SECOND EDITION
PREDICTING Health Behaviour
Edited by Mark Conner and Paul Norman
PREDICTING HEALTH
BEHAVIOUR
Second edition
PREDICTING HEALTH
BEHAVIOUR:
RESEARCH AND PRACTICE WITH
SOCIAL COGNITION MODELS
Second edition
Edited by Mark Conner and Paul Norman
Open University Press Open University Press McGraw-Hill Education McGraw-Hill House Shoppenhangers Road Maidenhead Berkshire England SL6 2QL email: [email protected] world wide web: www.openup.co.uk and Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121–2289, USA
First published 2005
Copyright # Mark Conner and Paul Norman (eds)
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A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN–13 978 0335 21176 0 (pb) 978 0335 21177 7 (hb) ISBN–10 0335 21176 3 (pb) 0335 21177 1 (hb)
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CONTENTS
Contributors ix Preface xi Abbreviations xiv 1 Predicting Health Behaviour: A Social Cognition Approach 1 Mark Conner and Paul Norman 2 The Health Belief Model 28 Charles Abraham and Paschal Sheeran 3 Protection Motivation Theory 81 Paul Norman, Henk Boer and Erwin R. Seydel 4 Social Cognitive Theory 127 Aleksandra Luszczynska and Ralf Schwarzer 5 Theory of Planned Behaviour and Health Behaviour 170 Mark Conner and Paul Sparks 6 Stage Theories of Health Behaviour 223 Stephen Sutton 7 Implementation Intentions and Health Behaviour 276 Paschal Sheeran, Sarah Milne, Thomas L. Webb and Peter M. Gollwitzer 8 Predicting and Changing Health Behaviour: Future Directions 324 Paul Norman and Mark Conner Index 373
CONTRIBUTORS
Professor Charles Abraham is Professor of Psychology at the Department of Psychology, University of Sussex, UK. Dr Henk Boer is Associate-Professor of Health Communication at the Department of Communication Studies, University of Twente, The Netherlands. Dr Mark Conner is Reader in Applied Social Psychology at the Institute of Psychological Sciences, University of Leeds, UK. Professor Peter M. Gollwitzer is Professor of Social Psychology and Motivation at the University of Konstanz, Germany and New York Uni- versity, Psychology Department, New York, USA. Dr Aleksandra Luszczynska is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Psy- chology, University of Sussex, UK. Dr Sarah Milne is Area Prison Psychologist, London Area Office, HM Prison Service, London. Dr Paul Norman is Reader in Health Psychology at the Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, UK. Professor Ralf Schwarzer is Professor of Psychology at the Institut fu¨r Psychologie, Freie Universita¨t Berlin, Germany. Professor Erwin R. Seydel is Professor of Organizational and Health Communication at the Department of Communication Studies, University of Twente, The Netherlands. Professor Paschal Sheeran is Professor of Psychology at the Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, UK. x Contributors
Dr Paul Sparks is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Psychology, Uni- versity of Sussex, UK. Professor Stephen Sutton is Professor of Psychology at the University of Cambridge, Institute of Public Health, UK. Dr Thomas L. Webb is a Lecturer in Social Psychology at the Department of Psychology, University of Manchester, UK.
PREFACE
The study of behaviours that influence health and the factors determining which individuals will and will not perform such behaviours has become a key area of research within health psychology. As the second edition of this book testifies, there is a considerable and impressive body of research in this area. The purpose of this book is to provide in a single source an overview of current research and practical details of how to apply the most widely used social cognition models to the prediction of the performance of health behaviours. Social cognition models start from the assumption that an individual’s behaviour is best understood in terms of his or her perceptions of the social environment. Such an approach has been widely and suc- cessfully used by psychologists to help understand a range of human behaviours, and by health psychologists to understand health behaviours in particular. The chapters in this book bring together detailed reviews and descrip- tions of the most common social cognition models and their application to the understanding of health behaviours. It is hoped that this will provide a useful resource to those interested in work in this area and make the described approaches to understanding health behaviours more accessible and more appropriately applied. Moreover, by bringing together these models, similarities and differences between approaches can be examined and the whole approach critically evaluated. Chapters provide the relevant theoretical background, practical examples of how to apply each social cognition model, and details of intervention studies conducted with the model. The chapters focus on a range of different health behaviours and describe the particular problems of using particular social cognition models. The introductory chapter was prepared by the editors, and examines the concept of health behaviour and briefly reviews epidemiological work on xii Preface the variation in who performs the different health behaviours. It then outlines the general social cognitive approach taken to understanding and predicting health behaviour. The key features of the social cognition models described in the subsequent chapters are then outlined. Similarities, dif- ferences and the potential for integration among these models are then discussed. Finally, the potential for using social cognition models to change health behaviours are outlined. Following the introductory chapter are six individual chapters describing the most widely applied social cognition models. Each