Part 8- Additional Psychological Theories
Additional Psychological Theory and Health Behavior
Additional widely utilized theories in psychology are also utilized with health behaviors.
Health Locus of Control (HLC) –
According to the American Psychological Association, Locus of Control is used to categorize people’s basic motivational orientations and perceptions of how much control they have over the conditions of their lives. People with an external locus of control tend to behave in response to external circumstances and to perceive their life outcomes as arising from factors out of their control. People with an internal locus of control tend to behave in response to internal states and intentions and to perceive their life outcomes as arising from the exercise of their own agency and abilities. [introduced into psychology by Julian Rotter] Self-efficacy and health value are important additional concepts to locus of control.
Theory of Planned Behavior
The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is a psychological theory that links beliefs to behavior. The theory maintains that three core components, namely, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, influence an individual’s behavioral intentions.
Self-Determination Theory is utilized as one of the main theories by the national approving body for health and wellness coaching certification, in addition to its focus on the Transtheoretical Model. Self-determination theory posits several universal needs for psychological health and well-being: autonomy (not feeling persuaded or controlled), competence (seeking confidence and mastery), and relatedness (being connected to others). https://www.nbme.org/sites/default/files/2022-05/NBHWC_Content_Outline.pdf
Theoretical Framework for Understanding Violence
The Violence Prevention Alliance of the World Health Organization perspective revolves around three theoretical models: the typology of violence, the public health approach, and the ecological framework. These models guide understanding, research and action for violence prevention. The typology is a tool to help organize thinking about the types of violence and the ways in which violence occurs. The public health approach offers practitioners, policy-makers and researchers a step-wise guide that can be applied to planning programs, policies, and investigation. Finally, the ecological framework bridges these two models, giving a structure to understanding the contexts within which violence occurs and the interactions between risk factors in each of these contexts and between them. The ecological framework shows where and how to apply the public health approach and is useful for categorizing planned or existing interventions to help understand the mechanisms by which they might be working.
The ecological framework is based on evidence that no single factor can explain why some people or groups are at higher risk of interpersonal violence, while others are more protected from it. This framework views interpersonal violence as the outcome of interaction among many factors at four levels—the individual, the relationship, the community, and the societal.
1. At the individual level, personal history and biological factors influence how individuals behave and increase their likelihood of becoming a victim or a perpetrator of violence. Among these factors are being a victim of child maltreatment, psychological or personality disorders, alcohol and/or substance abuse and a history of behaving aggressively or having experienced abuse.
2. Personal relationships such as family, friends, intimate partners and peers may influence the risks of becoming a victim or perpetrator of violence. For example, having violent friends may influence whether a young person engages in or becomes a victim of violence.
3. Community contexts in which social relationships occur, such as schools, neighbourhoods and workplaces, also influence violence. Risk factors here may include the level of unemployment, population density, mobility and the existence of a local drug or gun trade.
4. Societal factors influence whether violence is encouraged or inhibited. These include economic and social policies that maintain socioeconomic inequalities between people, the availability of weapons, and social and cultural norms such as those around male dominance over women, parental dominance over children and cultural norms that endorse violence as an acceptable method to resolve conflicts.
The ecological framework treats the interaction between factors at the different levels with equal importance to the influence of factors within a single level. For example, longitudinal studies suggest that complications associated with pregnancy and delivery, perhaps because they lead to neurological damage and psychological or personality disorder, seem to predict violence in youth and young adulthood mainly when they occur in combination with other problems within the family, such as poor parenting practices. The ecological framework helps explain the result—violence later in life—as the interaction of an individual risk factor, the consequences of complications during birth, and a relationship risk factor, the experience of poor parenting. This framework is also useful to identify and cluster intervention strategies based on the ecological level in which they act. For example, home visitation interventions act in the relationship level to strengthen the bond between parent and child by supporting positive parenting practices.
[Author names]. [Article title]. Bull World Health Organ. [Year]; [Volume] ([Issue]). [doi number]. Licence: Creative Commons BY 3.0 IGO
https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/violence-prevention-alliance-section/violence-prevention-alliance-tors.pdf?sfvrsn=af31fd8a_3
Theoretical Framework for Understanding Child Maltreatment
Theories have been formulated to help understand and explain the phenomena of child maltreatment. It is unlikely one theory alone can explain why child maltreatment occurs. By using multiple theoretical frameworks, we are able to better understand child maltreatment and its consequences.
Such theories are applicable to many forms of child maltreatment. These theories include attachment theory, social learning theory/intergenerational transmission of violence, general strain theory, self-control theory, filicide typology, and three-factor theory.
Taylor Robinson, M.S. Mary Breaux, Ph.D A u g u s t 2 0 1 9 Crime Victims’ Institute College of Criminal Justice ● Sam Houston State University Theoretical Frameworks for Understanding Child Maltreatment
