Application of One of Four Individual Theories to Health Behavior - Term Paper Example

This paper uses the theory of planned behavior to critically analyze the prevalence of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety among young adults and middle-aged ups. The rationale for Condition, Behavior, and Priority Group

             My selection for the condition, mental health behavior, and priority group is particularly based on the fact that mental disorders such as depression, stress, and anxiety are currently the most common cause of mental health problems among young adults and middle-aged individuals and are leading. For example, depression, the problem of anxiety is common among young adults, with nearly 10% of young adults currently suffering from depression and anxiety disorder related problems This is attributed to the fact that many young adults and people in their middle ages often undergo several stressful situations related to their career, work, family, religion and economic status (Middle life crisis). Some of the potential specific reasons may include:

• The chosen group often experiences mental disorders such as depression and anxiety as this is the age people begin to experience changes associated with aging in life and may long to get back the youthfulness they had during adolescence.
• Young adults and middle-aged individuals often undergo career or work-related stresses such as remorse for unaccomplished goals and fear of being humiliated among their successful friends.
• Feelings of anger due to their lack of satisfaction with their economic/ social status or marital life

Challenges of raising children rationale all for Selected Theory

             The Theory of Planned Behavior is one of the four individual theories of health behavior that can effectively be used to explain the high prevalence of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety among young adults and middle-aged individuals. According to the theory, an individual’s control over behavior is determined by several constructs namely:

• Attitudes
• behavioral intention,
• Subjective norms,
• perceived power,
• social norms
• Perceived behavioral control.

Thought experiment applying the theory

• In the eased and anxious youths, the attitude towards a given behavior is of greater significance in comparison with the subjective norm. However, perceived behavior control has a minor influence.
• Oftentimes, an individual’s willingness to seek psychiatric help for a mental disorder like anxiety and depression can, to a great extent, be explained using a series of beliefs and attitudes as Icek Ajzen conceptualizes in the TPB (Buckworth & Buckworth, 2013).
• An attempt to change attitudes in a general population is likely to impact help-seeking for youths who experience depression and anxiety.

Summary of literature on determinants of behavior in Priority Group

             Many previous studies have attributed the high cases of depression and anxiety mental disorders among youth adults and middle-aged persons to the occurrence of middle age crisis among this priority group. For example, according to APA (2000), many young adults and people in their middle ages often undergo several stressful situations related to their career, work, family, religion, and economic status. On the other hand, the possible reason behind depression among middle-aged women could be changed, pre-menopause, menopause, postpartum period, tension and stress about family, spouse, children, and elder parents, death of elder parents among others.

Implications for Interventions

• Although, many individuals who suffer from mental disorders such as anxiety and depression never seek the recommended help the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) can effectively be incorporated in the interventions targeting young adults and middle-aged individuals with mental disorders such as depression and anxiety in order to help establish attitudes that increase or suppress the desire of the patients to seek help for given disorders.
• TCP can help confirm the purpose of self-efficacy as one of the behavioral determinants. Self-efficacy is the subjective assessment of control regarding a particular behavior. Youths often attempt to develop self-efficacy in any activity that they consider rendering them self worth. As such, an attempt to develop self-efficacy within the behavioral domains deemed important could heal mental disorders like anxiety and depression.

Table Title: Determinants of Depression and Anxiety Mental Disorders Among Young Adults and Middle-aged Persons

Author & Date

Behavioral Determinants Articulated as Constructs of Theory of XXX

Behavioral Determinants

As Phrased in Study

Behavior and Priority Group in Study

1

Related

Not related

2

3

4

5