The Impact of Social Influences in the Context of Attitude,Self-Efficacy,Intention, and Previous Behavior as Predictors of Smoking Onset1

Three different constructs for measuring social influence were utilized in the present study to explain adolescents' present and future smoking behavior at 6 (T2), 12 (T3), and 18 months (T4) after the first test. Social influence was assessed by measuring the social norms, perceived smoking behavior, and direct pressure. The impact of the social influence constructs was also assessed in the context of broader models, including attitudes and self-efficacy expectations, intention, and previous behavior. The three social influence measures correlated significantly with intention and behavior. Stepwise regression analyses showed that perceived behavior and pressure made significant contributions, after entering social norms, in explaining actual and future adolescent smoking behavior. Adding attitudes and self-efficacy increased the predictive power of the model significantly. In agreement with the theory of Fishbein & Ajzen (1975), intention was the most powerful predictor in explaining present and future smoking behavior. Attitudes, self-efficacy, and the social influences also made small unique contributions improving the explanatory power by approximately 5%. Previous behavior, however, had a substantial unique contribution in predicting future behavior after attitudes, social influences, self-efficacy, and intention were entered in the equations. Since social influences may exert their impact via different routes, it is recommended that smoking prevention programs discuss not only overt pressures such as direct pressure from peers, parents, and media, but also address the more covert social pressures such as modeling and the adolescents' ability to cope with these covert influences. Furthermore, norms on nonsmoking should be made explicit.     

Preventing Adolescent Cigarette Smoking

Recent studies have supported the efficacy of approaches to smoking prevention that focus primary attention on social and psychological factors implicated in initiation of adolescent cigarette smoking. This article reports first year data from a large-scale smoking prevention study conducted within three geographic regions of New York State. The sample consists of 5,954 seventh graders from 56 middle/junior high schools. Schools were randomly assigned to (1) receive the Life Skills Training (LST) prevention program with a one-day teacher training workshop; (2) receive the LST prevention program with teacher training provided by video tape; or (3) serve as a comparison group. This study was designed to further test the efficacy of this type of smoking prevention program and to compare the relative effectiveness of two different types of provider training in an effort to learn more about the potential effectiveness of this prevention strategy when implemented under "real world" conditions. Pretest and posttest data were collected by questionnaire concerning self-reported tobacco use and several hypothesized mediating variables. Results indicate that the prevention program significantly impacted on several hypothesized mediating variables in a direction consistent with non-smoking. Within one region, the students in both experimental conditions reported significantly less current cigarette smoking and reported themselves less likely to smoke in the future than the students in the control condition.     

Golden parachutes: Changing the experience of unemployment for managers

We examined the effect of career transition support and three other situational variables — financial reserves, social inclusion, and a partner — on the psychological strain of unemployed managers. We extended the theories of unemployment by investigating the mechanisms by which these four situational variables affect psychological strain. After using qualitative research to explore managers' experiences during unemployment, we used the themes that emerged from this first study to conduct a survey on the unemployment experiences of 281 managers. Each of the situational variables protected unemployed managers from psychological strain through a different pathway. The pathways that emerged were agency, the emotions associated with loss, financial strain, and a positive emotional response. The research provides evidence of the utility of providing a ‘golden parachute’ and the additive effects of financial reserves and social inclusion. Evidence from the research also suggests that support programs for unemployed individuals should focus on enhancing agency and regulating emotions to assist with the transition into employment.     

