Context/Background
External influences can affect individual's behaviours, for example role models encouraging certain types of behaviours
Operant conditioning= learning by consequences, if the consequence of an action is rewarded, it is more likely to be repeated = law of effect
This study shows that health enhancing behaviours such as kids using their inhalers, can be developed through positive reinforcement
Positive reinforcement = rewarding a behaviour
Negative reinforcement = having an unpleasant result to a behaviour
Poor adherence of inhaled medication is a major problem, so Chaney decided to test if rewards could increase health behaviours in children
Aim
To test if positive reinforcement with the funhaler improved compliance in children with asthma, compared to using a normal inhaler
Method
Field experiment, in own home settings, in Australia with repeated measures
Iv= the funaler or inhaler
Dv= compliance levels, measured through self report from parents
Procedure
32 kids, aged 5-6 years, the kid's parents were phoned a week before the study and then visited, they gave informed consent and filled out a questionnaire on the child's current inhaler use as a baseline measurement
The study was over 2 weeks, and the funhaler was a self reinforcement object because it was fun for the children to use
Matched questionnaires were done by the parents after 2 weeks of using the funhaler, as well as a random check in the 2 weeks on the phone asking about use of the funhaler in the previous day
Findings
The funhaler resulted in improved parent AND child compliance
38% more parents had medicated children the previous day when phoned randomly
60% more kids took the recommended amount within the 2 weeks
With the normal spacer (inhaler), only 3/30 parents reported always using it, vs. 22/30 with the funhaler
Conclusions
Use of funhaler (self reinforcement) = improved clinical outcomes, e.g. lowering rates of asthma attacks
Self reinforcement can improve overall health of children
Evaluation
Research method- field experiment, so controlled = less extraneous variables, and self report from parents could've been biased due to social pressure to lie about their use of the funhaler
Data type- quantitative = number of kids and of people who gave their kids medication, there was a lack of qual. data so we are assuming that the funhaler results in better compliance when there could've been other factors involved
Ethics- ethically sound, they were informed, gave consent and were ensured privacy
Validity- high ecological validity, the kids already had inhaler experience so there could've been possible order effects
Sample- may be ethnocentric and not applicable outside of Australia