blog




  • Essay / Application of social cognitive theory as an intervention for alcohol abuse

    Table of contentsElements of social cognitive theoryThe nature and causes of alcohol abuseReview of the literature on interventions based on cognitive theory socialConclusionSocial Cognitive Theory or SCT is an interpersonal theory that was developed by Albert Bandura. The theory explains that there is a dynamic interaction between individuals' personal factors, their behaviors and their environment. This interaction is called reciprocal determinism. Personal factors, behavior and environment continually interact, influencing and being influenced by each other. For example, you can change what is happening in your personal life by changing your attitude toward the situation or removing yourself from that environment. The theory takes into account an individual's past experiences, which determine whether changes in behavior will occur. One's past experiences will influence one's expectations, reinforcements, and self-efficacy, all of which determine whether and why a person will engage in health behavior change or not. The theoretical constructs that make up social cognitive theory are observational learning, reinforcement, and self-efficacy. Social cognitive theory is presented in this essay to explain the process of adolescent alcohol abuse. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayElements of Social Cognitive Theory Observational learning or modeling is defined as “learning by observing others and copying their behaviors.” Observational learning can explain individual behavior and why they do what they do. As children, we observe our parents and imitate what they do because we want to be like them. Observational learning is most effective if an individual connects with the person modeling the behavior. The observational learning method has four stages: attention, retention, reproduction and motivation. First, you need to pay attention to the new behavior being modeled. After the first step, you should be able to remember how to perform the new behavior, called retention. Then you must be able to perform the behavior and engage in that behavior, this is called reproduction. And finally, an individual must be motivated to continue this new behavior. According to Jhangiani, the individual's motivation to adopt the new behavior depended on what happened to the individual who modeled the behavior for them. If the individual was rewarded, you would be more motivated to engage in that behavior. This is called indirect reinforcement. But if the individual modeling the new behavior is punished, you will be less likely to engage in the new behavior, which is called punishment by proxy. According to Sharma, reinforcement is a system of rewards. There are rewards for positive reinforcement and punishments for negative reinforcement in response to a new behavior. Positive reinforcement might be buying new clothes because you've lost a lot of weight and want something to show off your new body, but not all positive reinforcement is good. A “bad” positive reinforcement is bullying. According to Sharma, children bully because they expect them to be praised by their parents or to achieve higher social status among children their age. THENegative reinforcement is a case in which the goal is to stop bad behavior rather than encourage it to continue. An example used by Sharma is when a child refuses to eat his vegetables, he is refused dessert. Negative reinforcement, or punishment, consists of the child now having to watch everyone else enjoy the dessert. According to Piquero, when a behavior is positively reinforced and is frequently rewarded, the more valuable that behavior is to the individual. Therefore, positively reinforced behaviors will most likely be behaviors that the individual will continue to choose to act on frequently. Self-efficacy is characterized as “confidence or belief in one's ability to perform a given behavior.” Self-efficacy is task-specific, meaning it can increase or decrease depending on the specific task at hand, even in related domains.” Simply put, an individual will only do what they believe they can do and will avoid doing what they believe is not within their own capabilities. When an intervention applying social cognitive theory is organized, the goal is to build an individual's self-confidence through observational learning, verbal persuasion, and mastery experiences. The nature and causes of alcohol abuse Three out of five of their female peers had their first drink in high school. We've all been there; you are sixteen years old and you are at your first party. Everyone seems to be having a good time. The music is loud, your best friends are dancing, and the guy you like just bought you a beer. You take a sip, “disgusting,” “How can anyone drink this stuff?” you think to yourself. However, you swallow it, so he thinks you're cool. When asked, “What made you try alcohol?” » Eighty percent of women said they tried alcohol simply because their friends drank it too. Although only forty percent of female peers report feeling pressured by their peers to drink. Before you know it, you're on your third cup, you have no idea where your friends have disappeared to, and now you're stumbling down the hallway of a house you've never been in before this party. Is this how you imagined your evening? What some may see as a night of innocent, harmless fun, others see as excessive drinking. When you look up the definition of alcohol abuse, it states that alcoholism is the habitual abuse of alcohol. However, how can you “abuse” alcohol? Everyone drinks, and we all drink to have a good time, right? So, what is the exact way we should consume alcohol correctly? Some may say that by drinking under the legal age you are drinking irresponsibly; therefore, you abuse alcohol. Others think that as long as you're in a safe place and with adults, there's nothing wrong with a beer or two. After asking the question, none of the female peers ever felt like they abused alcohol as teenagers. “Have you ever had a friend or sibling who you thought abused alcohol from a young age? » Three of the five female classmates felt like they had shared an experience with someone who had abused alcohol. Alcohol abuse has become a growing problem worldwide, but it is a growing problem among adolescent girls. For many reasons, teens turn to alcohol, including an uncertain future, the stress