Predicting Undergraduate Condom Use with the Fishbein and Ajzen and the Triandis Attitude-Behavior Models: Implications for Public Health Interventions1

The present study used two social-psychological theories of attitude-behavior relationships to investigate condom use by college undergraduates. One purpose of the present research is to provide information for public health practitioners to better design theory-based interventions to reduce the incidence of STD's by increasing the use of condoms. Another purpose is to compare the relative usefulness of two attitude-behavior models in predicting condom use. The Fishbein and Ajzen theory of reasoned action (Ajzen, 1988; Fishbein & Ajzen. 1980) was compared with a version of Triandis' theory of attitude-behavior relations (Triandis, 1977). Of major interest was whether variables in this version of the Triandis model increased the explanatory power of the Fishbein and Ajzen model in the prediction of condom use intention and behavior. In addition, specific outcome beliefs and normative beliefs held by subjects were used to predict condom use. One hundred and ninety college undergraduates were given a questionnaire designed to measure the components of the two models. Three months after completing the questionnaire, subjects were contacted by phone to record the subject's frequency of condom use (if the subject reported having had intercourse) during the 3-month period between initial assessment and follow-up. In the prediction of intention to use a condom, results indicate that one variable from the Triandis model, personal normative beliefs, increases the explanatory power offered by the expectancy value and normative belief components of the Fishbein and Ajzen model. In the prediction of reported condom use during the 3-month follow-up period, two variables from the Triandis model—perceived susceptibility and AIDS fear—significantly increased the predictive power of the Fishbein and Ajzen model. Based on these results, the authors propose an alternative model to explain undergraduate condom use. The implications of these findings for public health interventions to encourage the use of condoms is discussed.     

On the relationship between mobbing factors,and job content,social work environment,and health outcomes

Abstract

This article analyses the relationship between mobbing, job characteristics, social environment variables, and psychological ill-health. The Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terrorization (LIFT) was factor analysed and led to seven factors in two samples of mobbing victims (N = 50 and N = 99): Mobbing by organizational measures, social isolation, attacking the victim's private life, attacking the victim's attitudes, physical violence, verbal aggression, and rumours. Mobbing was correlated with bad job content, a bad social environment, and psychological ill-health. The findings suggest that the more social support supervisors gave, the less the victims reported being shouted at, being constantly criticized, and receiving verbal threats. In contrast, the more social support the victims received from their colleagues the less they reported being socially isolated or being ridiculed with regard to their private life. Moreover, having private life attacked showed the strongest correlation with psychological ill-health. The data suggest that organizational factors are potential causes of mobbing at work.     

Seeking Social Support in Old Age as Reasoned Action: Structural and Volitional Determinants in a Middle-Aged Sample of Argentinean Women1

Given that the availability of social support influences physical and psychological well-being, the provision of positive contacts is often crucial for older women. The purpose of the present study was to test the utility of both structural and volitional factors as determinants of support-seeking intentions. Two intentions to seek social support were studied in a group of 106 middle-aged women: (a) the intention to go to a doctor at least once a year after 55; and (b) the intention to visit a family member at least once a week after 55. The structural variables of interest were age, educational level, presence of partner, number of children, and number of grandchildren. The volitional factors assessed were intentions, beliefs, attitudes, and norms. There was little evidence that structural factors influenced support seeking. In contrast, as predicted from the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980; Fishbein & Ajzen. 1975), intentions to go to the doctor and to visit a family member could be successfully predicted from attitudes and norms.     

Parental Smoking and the “Epidemic” Spread of Cigarette Smoking1

“Epidemic” models of transitions between stages of cigarette smoking describe the spread of smoking behavior through face-to-face encounters. An epidemic model was successfully fitted that allowed epidemic parameters to be conditioned on the smoking status of adolescents' parents. Model comparisons supported the conclusion that the transition from nonsmoker to trier involved social contacts, whereas the transition from trier to regular smoker was best modeled as a constant rate (i.e., did not depend on the population prevalence of smokers). The transition rate from nonsmoker to trier was more rapid in children of smoking parents than in children of nonsmoking parents. Adolescents with and without smoking parents did not differ in the rate of transition from trier to regular smoking.     

The Prediction of Household Recycling of Newspapers: The Role of Attitudes,Intentions, and Situational Factors1

The present study was designed to examine differences between respondents who recycled during a 2-week observation period and those who did not. Of interest was the ability of factors drawn from Ajzen and Madden's (1986) theory of planned behavior and situational factors such as perceptions of borough councils' recycling programs to predict who would recycle. It was found that, although attitudes and intentions to recycle household newspapers were significant predictors of recycling behavior, factors associated with the inconvenience of recycling and the programs provided by borough councils, as well as respondents' past recycling behavior, were also significant predictors.     

