Lecture notes - From theory to intervention (PATHS model)

From theory to intervention (lectures)
Lecture 1: Introduction

Aim of the course
 Designing an intervention in a structured way (PATHS approach)
 Analyzing the problem, connecting theory to practice

Complexity of behavior
 Health behavior determinants:
o Knowledge
 About health
 About what healthy behavior entails
 About consequences of behavior
o Skills
 Self-regulation
 Obtaining knowledge
 Impact on behavior
 Impact on environment
o Motivation
 Intrinsic motivation
 Incentives
o Environment
 Cues for behavior
 Social support
 Complexity
o Intention
 Intention-behavior gap
 Self-regulation
o Automatic behavior
 Habits
 Impulse
 Nudging
o Norms
 Injunctive (what should you be doing)
 Descriptive (what are other people doing)
 Interventions don’t always target the actual determinants
o For example:
 Providing information/education/knowledge
 Telling people what to do
 Trying to scare people into behaving a certain way

, Three main intentions that cause behavior




 Assumption: attitude  intention  behavior
 Meta-analysis: Successful interventions lead to medium/large effects on intention,
and small/medium effects on behavior (so we lose a lot of effectiveness along the
way)
o Moderators: control, habitual, impulse, social context
 Descriptive norms are strong predictors of behavior (seeing my fellow students is a
stronger force to come to the lecture than my teacher telling me to do so)

Broken window theory
 Keizer, Lindenberg & Steg, 2008
 Does a visible breaking of a rule/norm result in other norms shifting?
 Flyers on bikes without a trashcan nearby
o Condition 1: with visible graffiti on wall behind (breaking of a rule)
o Condition 2: without graffiti
o In condition 1 33% drop their flyer on the ground, in condition 2 69%
o So more littering when there was graffiti on the wall  social cues

PATHS
 Problem:
o Identifying and defining the problem
o Is this a concrete, applied problem for which psychological theory can offer a
solution?
o What is the problem?
o Why is it a problem?
o Who is the problem?
 Analysis
o Developing theory-based explanations
o Specifying an outcome variable
 Relevant