An extensive literature review of the evaluation of HIV prevention programmes.
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This paper draws out and distils three key themes that have emerged from a substantial bibliographical review of a range of HIV intervention programmes, implemented throughout the world between years 1987 and 1995. Specifically, the paper assesses (1) to what extent intervention programmes have been tailored to meet the requirements and needs of specific target groups; (2) to what extent intervention programmes are supported by social and psychological theory of attitudinal and behavioural change, and also to what extent the results and findings from the interventions have amended existing theory; and, finally, (3) the range of methodologies employed in evaluating intervention programmes and also to what extent behavioural measures have been used in examining a programme's effectiveness. In light of these themes, the paper presents and discusses the principal factors thought to contribute towards the effectiveness of HIV intervention programmes. (+info)
Physical exercise habit: on the conceptualization and formation of habitual health behaviours.
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An observation one can make when reviewing the literature on physical activity is that health-enhancing exercise habits tend to wear off as soon as individuals enter adolescence. Therefore, exercise habits should be promoted and preserved early in life. This article focuses on the formation of physical exercise habits. First, the literature on motivational determinants of habitual exercise and related behaviours is discussed, and the concept of habit is further explored. Based on this literature, a theoretical model of exercise habit formation is proposed. More specifically, expanding on the idea that habits are the result of automated cognitive processes, it is argued that physical exercise habits are capable of being automatically activated by the situational features that normally precede these behaviours. These habits may enhance health as a result of consistent performance over a long period of time. Subsequently, obstacles to the formation of exercise habits are discussed and interventions that may anticipate these obstacles are presented. Finally, implications for theory and practice are briefly discussed. (+info)
Unemployment and foster home placements: estimating the net effect of provocation and inhibition.
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OBJECTIVES: This study sought, first, to explain and reconcile the provocation and inhibition theories of the effect of rising unemployment on the incidence of antisocial behavior. Second, it tested the hypothesis, implied by the provocation and inhibition theories, that the relationship between unemployment and foster home placements forms an inverted "U." METHODS: The hypothesis was tested with data from California for 137 months beginning in February 1984. RESULTS: Findings showed that the hypothesis was supported. CONCLUSIONS: Rising joblessness increases the incidence of foster home placements among families that lose jobs or income. Levels of joblessness that threaten workers who remain employed, however, inhibit antisocial behavior and reduce the incidence of foster home placements. This means that accounting for the social costs of unemployment is more complicated than assumed under the provocation theory. (+info)
A method in search of a theory: peer education and health promotion.
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Peer education has grown in popularity and practice in recent years in the field of health promotion. However, advocates of peer education rarely make reference to theories in their rationale for particular projects. In this paper the authors review a selection of commonly cited theories, and examine to what extent they have value and relevance to peer education in health promotion. Beginning from an identification of 10 claims made for peer education, each theory is examined in terms of the scope of the theory and evidence to support it in practice. The authors conclude that, whilst most theories have something to offer towards an explanation of why peer education might be effective, most theories are limited in scope and there is little empirical evidence in health promotion practice to support them. Peer education would seem to be a method in search of a theory rather than the application of theory to practice. (+info)
Emotional control theory and the concept of defense: A teaching document.
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Defensiveness in intrapsychic and interpersonal activities is a generally accepted concept among psychodynamic theorists, but a theoretically grounded classification of emotional control processes is needed. As a result of intensive case-by-case clinical and empirical studies, such a system was assembled. The system is organized by three major categories of processes that can regulate emotions. These are sets of mental operations that control 1) content of thought and communications, 2) form of thought and communications, and 3) person schemas that organize beliefs and interpersonal expressions. Each category of defensive control processes is linked to observable outcomes at intrapsychic and interpersonal levels. This classification system can be used to formulate how patterns of avoidance and distortion are formed.(The Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research 1999; 8:213-224) (+info)
Theory and technique in psychodynamic treatment of panic disorder.
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The authors elaborate psychodynamic factors that are relevant to the treatment of panic disorder. They outline psychoanalytic concepts that were employed to develop a psychodynamic approach to panic disorder, including the idea of unconscious mental life and the existence of defense mechanisms, compromise formations, the pleasure principle, and the transference. The authors then describe a panic-focused psychodynamic treatment based on a psychodynamic formulation of panic. Clinical techniques used in this approach, such as working with transference and working through, are described. Finally, a case vignette is employed to illustrate the relevance of these factors to panic disorder and the use of this treatment.(The Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research 1999; 8:234-242) (+info)
Theories for practitioners: two frameworks for studying consumer health information-seeking behavior.
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Consumer health information studies in library and information science (LIS) are typically not grounded within a theoretical framework. This article explains the importance of theory to LIS research in general, and the specific value of using theories from other disciplines to study consumers' health information-seeking behavior. The argument is supported with two examples: Miller's psychological theory of blunting and monitoring behavior and Granovetter's sociological theory of the strength of weak ties. These theories can be applied by practitioner-researchers to investigate a variety of research problems. (+info)
Support for a theory of memory for event duration must distinguish between test-trial ambiguity and actual memory loss.
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Staddon and Higa's (1999) trace-strength theory of timing and memory for event duration can account for pigeons' bias to "choose short" when retention intervals are introduced and to "choose long" when, following training with a fixed retention interval, retention intervals are shortened. However, it does not account for the failure of pigeons to choose short when the intertrial interval is distinct from the retention interval. That finding suggests that stimulus generalization (or ambiguity) between the intertrial interval and the retention interval may result in an effect that has been attributed to memory loss. Such artifacts must be eliminated before a theory of memory for event duration can be adequately tested. (+info)