Risky Behaviors: Smoking and Alcohol

Risky Behaviors

• Smoking: Men smoke more than women, with 70% of men smokers in 1945 declining to 12% in 2019.
• Reasons for smoking:
  • Sociocultural factors: Exposure to smoking in media normalizes the behavior, impacting likelihood; descriptive norms (what people do) versus injunctive norms (what people approve of).
  • Reinforcement: Smoking offers relaxation, but this effect is often not greater than a non-smoker, or neutral
  • Weight control: Quitting smoking can lower cravings and weight gain, although ongoing smoking and subsequent weight gain are still a significant concern.
  • Nicotine dependence: This is a factor in the ongoing use of smoking.
• Quitting smoking: Long-term success rates for quit strategies are only 15-20%
• Preventing smoking uptake: Interventions like self-efficacy and implementation intentions; this particular type of intervention had the best outcomes when used to prevent smoking initiation

Alcohol Consumption

• Prevalence: 62% of Australians drank alcohol in the past week; 80% in the past year.
• Risky drinking behavior: Often defined as 5 or more drinks in a row; the drinking pattern is often more damaging than a single occasion, ranging from 20-40% involvement.
• Effects of alcohol:
  • Initial: Positive, outgoing, reduced inhibition
  • Continued: Depressant, impaired coordination and judgment
  • Alcohol myopia: Narrowed attention to immediate stimuli, affecting judgment.
  • Long-term: Adverse effects on all organs, increasing mortality risk.
• Health benefits: Moderate use may potentially decrease Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
• Global impact: 2.5 million net deaths globally related to alcohol use, with an adjustment for some health benefits, 2.25 million.
• Costs: $36 billion annually in Australia due to alcohol-related issues; incidents like assaults, domestic violence, child abuse, and hospitalizations. Costs likely higher than the reported amounts.

Sexual Behavior

• Prevalence: Significant proportions of adolescents engage in sexual activity, with rates increasing through high school; year 10 students at 25% and year 12 at 50%.
• Condom use: Low rates of consistent condom use among high school seniors (40%).
• Alcohol/Substance use: High correlation of risky sexual behavior with alcohol or drug use and intoxication.
• Barriers to safe sex:
  • Unrealistically optimistic risk perception: Individuals under-estimate their risk for infections.
  • Decreased perceived risk of STIs: Particularly concerning and impacting HIV/AIDS risk reduction strategies
  • Beliefs that condoms reduce pleasure: Incorrect perceptions regarding condoms' effect on sexual experience.
  • Concerns about initiating discussions around safe sex practices

Sleep

• Definition of sleep: A reversible behavioral state characterized by perceptual disengagement and unresponsiveness to the environment.
• Stages of sleep:
  • NREM (non-rapid eye movement): Further divided into stages marked by distinct brainwave patterns and changes in physiological parameters
  • REM (rapid eye movement): Associated with dreaming, rapid eye movements, and distinctive brainwave patterns, important for memory consolidation and brain plasticity.
• Sleep duration by age: Varies across stages of life, from infancy to later adulthood.
• Functions of sleep:
  • Inactivity theory: Evolutionary protection for safety.
  • Energy conservation theory: Reduction of energy consumption. reduced metabolic rate
  • Brain plasticity theory: Facilitates adaptation to environments, crucial for learning, memory, and cognitive function. Improves the brain's ability to adapt to its environment.
  • Restoration theory: Restores bodily function, repairs tissue, and removes toxins.
• Consequences of sleep deprivation: Impaired cognitive functions, increased risk for physical illness and death, with direct correlation with sleep duration and life expectancy

Insomnia

• Definition (DSM-5): A dissatisfaction with sleep quantity or quality, associated with difficulty initiating, maintaining sleep, or early-morning awakening, present 3 nights a week for 3 months despite adequate opportunities to sleep and causing difficulties in daily functions.
• Prevalence: Affects approximately 20% of the population
• Causes of Insomnia:
• Hyperarousal: Emotional, cognitive, and physiological arousal, contributing to difficulty falling asleep.
• Sleep impairing cognitions: Thoughts about sleep loss, consequences, expectations, etc.
• Dysfunctional sleep habits: Irregular schedules and napping habits, can impact sleep regularity negatively.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I): This form of therapy is a useful treatment for insomnia

Explore the various sociocultural and psychological factors influencing smoking behaviors and the challenges of quitting. This quiz also touches on prevention strategies against smoking uptake and highlights the role of nicotine dependence. Delve into the statistics and insights surrounding these risky behaviors.