

Smoking

1. #1 Preventable cause of death and disease in Canada
2. Overall rates are dropping
3. 16.7% of males & 13.5% of females 15+ in Canada smoke
4. Rates higher in: Men, Lower level so education & socioeconomic status

Why do people smoke?

1. Peer Influence
2. Parental Modelling
3. Prevalence of cigarettes onscreen
4. Pers. Characteristics (Risk taking, low self-esteem)

Positive-Affect Smoker

Smokes to attain positive affect (increased stimulation, relaxation and gratification)

Negative-Affect Smoker

Smokes to reduce negative-affect (anxiety, distress, fear, or guilt)

Habitual Smoker

Smoke without the awareness of why they are doing so

Addictive Smoker

Smokers who develop a psychological dependence on smoking and are keenly aware of when they are not smoking

Health Consequences of Smoking

1. Reduced life expectancy
2. Incr. chance of cardiovascular & cerebrovascular disease
3. Cancer
4. Chronic lower respiratory disease

Environmental Tobacco Smoke

Can lead to cancer/cardiovascular disease

Vaping

Harmful effects on cardiovascular system, because of:
1. Nicotine
2. Concentration of metals
3. Flavour/solvents

Quitting Smoking

1. 63% of Canadians who smoked have successfully quit
2. Smoking is an addiction that brings unpleasant withdrawal symptoms

Benefits of Quitting Smoking

20 Minutes: Heart rate and Blood Pressure Lower
12 Hours: Oxygen in Blood Returns to Normal
48 Hours: Smell and Taste Sense Enhanced
72 Hours: Breathing becomes more comfortable

Benefits of Quitting Smoking

2-3 Weeks: Lungs expand by 30% and circulation improves
1-9 Months: Coughing and shortness of breath reduce. Less susceptible to colds, runny noses and fatigue
1 Year: Hear Disease Risk Lessened by 50%
5 Years: Risk of Stoke Reduced to Normal levels
10 Years: Risk of Death from Lung Cancer reduced by 50%
15 Years: Risk of Heart Attack Reduced to Normal

Method to Quit Smoking on Your Own

1. Stop-Smoking medication
2. Reduce number of cigarettes
3. E-Cigarettes

Therapy Methods to Quit (More Effective)

1. Nicotine Replacement Therapy
2. Aversion Therapy
3. Self-Management Strategies

Alcohol Abuse

1. 78% of Canadians have consume alcohol in past 12 months
2. Ethanol is a dsepresent

Effect of Alcohol

Liver disease, damage to organs, high blood-pressure. depression of immune system, blackout

To Others: Increased risk of violence, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FADS)

Disease Model

Theory that suggests alcoholism is a disease resulting from the physical properties of alcohol

Gamma Alcoholism

Loss of control once drinking begins

Delta Alcoholism

Inability to Abstain

Alcohol Dependency Syndrome Model

Theory suggesting that for a variety of reasons(Tolerance for alcohol) people do not exercise control over their drinking, and this leads to problem drinking.

Tension Reduction Hypothesis

People drink alcohol because of its tension-reducing properties

Stress Response Dampening Effect

Hypothesis suggesting that people do not respond as strongly psychologically or physiologically to stressors if they have been frinking

Self-Awareness Model

Theory that drinking makes people less self-aware because it inhibits the use of normal complex information-processing strategies, such as memory and information acquisition

Alcohol Myopia

Refers to a drinkers decreased ability to process information outside a narrow range. Result in more aggressive or friendly behaviour, lower inhibition of impulsive responses.

Alcohol Abuse Prevention

1. Majority stop without treatment
2. 12 Step programs like AA
3. Psychotherapy, drug therapy, aversion therapy

However, relapse remains a common problem

Stages of Change Model

1. Pre-Contemplation
2. Contemplation
3. Preparation
4. Action
5. Maintenance
6. Relapse

Prevention Programs for Illicit Drugs

1. Education through schools, mass media
2. Laws limiting access to drugs
3. Parental Monitoring

Treatment for Illicit Drugs

Cognitive & Behavioural Methods are the best. However, high-relapse rates. There are programs that include follow-up "booster" sessions.

Unsafe Sexual Behaviour

Not using Condom:
1. Associated with STIs
2. Occurs b/c of embaressment, interference with pleasure or insufficient knowledge

Obesity

1. Measured in BMI. Higher BMI = Higher risk of early mortality
2. Top 10 Global Health Problems
3. Physical, emotional and economic burden
-Premature death associated with obesity: hypertension, type II diabetes, cardio disease, lung disease, cancer, gallbladder disease

Obese Biological Factors

1. Heredity: Genes contribute to the development of obesity and to substantial variance in BMI
2. Hormones and the Brain: Self-Point Theory - Body pushes us to our natural target weight using leptin

Obesity Psychosocial Factors

1. Social Norms and Values
2. Stress
3. People around us (wealth, parents)
4. Internality-Externality Hypothesis: Weight linked to source of hunger and satiety cues (external or internal)

Sociocultural Factors Obesity

1. Social facilitation approach: Eat more in groups
2. Modelling or matching: Eat as much or as little as those in their presence
3. Impression management approach: Suppress eating when feeling their being evaluated

Prevention for Obesity

1. Public education campaigns
2. Health care professionals knowing how to treat obese people

Treatment for Obesity

1. Dieting: Most common, but usually not maintained
2. Needs to be a permanent lifestyle change

Pharmacological Treatment for Obesity

1. Used to decrease appetite
2. Most are ineffective with negative side effects

Behavioural Treatments for Obesity

1. As effective as pharmacological
2. 20-WEEKS

Anorexia Nervosa

1. Most common in white teenage girls
2. Leads to low BP, heart damage

Anorexia Treatment

Hard to treat
1. GOALS: Restore weight, change eating habits, change body image

Bulimia Treatment

Easier to treat, because most are aware of the problem
1. GOALS: Change binge-purge cycle
2. CBT, drugs