Keith Phillips

The Psychology of health : an introduction

Part 1: Introduction. An Introduction to Health Psychology. Psychophysiology, Health and Illness. Stress and Coping. Part 2: Patient Behaviour and the Management of Illness. The Medical Consultation. The Experience of Treatment. Pain: Psychological Aspects. Part 3: Health Issues. Social Drugs: Effects upon Health. The Primary Prevention of AIDS. Decision Making for Contraception and Abortion. Essential Hypertension. Coronary Heart Disease. Diabetes. Nutrition, Exercise and Health. Cancer. Part 4: Wider Social Issues. Child Health, Illness and Family Influences. Social Circumstances, Inequalities and Health.

Premarital Contraceptive Use: A Review of the Psychological Literature

Abstract Abstract A review of psychological literature on predictors of premarital contraceptive use is presented. A number of methodological difficulties and problems with the wide variety of definitions and measurements of contraceptive use are noted. Nine theoretical accounts of contraceptive behaviour which differ in terms of their decision-making vs developmental emphasis are outlined and empirical support for these models is assessed. A synthesis of research findings is then presented. Five groups of variables are considered — background factors, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, interpersonal factors, personality influences and situational factors. Results show that extant theoretical models of contraceptive use receive some support although these accounts do not specify several variables which are reliably associated with contraceptive behaviour. The need for a more unified theoretical framework which will help to integrate empirical findings is highlighted.

Reducing sexual transmission of HIV for injecting drug users: The challenge for counselling

Abstract Harm minimization approaches have been recommended to reduce the risks of transmission of HIV for injecting drug users by the elimination of sharing injecting equipment. The risks associated with the sexual behaviours of these individuals have been given less emphasis, and where considered have been in terms of the threat to non-drug partners and potential penetration of HIV infection into the general population. Data are presented from four survey studies conducted between 1985 and 1990 focusing on both drug-taking behaviours and sexual activities. These provide evidence for larger shifts, over this period, in injecting practices than in sexual behaviours. The risks associated with sexual activities for injecting drug users and their sexual partners are considered. It is concluded that counsellors have an important role to play in introducing a second phase of harm minimization that involves interventions to modify sexual behaviours and offers integrated services for injecting drug users and the...

AIDS and intimate relationships: Adolescents’ knowledge and attitudes

The knowledge level about HIV/AIDS among American adolescents aged 16 to 19 has been assessed on several occasions, showing that in recent years their knowledge base has improved. The knowledge bases of British adolescents and of adolescents younger than 16 have been largely ignored. In attempting to assess the likely impact on present or future behaviors of increasing adolescents’ knowledge base about AIDS it is important to also know something of adolescents’ attitudes to intimate relationships and to sex within those relationships. Previous studies have not linked these two aspects. In this study two hundred London schoolchildren aged 14 and 15 years completed a questionnaire tapping both their knowledge about HIV infection and its transmission and their attitudes to intimate relationships. Their answers revealed that they had absorbed the simple media messages about AIDS, that it kills and that use of a condom during sex offers protection. However they were less well informed on detailed aspects of prevention, although, worryingly, they believed that they knew all that they needed to about preventive measures. The majority had attitudes to intimate relationships that were compatible with the message of restricting their number of sexual partners; however, a significant minority did not. The latter were more likely to deny the risk associated with promiscuity. It is suggested that school-based AIDS education programs should help individuals to develop new attitudes to intimate relationships that are compatible with risk avoidance.

Adolescents' perceptions of Aids

TWO hundred 14- and 15-year-old school children completed a questionnaire about Aids. Their answers revealed that the large majority have learnt that at present Aids is incurable, that condom use during intercourse offers some protection against HIV infection, and that limiting the number of sexual partners reduces the risk of infection. However, a significant minority had failed to absorb even these simple messages. Levels of knowledge about other preventive measures was slight. When asked what other forms of information they would like to have available, very few mentioned details of transmis sion of HIV or preventive messages, but instead requested details of symptoms, cures and further statistics. These youngsters saw themelves as more knowledgeable than they really were about preven tive measures. This belief will block the uptake of information from health education prgrammes. Such programmes need to be structured carefully to allow youngsters to perceive their relevance.