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Gateway Behaviors for Enhanced Health |
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| Posted by: | Joel Bennett |
| Title/Position: | President |
| School/Organization: | OWLS |
| Sent to listserv of: | SPSP, SESP, SPSSI |
| Date posted: | November 26th, 2012 |
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Dear All:
One of my colleagues in workplace health promotion recently made an inquiry (see below****). I have some recollection of research that is relevant, but can't identify it.
Can anyone point me to research paradigms that look at the gateway/barrier hypotheses wherein one set of behaviors (in a sequence) is a prerequisiste for another set of behaviors or outcomes as they pertain to increased health and well-being? I know this is general, so any focused experimental studies would be helpful.
I am especially interested in anything in experimental social psychology. If anyone know please email me at owls@organizationalwellness.com.
*****
As long as I’ve been in the health promotion field, practitioners have talked about “gateway” behaviors advantageous to focus people on because they are a gateway to other changes – exercise is the most commonly cited as a behavior that leads people to reduced stress, healthy eating changes, and other positive changes in addition to direct exercise effects like increased fitness and weight loss. Similarly, practitioners often reference “barrier” risks that, unless addressed, reduce the likelihood of making other changes – stress is commonly cited, often related to being a barrier to weight loss or smoking cessation but also as a barrier to other changes. While both of these hypotheses are intuitively appealing and consistent with data I’ve encountered and our experience working with participants, I have not seen any RCTs or even strong quasi-experimental studies designed to directly test either the gateway or the barrier hypothesis. Are any of you aware of such research? I’m confident that, if none of you are aware of such research, it probably doesn’t exist. Thanks in advance for anything you can point me to.
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