An "Epidemic" Model of Adolescent Cigarette Smoking

The prevalence of regular smoking increases rapidly during adolescence. We applied modeling methods from the study of epidemic infectious disease to smoking behavior. Our "epidemic" models dealt with the process of transition among four states: nonsmoker (susceptible), trier (exposed), regular smoker (infected), and ex-smoker (recovered). The best fitting model was one in which the transition from nonsmoker to trier was a social contagion process where nonsmokers contacted either triers or regular smokers. All other transitions were treated as constant rate processes in which a constant proportion of eligible individuals made the transition in a given year. The recursive equation model embodying these assumptions was able to predict accurately the proportion of adolescents in each state in Grades 6–11. Our results support a "stage" model of smoking, suggesting that different psychological and physiological processes are involved in the initiation of smoking than in developing a habit of regular smoking. A possible sex difference was found in the non-contact transition between trier and smoker states, with the transition being more probable in females than in males.     

L’enfance et l’adolescence in situ : facteurs environnementaux facilitateurs et inhibiteurs de troubles cognitifs et comportementaux

The definition of mental health associates three fundamental variables: biological variables, psychological variables and environmental variables. In this article, we will focus on environmental variables that inhibit and facilitate cognitive and behavioural disorders in childhood and adolescence. Environmental psychology considers the interrelations between human and environment in its spatial, social and chronological dimensions and considers it as a characterized and undissociated system. We will bring to mind social and physical environmental variables with which children and adolescents interact frequently and, through a literature review, we will enlighten environmental variables that are susceptible to induce behavioural disorders and psychological variables that modulate children's and adolescent's relations to environment. We then suggest possible outcomes of this approach in clinical practice as well as in terms of therapeutic applications in child psychology and psychiatry. Finally, we evoke the necessity of taking in account neurobiological fields in order to outline a model of human development integrating the three variables that define mental health.     

Contributions of Social Psychology to the Study of Appetltive Behaviors1

Social psychology has contributed substantially to the study and understanding of appetitive behaviors. This paper focuses on three major lines of social psychological research that have made particularly important contributions to appetitive behaviors: Hovland's work on attitudes and attitude changes, Bandura's social learning theory, and Schachter's studies of obesity and cigarette smoking. The relevant work of these three social psychologists and the research following from each line of inquiry are reviewed. Additional potential applications of these social psychological approaches to the study of appetitive behaviors are discussed.     

Longitudinal associations between people's cessation-related experiences and their satisfaction with cessation

We sought to determine whether different social, psychological, emotional, and physiological experiences associated with quitting smoking related to people's satisfaction with cessation systematically, and whether the strength of the relations changes at different points during the cessation process and for different people (e.g., optimists). Using data from smokers enrolled in a cessation program, we used mixed models to assess the average longitudinal relation between people's experiences and satisfaction measured at seven time points and whether the relations were moderated by key variables. Eight of nine experiences were related to people's satisfaction (ps < 0.05) and the models accounted for 39–44% of the within-person variance in satisfaction. Current smoking behavior was more strongly related to people's satisfaction during their early efforts to quit, whereas some experiences (e.g., feedback from others) had a stronger relation with satisfaction during people's later efforts to quit or maintain abstinence (ps < 0.05). Individual differences in optimism and prior cessation experience moderated some of the relations (ps < 0.05). The findings mark the first evidence of factors that might influence how people determine their satisfaction with smoking cessation. The implications for tailoring interventions and potentially increasing the likelihood that people maintain abstinence are discussed.     

