Applying Social Cognitive Theory to Environmental Health

Consider the following scenario: A mother is pressured by her children to start exercising every day because they had learned about the need for it in school. The mother usually tries to set an example for her children, but in this case her children are setting the example for her. This is an illustration of observational learning, where behaviors are acquired by seeing them in another person. Observational learning is one of the many useful concepts in the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) that apply directly to health behaviors.

For this Discussion, you apply the concepts of SCT to an environmental health behavior. You may choose one of these examples or your own topic: recycling; responsible energy use (e.g., compact fluorescent [CFL]/light-emitting diode [LED] lightbulbs, phantom loads); use of bottled water; use of alternative energy sources (e.g., wind, solar); consumption of locally grown food; reducing use of personal vehicles. Note also Table 5 in Theory at a Glance (NCI, 2005), which has some good examples of potential change strategies that could be applied to your topic.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post a description of a possible intervention to change an environment-related health behavior. Then, explain how you might apply SCT in the environmental health topic you selected. Finally, describe at least two intended results/outcomes of your intervention.

Be sure to support your postings and responses to your colleagues’ postings with specific references to the Learning Resources and the current literature.