RESUMEN
In two samples of Flemish secondary school students, co-occurrence of different types of substance use was observed: smoking was associated with marijuana use in Sample 1 (n = 597) and alcohol consumption in Sample 2 (n = 403). It was investigated whether social-cognitive determinants of these behaviours were also associated. Low to medium correlations were observed. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a model with general social-cognitive factors (across different substances) did not have adequate fit. Substance use was mainly associated with variables referring to the specific substance under consideration, with the exception of self-efficacy in buying and smoking cigarettes; this factor was linked not only to smoking but also to alcohol and marijuana use. Adolescents who regularly used two substances generally held positions on social-cognitive scales that were more unfavourable than those who only used one substance. In order to change determinants of use, substance-specific cognitions and skills may be important targets.
Asunto(s)
Consumo de Bebidas Alcohólicas/psicología , Fumar/psicología , Estudiantes/psicología , Trastornos Relacionados con Sustancias/psicología , Adolescente , Adulto , Consumo de Bebidas Alcohólicas/epidemiología , Actitud , Bélgica/epidemiología , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Autoeficacia , Fumar/epidemiología , Medio Social , Trastornos Relacionados con Sustancias/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
In this study, it was tested whether attitudes, self-efficacy, social influences and the perception of the school and home environments had different associations with intentions for adolescent non-smokers, occasional smokers and daily smokers. A regression model allowing for separate slopes of social-cognitive and environment variables accounted for 72% of the variation in intentions. For non-smokers, ease of refusing to smoke (beta = -0.06) and social influences favouring smoking (beta = 0.05) were linked to intentions. Occasional and daily smokers' intentions were associated with health consequences (beta = -0.05 and beta = -0.06, respectively) and ease of smoking/buying cigarettes (beta = 0.05 and beta = 0.24, respectively). Social influences favouring smoking (beta = 0.10) were also associated with intentions in daily smokers. In an extended model for current smokers (adjusted R(2) = 0.45), context-cued nicotine cravings (beta = 0.27) were linked to daily smokers', but not occasional smokers' intentions. The results suggest that motivating adolescents to abstain from or to quit smoking implies working on different combinations of determinants in non-smokers, occasional smokers and daily smokers. Interventions for daily smokers should supplement motivational techniques with stratagems that allow smokers to reduce the number of cravings they experience in specific contexts.
Asunto(s)
Actitud , Autoeficacia , Fumar/psicología , Medio Social , Adolescente , Conducta del Adolescente , Adulto , Bélgica , Femenino , Política de Salud/legislación & jurisprudencia , Humanos , Masculino , Padres/psicología , Grupo Paritario , Prevalencia , Análisis de Regresión , Instituciones Académicas/legislación & jurisprudencia , Fumar/epidemiología , Apoyo SocialRESUMEN
STUDY OBJECTIVE: Asthma education programs improve asthma treatment results significantly. Low participation rate is a recurrent problem that impedes the efficiency of those programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate social cognitive determinants of the intention to participate in an asthma self-management program. DESIGN: Structured interview. SETTING: Outpatient clinic, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium. PATIENTS: One hundred seven asthmatic outpatients (mean age 42 years; 35% male). INTERVENTIONS: Patients received a standard explanation about the asthma program, were invited to participate, and were questioned about their beliefs about the program offered. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: A social cognitive framework (attitude, social influence, and self-efficacy model) was used to compose a structured interview that was administered to assess the patients' attitude toward the program (perceived benefits), their social influence, and self-efficacy expectations to participate (perceived barriers). Asthma-related health behavior and clinical and demographic characteristics were evaluated by means of questionnaires. Fifty-nine percent of the patients expressed the intention to participate. Logistic regression analysis resulted in a model explaining 72% of the variance of intentions (Nagelkerke R(2) = 0.72). Having few structural barriers to participate was a significant predictor of participation (odds ratio [OR], 12.5; 95% confidence interval, 5.2 to 19.3), next to believing in the personal benefits of the program (OR, 7.6; 95% confidence interval, 2.4 to 12.5), social influence (OR, 3.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.3 to 8.4), and education level (OR, 2.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.3 to 5.6). CONCLUSIONS: Recruitment of patients with asthma for an educational program should emphasize personal benefits of the program, should include patients' social network, and should consider the impact of structural barriers on participation behavior.
Asunto(s)
Asma/prevención & control , Participación de la Comunidad/psicología , Conductas Relacionadas con la Salud , Autocuidado/psicología , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Modelos Logísticos , Masculino , Modelos Teóricos , Análisis de Componente Principal , Calidad de VidaRESUMEN
This study aimed to characterize individual bodily symptoms as regards their differential relationship with negative affectivity (NA). In a first step, 73 symptoms were rated by independent groups of raters (psychologists, medical doctors, healthy students) on the following characteristics: the extent to which a symptom (1) refers to a specific location in the body (vagueness), (2) may refer to both a physical condition and a negative emotional state (overlap), and (3) is likely to be a physiological manifestation of anxiety (anxiety). Each symptom was also rated on (4) the probability that it is caused by a clearly defined somatic pathology (somatic pathology), (5) how life-threatening or (6) compromising for the quality of life a symptom is, and (7) how worried one would be if the symptom were to be experienced in daily life (worrying). Two factors, severity and somatic versus psychic, explained 75% of the variance in the ratings on the symptom characteristics. Next, based on the data of 1017 university students (858 women), correlations of each individual symptom with NA were calculated for each gender. The pattern of correlation was highly variable and differed in important ways for men and women. Whereas the correlation of an individual symptom with NA could be predicted by both symptom factors in women (R(2)=52%), only the somatic versus psychic factor was a significant predictor in men (R(2)=11%). These results suggest that (1) NA should not be considered a general complaining factor, and (2) important gender differences exist regarding the type of symptoms that relate most strongly to NA.