Adolescent health behavior and conventionality-unconventionality: an extension of problem-behavior theory

Examined the relation of psychosocial and behavioral conventionality-unconventionality to health-related behavior in cross-sectional data from 1,588 male and female 7th to 12th graders. Conventionality-unconventionality was represented by personality, perceived social environment, and behavior variables selected from the social-psychological framework of problem-behavior theory (R. Jessor & S. L. Jessor, 1977). Greater psychosocial conventionality correlates with more regular involvement in health-related behavior (regular physical activity, adequate sleep, safety belt use, attention to healthy diet). Greater behavioral conventionality (less involvement in problem behaviors such as marijuana use, problem drinking, delinquent-type behavior, and greater involvement in conventional behaviors such as church attendance) was also associated with greater involvement in health-maintaining behavior. The overall findings provide support for the extension of problem-behavior theory to the domain of adolescent health behavior and for the relevance of the dimension of conventionality-unconventionality.     

Attachment Style,Perceived Loneliness,and Psychological Well-Being in Smoking and Non-Smoking University Students

The growing rate of smoking cigarettes among the youths necessitates examining its contributing factors. Accordingly, we aimed to compare smoking and nonsmoking university students in their attachment styles, perceived loneliness, and psychological well-being. To this end, we recruited 100 current smokers and 100 nonsmoking students by using a convenience sampling method from Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. All participants completed the Adult Attachment Scale, Loneliness Scale, and General Health Questionnaire. Data analysis indicated that compared to nonsmokers, smokers had a more anxious attachment style and they felt lonelier. Moreover, current results showed that smokers suffered from higher rates of psychological problems than nonsmokers. These results suggest that smoking is influenced by a set of psychological factors and therefore, prevention and treatment programs targeting these factors may be effective in reducing the rate of smoking cigarettes among university students.     

Insights from a deradicalization program in Indonesian prisons: The potential benefits of psychological intervention prior to ideological discussion

Discussions that are based on religious understanding and aimed at reducing terrorists' hostility have been used as a central part of terrorist deradicalization programs in many countries where acts of Islamic terrorism are prevalent. Currently, various psychological approaches such as presenting social support and providing counseling sessions are being applied alongside religious discussions. Observers of these programs have reported benefits and positive responses to the psychological approaches, but there is still a lack of empirical evidence confirming this. In the current study, we examine the effects of two psychological interventions—emotional expression training and cognitive flexibility training—in predicting detainees’ acceptance of the idea of democratic life. We investigated the observational records taken during the psychological interventions and religious discussions. Results showed no main effect of emotional expression and cognitive flexibility in predicting one’s acceptance of democratic civil life, but there was a significant interaction between the two predictors. Among those who scored high in cognitive flexibility, detainees who scored also high in emotional expression were significantly more agreeable towards the state’s sovereignty over belief in an Islamic caliphate during religious discussions. Our findings suggest that psychological interventions do indeed offer benefits for detainees’ deradicalization programs.     

Concurrent associations between anxiety sensitivity and perceived health and health disability among young adult daily smokers

The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the incremental validity of anxiety sensitivity (fear of arousal-related physical and psychological sensations) relative to health factors (smoking variables, alcohol use and exercise level), in predicting perceived health and disability among a sample of 225 young adult daily smokers (102 females; M(age) = 23.9 years, SD = 8.8). Consistent with prediction, anxiety sensitivity, relative to smoking-relevant variables, alcohol consumption (a single frequency by quantity composite) and exercise activity, predicted lower perceived general health and impairments in mental health and social functioning; no incremental effects were evident for anxiety sensitivity for predicting impairments in physical functioning, role functioning, or increased healthcare usage. These findings are discussed with respect to better understanding cognitive factors that affect perceptions of health status and functioning among daily smokers.     

Five‐Year Prospective Study of Risk Factors for Daily Smoking in Adolescence Among Early Nonsmokers and Experimenters1

Grade 7 nonsmokers and experimenters (N= 4,165) were compared on a wide range of risk factors for future smoking derived from four prominent theories and whether these factors predicted daily smoking at Grade 12. Early experimenters scored consistently higher than did early nonsmokers on risk factors for future smoking. Common predictors of Grade 12 daily smoking for both groups included early exposure to an important adult who smokes, being young for one's cohort, and weak academic bonds. For Grade 7 non‐smokers, unique predictors of daily smoking included exposure to pro‐smoking social influences (cigarette offers, sibling who smokes), early binge drinking, and being female. Unique predictors for early experimenters were less sharply delineated, although certain family factors appeared to be more important for this group. African Americans and His‐panics were also less likely to progress from experimental to daily smoking. Results point to the importance of adapting prevention efforts to the special needs of early nonsmokers and experimenters.     