of daily life, and serious mental health conditions like depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. All these situationsadolescent girls experience, they feel like they have reasons to want to escape reality and abuse alcohol on a daily basis. Alcohol use alters the minds of young adolescents who abuse the substance and can lead to mental risks such as depression, eating disorders, and poor decision-making. Alcohol causes teenage girls to think and act irrationally, leading them to commit more crimes than those who don't. consume the substance. Crimes associated with alcohol use include burglary, breaking and entering, rape, assault, drug sales/distribution, blackmail, and homicide. Students who abuse drugs are also more likely to break more laws, such as drunk driving, public drunkenness, and disturbing the peace. Alcohol use usually begins among adolescents, around the same time that mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety begin to occur naturally among them. the teenager. Adolescence is defined as the age between 13 and 19 years and is the period when children become adults. This is the time when peer pressure is more than likely to occur in an individual's life, and according to a recent study, almost 24 million teenagers in the United States abuse alcohol. Adolescent girls who abuse alcoholDaily alcoholic drinks pose "a high risk of academic failure, delinquency, teenage pregnancy and depression." Alcohol abuse, at any age, but especially among young adolescents, can also lead to death, as impairment is associated with many intentional and accidental deaths. among 15-24 year olds. Death from alcohol abuse can result in drug overdose, drunk driving and accidents, murder and suicide. Alcohol abuse can cause slurred speech, visual impairment, and memory loss, followed by dehydration or alcohol poisoning that can lead to fainting. When asked if anyone had ever experienced a blackout or loss of control over their drinking, none of the female peers had ever experienced either. You start drinking for fun now that you're young, but then it becomes a daily occurrence. As if it were a drug, which we need every day. Which causes your body to slowly deteriorate. Your liver, pancreas, and heart are all affected by your decision to drink. If only you had gotten help before what you thought was a problem actually was. In an article titled “Warning All Girls,” alcohol abuse leads to uncontrollable behavior, including teenage girls fighting with family members, friends and girls at school. The article goes on to argue that alcohol hits teenage girls twice as hard as boys of the same age. “One drink has the same effect as two drinks for boys.” Women are more likely to become addicted and be hospitalized for addiction. We heard about a girl named Rebecca who started when she was 10 years old. When she started drinking, it was one drink a week and by the time she was a sophomore in high school, Rebecca was drinking alcoholic beverages every day. Rebecca developed stomach problems that led to her being hospitalized, and her social and academic life suffered from her lack of care. “Have you ever been caught?” Perhaps by your parents, an older brother or the police? Surprisingly, only one in five of their peers had ever been caughtdrinking before reaching the legal age. You suddenly hear sirens coming from down the street. Everyone starts scrambling for fear of getting caught. With the chaos surrounding you, you finally start to sober up, but now you have a flashlight shined in your face by one of the local police officers. What you consider a night of fun, the police consider excessive drinking because you are underage. You are now sitting in the back of a police car waiting to be taken home. What will your parents think? So the party was canceled and now you're going home. You can only imagine what your parents will say. You arrive home, as you walk in, your parents are sitting at the dining room table waiting for you. Your father's face is red as lava, while your mother sits with a smirk. You just know that your father is about to teach you “the lesson”. And there it is, the moment of truth. Alcohol abuse can cause slurred speech, vision problems, and memory loss, followed by dehydration or alcohol poisoning that can lead to fainting. When asked if anyone had ever experienced a blackout or loss of control over their drinking, none of the female peers had ever experienced either. You start drinking for fun now that you're young, but then it becomes a daily occurrence. As if it were a drug, which we need every day. Which causes your body to slowly deteriorate. Your liver, pancreas, and heart are all affected by your decision to drink. If only you had gotten help before, what you thought wasn't a problem actually is. So now your parents won't let you go out late or hang out with your friends for fear that you'll drink again. Your parents get you into your local peer counseling program in the hopes that you'll never drink another sip. None of the female peers had ever participated in a peer counseling program. Despite the sources provided, some adolescent girls still abuse alcohol at a young age. We've all heard of Dr. Phil, a talk show host who helps individuals and families across the country with problems they may be facing. Maybe you've watched a show or two and seen a family struggling with their teenage daughter's behavior. Between the attitudes, the parties, the absence from school and the drug use, parents describe their child as “out of control”. In some cases, the intervention of someone outside the family to give advice has really worked. While others might have needed a different alternative. But what about the teenage girls who fall through the cracks? Despite all the help their parents tried to give them, they still drank before reaching the legal age. Fifteen years later, they are now identified as alcoholics. Could anything have been done? Three of the five female peers agreed that, despite obstacles, one cannot fight fate; while the other two felt like something could have been done anyway. “Are you still drinking now, if/since you became legal?” All the female comrades answered yes. “Do you feel like you're abusing alcohol if/since you became legal?” » Two of the five female classmates openly stated that they sometimes "go wild" or, in other words, drink unmanageably. But only if they are occupied by friends. The other three girls said they.