Suchergebnisse

Abstract. The main research areas of the Social and Health Psychology group at the Department of Psychology at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, are introduced. Exemplarily, three currently ongoing projects are described. The project "Dyadic exchange processes in couples facing dementia" examines social exchanges in couples with the husband suffering from dementia and is based on Equity Theory. This project applies a multi-method approach by combining self-report with observational data. The "Swiss Tobacco Monitoring System" (TMS) is a representative survey on smoking behaviour in Switzerland. Besides its survey character, the Swiss TMS also allows for testing psychological research questions on smoking with a representative sample. The project, "Theory-based planning interventions for changing nutrition behaviour in overweight individuals", elaborates on the concept of planning. More specifically, it is tested whether there is a critical amount of repetitions of a planning intervention (e.g., three or nine times) in order to ensure long-term effects.

Aim: The purpose of the study is to present adolescents' perceptions of smokers and non-smokers among 1015 Swiss adolescents. Method: The analyses are based on data from Tobacco Monitoring Switzerland, which is a survey of tobacco consumption in Switzerland. To measure the perceptions of smokers and non-smokers, respondents were asked to attribute a series of adjectives to each group. It was also recorded when respondents mentioned that "there is no difference between smokers and non-smokers." Results: Results show that regardless of whether the adolescents smoked or did not smoke – with the exception of more sociable – the image of smokers was more negative than the image of non-smokers. Findings also indicated that regular smokers in particular often stated that there are no differences between both groups. Conclusions: Overall, the image of smokers is more negative than the image of non-smokers, with the exception of the attribute more sociable. This perception of smokers could be important for prevention measures in new contexts (e. g., school transitions), where smoking could be a means of establishing new social ties.

Lehrbuch und Nachschlagewerk für die Ausbildung in Gesundheits- und Pflegeberufen zu den Bereichen medizinische Psychologie und medizinische Soziologie, Gesundheits-, Emotions-, Entwicklungs- und Sozialpsychologie. Autoren: Diplom-Soziologe und Diplom-Psychologin. Das Buch ist ein Standardwerk und behandelt Themen, die für das Erfassen und Verstehen der täglichen Berufspraxis im Krankenhaus von besonderer Bedeutung sind: z.B. Kommunikation, Interaktion, Einstellung, Lernen, Gruppe, Konflikte, Stress und Bewältigungsverfahren. Mit zahlreichen fiktiven Fallbeispielen zu typischen Problemen der Pflegepraxis aus dem Klinikalltag. Erscheint seit 1982. Gegenüber der 10. Auflage (ID-A 9/12) überarbeitet, aktualisiert und erweitert. Die 8 Teile des Buchs sind sehr übersichtlich und nach einem einheitlichen Schema gegliedert. Zu jedem Kapitel Fragen zur Wissensprüfung und Fragen zu persönlichen Einstellungen und Erfahrungen. Weitere Materialien zum Buch bei www.beltz.de frei zugänglich. Der Titel bringt in Saarbrücken bei der Pflegeliteratur gute Ausleihzahlen. (2S)

This study constitutes the first psychometric examination of the German-language version of the Compensatory Health Belief (CHB) scale to assess the belief that unhealthy behavior can be compensated for by engaging in healthy behavior. Data from four different Swiss samples of 1,571 adolescents/students (age range 15 – 55 years), collected between 2007 and 2009, were used. Confirmatory factor analysis did not support either the hypothesized 4-factor structure or a second-order factor structure with a latent overall variable for the German-language CHB scale. These results support the inconsistent patterns of CHBs found across European cultures. Thus, the development of behavior-specific scales might be of advantage. Further recommendations for an improvement of the measurement of compensatory health beliefs are discussed.

The dual-effects model of social control proposes that social control leads to increased psychological distress but also to better health practices. However, findings are inconsistent, and recent research suggests that the most effective control is unnoticed by the receiver (i. e., invisible). Yet, investigations of the influence of invisible control on daily negative affect and smoking have been limited. Using daily diaries, we investigated how invisible social control was associated with negative affect and smoking. Overall, 100 smokers (72.0 % men, age M = 40.48, SD = 9.82) and their nonsmoking partners completed electronic diaries from a self-set quit date for 22 consecutive days, reporting received and provided social control, negative affect, and daily smoking. We found in multilevel analyses of the within-person process that on days with higher-than-average invisible control, smokers reported more negative affect and fewer cigarettes smoked. Findings are in line with the assumptions of the dual-effects model of social control: Invisible social control increased daily negative affect and simultaneously reduced smoking at the within-person level.