Transition to manhood: effects of the Great Depression on male youth

This paper has been an exploration into the social and psychological problems associated with male youth growing up in the 1930s. By first defining and understanding the major transitions to adulthood--exiting from school, leaving the house of origin, entering the labor force, getting married, and establishing a separate household--it was then possible to explore how these transitions were affected by social, economic, and political factors in the Depression. It was also possible to examine how these factors affected the search for identify and role development in male youth. The historical study of adolescence in America has concentrated primarily on demographic data and observable behavior. Likewise, psychological studies on adolescence have concentrated on the recent past, and have tended to look at the individual rather than the relationship between the individual and/or cohort, and the social values and mores as well as economic and political conditions of the period under study. Youth culture, which can be defined as a socially recognized and institutionalized adolescence, has undergone dramatic change since the late 19th century. The transition to adulthood has not been a smooth evolution, as this paper suggests. Rather, the transition has been affected by societal conditions. Future historical research of American youth should look more closely at the differences between the sexes, as well as the influence of socioeconomic status, ethnic background, environment, and so forth. For example, a possible study might look at social and psychological problems of male youth coming of age during World War II--or Korea or Vietnam--and how the transition to adulthood was affected during these times. Other questions that lend themselves to adolescent research include the following: How have youth been affected by the economic climate (i.e., prolonged during affluent times, shortened during hard times)? What has been the historical trend in the transition to adulthood, and what have been the corresponding social and psychological adjustments? How has the youth culture influenced the adolescent experience in American society? Finally, an area that invites further research--especially with the growing interest in women's studies and the new concern with the male role in society--is the different role expectations of male and female youth, and how these expectations relate to the transition process.     

Why does ADHD Confer Risk for Cigarette Smoking? A Review of Psychosocial Mechanisms

Research has documented that adolescents and young adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk for cigarette smoking, but less attention has examined why this risk exists. The current paper reviews the literature on different psychosocial mechanisms [self-medication hypothesis, social factors (social modeling, social impairments), cognitive factors (attitudes, coping skills), and psychological variables (ADHD symptom dimensions, comorbidity)] that might explain this increased smoking risk. Results of the review suggest that, while the self-medication hypothesis has some theoretical merit, it has not been adequately examined among adolescents and young adults with ADHD. Further, cognitive and social factors may be important mechanisms that help to explain the association between ADHD and cigarette smoking, but research in these areas is sparse. Finally, a larger body of literature suggests that different psychological aspects of ADHD (e.g., comorbidity, symptom dimensions) are related to smoking. Interpretation of findings of many of these studies was hindered due to significant methodological problems and the lack of a guiding theoretical orientation. Potential theories that might facilitate future work in this area are discussed. Future research should continue to explore these important psychosocial mechanisms as well as gene–environment interactions in examining the link between ADHD and cigarette smoking.     

城镇化进程中农民工子女心理发展研究

农村留守儿童和城乡流动儿童的心理适应不仅关系着其自身的健康发展与素质提升,对整个社会的和谐与稳定也具有重要意义。自2004年以来,我们对农村留守儿童和城乡流动儿童心理发展的基本状况、发展环境、影响因素及其内部机制等问题进行了长期研究,本文将对我们多年来在该领域取得的研究成果进行梳理,主要阐述三个方面的问题:留守与流动,哪种处境对儿童的发展更有利;流动环境对儿童心理发展带来的压力与挑战,即流动儿童的城市适应状况及其影响机制;留守环境下儿童的心理适应状况,以及改善留守儿童情绪和行为适应问题的影响机制。最后,结合当前研究现状,提出了下一步研究的建议。