1. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin Health Psychology 8 th edition Shelley E. Taylor Chapter Four: Specific Health Related Behaviors

2. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-2 Exercise Aerobic exercise: - sustained exercise that stimulates/strengthens heart and lungs - improves body’s utilization of oxygen High-intensity, long-duration and requisite high endurance: - j ogging - bicycling - jumping rope - running - swimming

3. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-3 Exercise (cont.) Benefits of exercise: - decreased risk of chronic disease and some cancers - decreased risk of Type II diabetes in high-risk adults - accelerated wound healing - increases in cardiovascular fitness and endurance - increased longevity

4. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-4 Exercise (cont.) Benefits of exercise (cont.): - how much exercise is a factor - amount of exercise vs. amount of stress is a factor - positive effects on psychological health - exercise is effective as stress management

5. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-5 Exercise (cont.) Determinants of regular exercise: - individual characteristics: - positive attitude, athleticism, sense of self-efficacy, social support - boys more than girls - leaner people - characteristics of the setting: - convenient - easily accessible

6. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-6 Exercise (cont.) Characteristics of interventions: - strategies: - c ognitive-behavioral strategies promote adherence - relapse prevention techniques - individualized exercise programs - u nderstanding motivation and attitudes

7. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-7 Accident Prevention Home and workplace accidents: - most common causes of death and disability among children under age 5 - have declined due to better safety precautions - number of falls among elderly likely to increase with population change Motorcycle and automobile accidents: - single greatest cause of accidental death

8. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-8 Cancer-Related Health Behaviors Mammograms - prevalence of breast cancer in this country remains high - majority detected in women over 40 - early detection through mammograms improves survival rates Convincing women to have mammograms: - breast cancer brochures, counseling, mailed materials - changing attitudes - theory of planned behavior

9. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-9 Cancer-Related Health Behaviors (cont.) Colorectal cancer: - second highest cause of cancerous deaths Colorectal cancer screening: - screening is distinctive; people learn they have polyps rather than malignancies - participation predicted by self-efficacy, perceived benefits, physician’s recommendation, lack of barriers

10. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-10 Cancer-Related Health Behaviors (cont.) Skin cancer: - fourfold increase in the incidence of skin cancer over the past 30 years - melanoma incidence has risen 155% in 20 years - among the most preventable cancers Problem with sunscreen use: - tans are perceived as attractive - young adults are especially concerned with appearance Communication to adolescents and young adults is most successful when stressing gains rather than risks

11. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-11 Developing a Healthy Diet Why diet is important: - dietary factors contribute to a broad array of diseases - dietary habits have also been implicated in the development of several cancers - changing one’s diet improves health

12. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-12 Developing a Healthy Diet (cont.) Resistance to modifying diet: - difficult to get people to modify their diet - problem of maintaining change - some dietary recommendations are restrictive, monotonous, expensive and hard to find/prepare - stress has a direct effect on eating - some dietary changes may alter mood and personality

13. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-13 Developing a Healthy Diet (cont.) Interventions to modify diet: - most interventions done on an individual basis in response to a specific health problem or health risk - cognitive-behavioral interventions - adopting the stages of change model: - family interventions - community interventions

14. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-14 Weight Control and Obesity Regulation of eating: - leptin and insulin are important hormones that control eating - ghrelin may explain why dieters gain their lost weight back - a malfunctioning ventromedial hypothalamus interferes with normal eating habits

15. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-15 Weight Control and Obesity (cont.) Obesity: - an excessive accumulation of body fat - health risk - global epidemic of obesity - most serious problem in the United States - risks of obesity - risk factor for many disorders - one of the chief causes of disability - associated with early mortality - can cause psychological distress

16. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-16 Weight Control and Obesity (cont.) Obesity in childhood: - approximately 37% of children are overweight or obese - genes contribute to risk of obesity - sedentary lifestyles - early eating habits contribute to obesity

17. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-17 Weight Control and Obesity (cont.) Obesity in older age: - one in four people older than 50 is obese - counseling older adults to adopt a healthy diet and increase exercise is essential Where the fat is: - abdominally localized fat - excessive central weight

18. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-18 Weight Control and Obesity (cont.) Factors associated with obesity: - number and size of an individual’s fat cells - childhood constitutes a window of vulnerability for obesity - style of eating - family history and obesity - SES, culture and obesity - obesity and dieting as risk factors for obesity - set point theory of weight

19. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-19 Weight Control and Obesity (cont.) Stress and eating: - stress affects eating - stress influences what food is consumed - anxiety and depression figure into stress eating Weight control and obesity: - dieting - surgery

20. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-20 Weight Control and Obesity (cont.) Treatment of obesity (cont.): - Cognitive Behavior Theory: multimodal approach: - screening - self-monitoring - controlling over-eating - adding exercise - controlling self-talk - stress management - social support - relapse prevention

21. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-21 Weight Control and Obesity (cont.) Weight-loss programs are implemented: - at work site interventions - at commercial weight-loss programs: - TOPS (Taking Pounds Off Sensibly) - Weight Watchers - Jenny Craig

22. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-22 Weight Control and Obesity (cont.) Evaluation of cognitive-behavioral weight-loss techniques: - newer programs are longer, emphasize self-direction and exercise and include relapse prevention - efforts have been only somewhat successful

23. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-23 Weight Control and Obesity (cont.) Taking a public health approach: - shift from a treatment model to a public health model - prevention with families at risk is one strategy - behavioral treatment of childhood obesity has been successful - weight-gain prevention programs for normal- weight adults - social engineering strategies

24. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-24 Eating Disorders Anorexia Nervosa: - an obsessive disorder amounting to self- starvation - dieting and exercising to the point that body weight is grossly below optimum level Developing Anorexia Nervosa: - genes, environmental risks, hypothalamic abnormalities, autoimmune problems and behavioral manifestations

25. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-25 Eating Disorders (cont.) Anorexia Nervosa (cont.): - may be complicated by aspects of obsessive- compulsive disorder - girls often come from families in which alcoholism is present - girls often come from families in which communication skills are poor - high rates of comorbidity with depression, PTSD and other disorders

26. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-26 Eating Disorders (cont.) Anorexia Nervosa (cont.): Treating Anorexia: - bring weight to safe level - family therapy - prevention - stressing the health risks of eating disorders

27. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-27 Eating Disorders (cont.) Bulimia: - an eating syndrome characterized by alternating cycles of binge eating and purging through such techniques as vomiting, laxative abuse, extreme dieting and drug or alcohol abuse Developing Bulimia? - women with a hyperactive HPA axis - food becomes a constant thought - women in families that stress thinness and appearance - stress - physiological disorders

28. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-28 Eating Disorders (cont.) Bulimia (cont.): Treating Bulimia: - c onvince bulimics that the disorder threatens their health - convince bulimics that psychological interventions can help - combine medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy - use other behavioral treatments - use relapse prevention techniques

29. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-29 Sleep Sleep: Stage 1: - Theta waves, lightest stage of sleep Stage 2: - sleep spindles, large K-complex waves - body temperature drops, breathing and heart rate even out Stages 3 and 4: - d eep sleep, Delta waves, blood pressure falls, strengthening immune system REM sleep: - Beta waves, vivid dreams, consolidating memories

30. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-30 Sleep (cont.) Sleep and health: - fewer than 7 hours of sleep a night affects cognition, mood, performance in work, and quality of life - chronic insomnia linked to diabetes, heart disease, poor vagal tone and less efficacy of flu shots - sleep deprivation affects immune functioning - too much sleep may also be tied to psychopathology and chronic worrying

31. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-31 Sleep (cont.) Apnea: - air pipe blockage leads sleeper to stop breathing for as long as three minutes -people can awaken dozens of times each night without realizing it -triggers thousands of nighttime deaths -surgery or special machines are used to treat this condition

32. © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4-32 Rest, Renewal, Savoring - rest and renewal help reduce stress and restore personal balance - savoring the positive aspects of life may also have health benefits - intuition, rather than a strong body of research, guides our thinking about restorative processes