Health Psychology

Newsom, Jason T.; Knapp, Judith E.; Schulz, Richard

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.15.5.323pmid: N/A

The relation between perceptions of control and depressive symptoms was examined in a longitudinal study of patients with recurrent cancer. Five domains of control (self-blame, control over cancer onset, control over symptoms, control over the course of the illness, and overall control over life events) were found to be independent of one another. In cross-sectional analyses, depression symptomatology was negatively correlated with illness course control, symptom control, and overall control. Cross-lagged longitudinal analyses using structural equation modeling suggested only onset control and overall control were significantly associated with depressive symptomatology over the 8-month interval. Greater baseline onset control predicted greater follow-up depression, whereas higher baseline depression predicted lower follow-up overall control. The importance of developing and using domain-specific measures of control and investigating the association of control and adjustment in longitudinal analysis are discussed.

Ditto, Peter H.; Druley, Jennifer A.; Moore, Kathleen A.; Danks, Joseph H.; Smucker, William D.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.15.5.332pmid: 8891712

One hundred eight college students (Study 1) and 109 elderly adults (Study 2) rated 28 health impairments for the quality of life perceived to be possible in that state, the extent to which the state was perceived as a fate better or worse than death, and the extent to which the state was perceived to interfere with the ability to engage in the activities each individual valued most in life. States perceived most negatively were those perceived to interfere most with valued life activities. For any given health state, evaluations were more negative the more the state was perceived by individuals as likely to interfere with engagement in their valued life activities. Implications of these results for end-of-life medical decision making in general and the use of advance medical directives in particular are discussed.

Gerrard, Meg; Gibbons, Frederick X.; Benthin, Alida C.; Hessling, Robert M.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.15.5.344pmid: N/A

Adolescents' reckless driving, drinking, and smoking, along with their cognitions about these behaviors, were assessed in a 3-year longitudinal design. Consistent with most models of health behavior, the results indicated that health cognitions predict risk behavior. In addition, the current data demonstrate that increases in risk behavior are accompanied by increases in perceptions of vulnerability and prevalence and by decreases in the influence of concerns about health and safety. Furthermore, the changes in prevalence estimates and concern about health and safety predicted subsequent risk behavior. These results demonstrate reciprocity between risk behaviors and related cognitions and suggest that adolescents are aware of the risks associated with their behavior but modify their thinking about these risks in ways that facilitate continued participation in the behaviors.

Pierce, John P.; Choi, Won S.; Gilpin, Elizabeth A.; Farkas, Arthur J.; Merritt, Robert K.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.15.5.355pmid: N/A

Smoking onset has 4 levels, with a “susceptibility” level preceding early experimentation. This study assessed the predictive validity of smoking susceptibility in a longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of 4, 500 adolescents who at baseline reported never having puffed on a cigarette. At follow-up 4 years later, 40% of the sample had experimented with smoking, and 8% had established a smoking habit. Baseline susceptibility to smoking, defined as the absence of a firm decision not to smoke, was a stronger independent predictor of experimentation than the presence of smokers among either family or the best friend network. However, susceptibility to smoking was not as important as exposure to smokers in distinguishing adolescents who progressed to established smoking from those who remained experimenters at follow-up.

Catania, Joseph A.; Binson, Diane; Stone, Valerie

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.15.5.362pmid: N/A

Sexual mixing is important to understanding how sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) spread in the general population, and, identifying people who mix across social groups aids HIV–STD prevention. The authors examined (a) the extent to which people have sexual partners from other sexual networks (disassortative mixing) in a probability sample of unmarried heterosexual adults reporting multiple sexual partners (N= 545) and (b) the relationship between mixing and Herpes Simplex Virus-2 (HSV-2). After demographic variables and number of lifetime sexual partners were controlled for, heavy mixers were significantly more likely to be HSV-2 positive. Degree of mixing down produced the most powerful relationship to HSV-2. Age, education, ethnicity, and a history of incarceration or IV drug use were found to distinguish between light and heavy mixers, although differences between ethnic and age mixing were observed. The results have implications for understanding HIV–STD transmission and for directing interventions toward population segments at high risk for transmitting HIV–STDs.

Bryan, Angela D.; Aiken, Leona S.; West, Stephen G.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.15.5.371pmid: N/A

A multicomponent intervention to increase condom use in sexually active young women was designed, implemented, and evaluated in a randomized experiment. Participants were 198 unmarried female college students (mean age = 18.6 years) who received a 1-session condom promotion intervention or a control (stress management) intervention. The condom promotion intervention led to increased self-reported condom use up to 6 months following intervention as well as positive changes in perceived benefits of condom use, affective attitudes toward condom use and condom users, perceived acceptance of sexuality, control over the sexual encounter, perceived self-efficacy for condom use, and intentions to use condoms. Mediational analysis illustrated the mechanisms of the condom promotion intervention effects, linking psychological constructs affected by the intervention (perceived benefits, acceptance of sexuality, control over the sexual encounter, attitudes toward condoms, and self-efficacy for condom use) to condom use intentions.

Karoly, Paul; Ruehlman, Linda S.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.15.5.383pmid: N/A

A heterogeneous national sample of adults (mean age = 40 years) employed in management positions was contacted by random digit dialing procedures and interviewed about current pain experience, work-goal cognitions, and psychological status (depression and anxiety). In accord with predictions, persistent pain experience was differentially related to the construal of work-related goals. Specifically, individuals with both persistent and episodic pain (relative to those with no pain) reported lower levels of goal-centered value, self-efficacy, and positive arousal and heightened perceptions of goal-based self-criticism, negative arousal, and conflict between work and nonwork goals. Furthermore, regression analyses revealed that goal cognition accounted for unique variance in depression and anxiety over and above the contribution of pain chronicity.

Gauvin, Lise; Rejeski, W. Jack; Norris, James L.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.15.5.391pmid: N/A

This field study used experience sampling procedures to examine the relationship of feeling states and affect to acute bouts of physical activity in women. Participants (N= 86) completed brief affect and feeling state measures (a) in response to random stratified pager tones and (b) before and after acute bouts of vigorous physical activity for 6 weeks. Analysis of averaged difference scores revealed that acute vigorous physical activity was associated with significant improvements in affect and feeling states, particularly in feelings of revitalization. Moreover, within-subject analyses indicated that the effects were moderated by preactivity scores, with the greatest improvements seen when women felt worst before activity.

Millstein, Susan G.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.15.5.398pmid: N/A

The utility of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) for prospectively predicting physicians' delivery of preventive services was compared. Primary care physicians (N= 765) completed 2 mail surveys at periods 6 months apart. The addition of perceived behavioral control to the TRA model significantly increased the variance accounted for in behavioral intention 0and subsequent behavior (p< .001). TPB constructs were related to physicians' intentions to educate adolescents about sexually transmitted disease transmission (R= .52, p< .001) and to their subsequent delivery of this service (R= .63, p< .001). Perceived behavioral control had direct effects on behavior and interacted with social norms and behavioral intentions. Applications of models such as the TRA or TPB have focused primarily on predicting the behavioral intentions and behaviors of patients. Results suggest that these models have relevance for studying the behavior of health care providers as well.