chapter has been produced by prominent researchers in the area and generally follows a common structure. The first section of each ‘model’ chapter outlines the background to and origins of the model. This is followed by a description of the model, including full details of each of its components, in the second section. The third section contains a summary of research using the model and the findings with a range of health behaviours. The fourth section examines recent developments and expansions to the model. Sections 5 and 6 are intended to provide a clear demonstration of how the model might be applied to a particular health behaviour. First, a detailed consideration of the procedures for developing appropriate measures for each component of the model is presented; and then an application of the model to a specific health behaviour is described and specific problems highlighted. Section 7 reviews intervention studies that have been conducted using the model to change health behaviours. The final section reviews potential future direc- tions for research with the model. Chapter 2, by Abraham and Sheeran, looks at the most widely used social cognition model in the health domain, the health belief model. Chapter 3, by Norman, Boer and Seydel, reviews protection motivation theory. Both these models were specifically developed in the health domain. Chapter 4, by Luszcynska and Schwarzer, examines social cognitive theory, while Chapter 5, by Conner and Sparks, reviews a model developed in the social psychology domain, the theory of planned behaviour. The next two chap- ters have been added to the second edition. These new chapters focus on two more recent approaches and employ a slightly different structure. Chapter 6, by Sutton, reviews a group of models known as stage models. These describe the process by which behaviour change occurs and have been widely applied in relation to health behaviours in recent years. Chapter 7, by Sheeran, Milne, Webb and Gollwitzer, examines work on implementation intentions and its application to health behaviours. In following a common structure, the chapters provide a clear intro- duction to the background, operationalization, current findings and developments within each model. Each chapter provides a general review of the research, an overview of applying that model to a variety of health behaviours, a description of intervention studies using the model, and dis- cusses the particular problems with applying that model. Each chapter also provides an extended example of the application of the model to a health behaviour and discusses the particular problems with such an application. In the final chapter of the book, the editors review a number of unresolved Preface xiii issues in this area, discuss some future directions for research, and evaluate intervention research based on the social cognition approach. The book is not intended to be a ‘cookbook’ of how to apply social cognition models to predicting health behaviours. Rather, the intention is to introduce readers to the general social cognitive approach to the under- standing of such behaviours, to describe the most commonly used social cognition models, their differences and similarities, advantages and dis- advantages, to enable researchers to apply each model appropriately to their own area of interest, and adequately to analyse and report the results. Useful directions for future research within this paradigm are described both in the model chapters and final chapter of the book. The common format of the ‘model’ chapters is intended to help readers access specific aspects of each approach and to aid comparison between approaches. Such comparisons are also drawn out in the first and final chapters of the book. The ‘common’ coverage should allow readers more easily to use the book as a ‘user manual’. It also makes clear distinct fea- tures of each model and how each might be applied to specific health behaviours. The book should allow readers to see the advantages and dis- advantages of each model and allow them to apply each model appro- priately to the health behaviour of interest. We would like to thank the authors of the chapters for all their hard work in producing such clear descriptions of these models and extensive reviews of the relevant literature. We would also like to thank Open Uni- versity Press for its help and encouragement during the preparation of the second edition of this book.
Mark Conner and Paul Norman
ABBREVIATIONS
A attitude towards behaviour AIDS acquired immune deficiency syndrome BB behavioural beliefs BI behavioural intention BSE breast self-examination CB control beliefs CHD coronary heart disease ELM elaboration likelihood model HAPA health action process approach HBM health belief model HIV human immunodeficiency virus HLC health locus of control HSM heuristic-systematic model IAT implicit association test IUD intra-uterine device LCR ligase chain reaction MAP model of action phases MDA model of dual attitudes MHLC multidimensional health locus of control NB normal beliefs PAP precaution adoption process PBC perceived behavioural control PMAC proxy measure of actual control PMT protection motivation theory PWM prototype/willingness model RCT randomized controlled trial RPM relapse prevention model SCM social cognition model Abbreviations xv
SCT social cognitive theory SDT self-determination theory SES socioeconomic status SET self-efficacy theory SEU subjective expected utility SN subjective norm SRHI self-report habit index SRT self-regulation theory STD sexually transmitted disease TIB theory of interpersonal behaviour TPB theory of planned behaviour TRA theory of reasoned action TSE testicular self-examination TTM transtheoretical model