abstinence violation effect | A feeling of loss of control that results when one has violated self-imposed rules, such as not to smoke or drink.
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assertiveness training | Techniques that train people how to be appropriately assertive in social situations; often included as part of health behavior modification programs, on the assumption that some poor health habits, such as excessive alcohol consumption or smoking, develop in part to control difficulties in being appropriately assertive.
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at risk | State of vulnerability to a particular health problem by virtue of heredity, health practices, or family environment.
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behavioral assignments | Home practice activities that clients perform on their own as part of an integrated therapeutic intervention for behavior modification.
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broad-spectrum cognitive-behavioral therapy | The use of a broad array of cognitive-behavioral intervention techniques to modify an individual’s health behavior.
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classical conditioning | The pairing of a stimulus with an unconditioned reflex, such that over time, the new stimulus acquires a conditioned response, evoking the same behavior; the process by which an automatic response is conditioned to a new stimulus.
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cognitive-behavior therapy | The use of principles from learning theory to modify the cognitions and behaviors associated with some behavior to be modified; cognitive-behavior approaches are used to modify poor health habits such as smoking, poor diet, and alcoholism.
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cognitive restructuring | A method of modifying internal monologues in stress-producing situations; clients are trained to monitor what they say to themselves in stress-provoking situations and then to modify their cognitions in adaptive ways.
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contingency contracting | A procedure in which an individual forms a contract with another person, such as a therapist, detailing what rewards or punishments are contingent on the performance or nonperformance of some target behavior.
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discriminative stimulus | An environmental stimulus that is capable of eliciting a particular behavior; for example, the sight of food may act as a discriminative stimulus for eating.
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fear appeals | Efforts to change attitudes by arousing fear to induce the motivation to change behavior; fear appeals are used to try to get people to change poor health habits.
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health behaviors | Behaviors undertaken by people to enhance or maintain their health, such as exercise or the consumption of a healthy diet.
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health belief model | A theory of health behaviors; the model predicts that whether a person practices a particular health habit can be understood by knowing the degree to which the person perceives a personal health threat and the perception that a particular health practice will be effective in reducing that threat.
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health habit | A health-related behavior that is firmly established and often performed automatically, such as buckling a seat belt or brushing one’s teeth.
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health locus of control | The perception that one’s health is under personal control, is controlled by powerful others such as physicians, or is determined by external factors including chance.
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health promotion | A general philosophy that maintains that health is a personal and collective achievement; the process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their health. Health promotion may occur through individual efforts, through interaction with the medical system, and through a concerted health policy effort.
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lifestyle rebalancing | Concerted lifestyle change in a healthy direction, usually including exercise, stress management, and a healthy diet; believed to contribute to relapse prevention after successful modification of a poor health habit, such as smoking or alcohol consumption.
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modeling | Learning gained from observing another person performing a target behavior.
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operant conditioning | The pairing of a voluntary, nonautomatic behavior to a new stimulus through reinforcement or punishment.
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primary prevention | Measures designed to combat risk factors for illness before an illness ever has a chance to develop.
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relapse prevention | A set of techniques designed to keep people from relapsing to prior poor health habits after initial successful behavior modification; includes training in coping skills for high-risk-for-relapse situations and lifestyle rebalancing.
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relaxation training | Procedures that help people relax, which include progressive muscle relaxation and deep breathing; may also include guided imagery and forms of meditation or hypnosis.
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self-control | A state in which an individual desiring to change behavior learns how to modify the antecedents and the consequences of that target behavior.
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self-efficacy | The perception that one is able to perform a particular action.
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self-observation and self-monitoring | Assessing the frequency, antecedents, and consequences of a target behavior to be modified.
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self-reinforcement | Systematically rewarding or punishing oneself to increase or decrease the occurrence of some target behavior.
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self-talk | Internal monologues; people tell themselves things that may undermine or help them implement appropriate health habits, such as "I can stop smoking" (positive self-talk), or "I’ll never be able to do this" (negative self-talk).
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social engineering | Social or lifestyle change through legislation; for example, water purification is done through social engineering rather than by individual efforts.
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socialization | The process by which people learn the norms, rules, and beliefs associated with their family and society; parents and social institutions are usually the major agents of socialization.
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social-skills training | Techniques that teach people how to relax and interact comfortably in social situations; often a part of health-behavior modification programs, on the assumption that maladaptive health behaviors, such as alcohol consumption or smoking, may develop in part to control social anxiety.
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stimulus-control interventions | Interventions designed to modify behavior that involve the removal of discriminative stimuli that evoke a behavior targeted for change and the substitution of new discriminative stimuli that will evoke a desired behavior.
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teachable moment | The idea that certain times are especially good for teaching particular health practices than others; pregnancy constitutes a teachable moment for getting women to stop smoking.
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theory of planned behavior | Derived from the theory of reasoned action, this theoretical viewpoint maintains that a person’s behavioral intentions and behaviors can be understood by knowing the person’s attitudes about the behavior, subjective norms regarding the behavior, and perceived behavioral control over that action.
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transtheoretical model of behavior change | An analysis of the health behavior change process that draws on the stages and processes people go through in order to bring about successful long-term behavior change. Stages include precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. Successful attitude or behavior change at each stage depends on the appropriateness of intervention. For example, attitude change materials help move people from precontemplation to contemplation, whereas relapse prevention techniques help move people from action to maintenance.
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window of vulnerability | The fact that, at certain times, people are more vulnerable to particular health problems. For example, early adolescence constitutes a window of vulnerability for beginning smoking, drug use, and alcohol abuse.
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