MPH Community Health & Health Promotion 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The Health Belief Model proposes that individual health behavior change is most influenced by which combination of constructs?
- Social norms and peer pressure
- Perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers (Correct answer)
- Stage of readiness to change and decisional balance
- Environmental cues and external reinforcement
Correct answer: Perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers
The Health Belief Model identifies four core perceptions — susceptibility, severity, benefits, and barriers — as the primary drivers of health behavior.
Question 2: According to the Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change), a person who is actively modifying their behavior but has done so for less than six months is in which stage?
- Contemplation
- Preparation
- Action (Correct answer)
- Maintenance
Correct answer: Action
The Action stage is defined by overt behavioral modification that has been maintained for less than six months.
Question 3: Social Cognitive Theory, developed by Albert Bandura, identifies which concepts as central to behavior change?
- Perceived barriers and cues to action
- Self-efficacy, observational learning, and reciprocal determinism (Correct answer)
- Stages of readiness and decisional balance
- Community norms and social capital
Correct answer: Self-efficacy, observational learning, and reciprocal determinism
Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory centers on self-efficacy (confidence in one's ability), observational learning, and reciprocal determinism (the interplay between person, behavior, and environment).
Question 4: The ecological model of health promotion holds that health behaviors are shaped by:
- Individual biology and genetics alone
- Multiple levels of influence including individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy (Correct answer)
- Socioeconomic status as the primary determinant
- Clinical and pharmacological factors exclusively
Correct answer: Multiple levels of influence including individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy
The ecological model recognizes that health behaviors are influenced by interactions across multiple nested levels, from intrapersonal characteristics to broad public policy.
Question 5: Which health promotion model explicitly incorporates 'decisional balance,' asking individuals to weigh the pros and cons of changing a behavior?
- Health Belief Model
- Social Cognitive Theory
- Transtheoretical Model (Correct answer)
- Theory of Planned Behavior
Correct answer: Transtheoretical Model
The Transtheoretical Model includes decisional balance as a key construct, reflecting the individual's weighing of benefits versus costs associated with changing a behavior.
Question 6: The Theory of Planned Behavior proposes that behavior is most directly predicted by:
- Perceived susceptibility and perceived severity
- Behavioral intention, which is shaped by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (Correct answer)
- Reinforcement and punishment contingencies
- Environmental cues and automatic triggers
Correct answer: Behavioral intention, which is shaped by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control
Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior holds that intention — determined by attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control — is the strongest proximal predictor of behavior.
Question 7: Motivational interviewing (MI) is best characterized as:
- A directive therapy that instructs patients step-by-step on healthy behaviors
- A collaborative, client-centered counseling style designed to explore ambivalence and strengthen motivation for change (Correct answer)
- A group-based educational intervention for chronic disease management
- A policy tool designed to incentivize behavior change through financial rewards
Correct answer: A collaborative, client-centered counseling style designed to explore ambivalence and strengthen motivation for change
Motivational interviewing is a collaborative communication approach that elicits the client's own reasons for change rather than imposing external directives.
MPH Community Health & Health Promotion 2
The Health Belief Model proposes that individual health behavior change is most influenced by which combination of constructs?