The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence women's decisions to use hormone replacement therapy (HRT) during menopause. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior and constructs of risk perception, this study was able to explore the beliefs and attitudes of women about HRT use during menopause. The study was also able to explore how risk perception of HRT and the conditions that affect women during midlife impact their decision to use HRT during that time. Focus groups were conducted to develop the questionnaire used in the larger study. A community-based sample of women from Houston area churches participated in the study. The major theme that emerged from the focus groups was the weighing of cancer risks and the protection benefits of HRT. The most interesting factor that emerged as a barrier to HRT use was "negative publicity" and myths toward taking HRT. Results from the larger study demonstrated that the construct of attitude was the predominate predictor of intention when direct measures were used in a model to predict intention. Meaning that women's attitudes towards HRT use during menopause (whether they are safe, wise to use, good or bad, beneficial, risky, pleasant, or valuable) played a significant role in their intention. In contrast when the belief-based measures were used in the model, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control were significant predictors of intention. Meaning that the intention to use HRT was based more on the influence of their husbands, physicians, and families. This also meant that the dosage form, cost, negative publicity, family history of cancer, personal fear of developing cancer, and education about HRT would affect their intention to use HRT during menopause more than the advantages and disadvantages of using HRT (advantages such as protection from osteoporosis, relief from hot flashes; or, disadvantages such as risk of breast cancer). Finally, women's perception of risk with regards to HRT was highest for breast cancer followed by heart disease, endometrial cancer, and osteoporosis. This study found that there are many factors that may affect the decision to use HRT during menopause and that overall these factors affect women’s attitudes towards HRT and their intention to use it. / text

The illicit use of prescription stimulants among college undergraduates is a prevalent and dangerous problem on college campuses across the United States. Though classified by the U. S. Drug Enforcement Agency as schedule II controlled substances (U.S. Department of Justice, 2008), undergraduates obtain these medications through peers and friends, and report misusing of these stimulants to aid their concentration and studying (DeSantis, Webb, & Noar, 2008). Because extant research concludes that the prevalence of the misuse of prescription stimulants (MPS) peaks among undergraduates, this research was guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1991) as well as a memorable messages framework (Knapp, Stohl, & Reardon, 1981), and sought to examine the messages that college students recall about MPS, how those messages are associated with student’s intention to use stimulants directly, as well as indirectly through changes in attitudes, normative beliefs, and efficacy, and finally, to examine if receiving a memorable message predicts changes in intention to use, or actual use of stimulants over time. Data for the main study were collected in October 2014, and 137 undergraduate students reported a memorable message about MPS and were retained for analysis. Four weeks later, a follow-up survey was launched, and 89 undergraduates also completed the second survey. Results suggest that undergraduates do recall memorable messages about MPS, and the content focuses on the themes of academics, health outcomes, and responsible use. Additionally, memorable messages tended to be more negative than positive, and came from a variety of sources including close friends and peers, family members, instructors, and medical professionals, to name a few. Further, participants’ attitudes and normative beliefs were positively associated with behavioral intention at Time 1. Additionally, behavioral intention at Time 1 was positively associated with behavioral use at Time 2. The findings from this research provide several practical implications for future health education and promotion campaigns.

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Problematization: Tourism has a major impact on the environment. However, there is a conflict of interest making it difficult for the hotel business to decrease this impact. On the one hand, there is a pressure for environmentally friendly behaviour from society. On the other hand, the customers want to be pampered during their hotel stay. This makes it necessary to further investigate what influences customers’ intention to select a green hotel. Therefore this thesis examines students’ intention to select a green hotel. Since, it might make it easier for hotels to design and implement strategies to be greener, if they know what is important. Purpose: The aim with this thesis is to examine how the variables subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, perceived moral obligation and environmental awareness influence students’ intention to select green hotels. The main theory used is the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). However, to make the TPB model fit better to the context green hotels, the variables perceived moral obligation and environmental awareness were added. The reason for adding these variables was because they are closely entwined with each other and is argued in previous research argues they influence environmentally friendly behaviour. Methodology: This study used an online questionnaire and a small experiment in the questionnaire. The sample consisted of students from Kristianstad University. Conclusion: The result of this study shows that all the hypotheses were rejected and therefore the null hypotheses are retained.

Native Americans start fewer businesses than do other U.S. populations, and the receipts and employment of those businesses are 70% lower than the U.S. average. However, little knowledge exists concerning Native American (NA) business success. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the likelihood that attitudes toward entrepreneurship, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control predict business success amongst NA business owners. Understanding the factors that contribute to NA business success is imperative to developing best practices for business owners and business support agencies. The theory of planned behavior served as the theoretical framework for this study. Of the 550 invited NA business owners registered within a single tribe in the South Central United States, 79 participated in this study. A binary logistic regression analysis produced conflicting results: significant goodness-of-fit yet insignificant individual predictors. Information obtained from this study could assist NA and other underdeveloped business populations with understanding factors influencing entrepreneurial endeavors; however, readers must interpret findings with caution because of conflicting logistic regression results. NA business formation and success could enhance economic prosperity and decrease unemployment in NA communities.

The purpose of the present programme was to develop and validate a theoretically-grounded instrument to measure the planned and unplanned dimensions of lifestyle PA (PPA and UPA; Dunn, Andersen, & Jakicic, 1998). In Study 1, two samples of British adults (Internet: N = 742; paper: N = 563) were used to establish the content validity of the Brunel Lifestyle Physical Activity Questionnaire (BLPAQ). Exploratory factor analysis yielded a two-factor model (UPA and PPA) that produced acceptable fit indices using confirmatory factors analyses with both samples. The purpose of Study 2 was to examine the test-retest reliability of the BLPAQ over 5 weeks using a sample of leisure centre users, university staff members, and university students (N = 337). High correlations were observed between the two administrations (range = .93-.98; p < .01). Thereafter, the data were subjected to proportion of agreement (PoA) analysis as advocated by Nevill, Lane, Kilgor, Bowes, and Whyte (2001). Both PPA and UPA demonstrated satisfactorily high internal agreement (PoA > 95%). In Study 3, the BLPAQ was cross-validated using two criterion measures: the Baecke Questionnaire of Habitual Physical Activity (Baecke, Burema, & Frijters, 1982) and the Godin’s Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire (Godin & Shephard, 1985). Multiple linear regressions were performed to predict PPA and UPA from the subscales of the two reference measures. The predictive models differed markedly in terms of gender. Subsequently, the sample of 338 British adults was divided into two subsamples, and these were subjected to a cross-validation using the Limits of Agreement (LoA) methodology advocated by Bland and Altman (1986). The agreement plots revealed that both BLPAQ subscales demonstrated acceptable inter-sample agreement when compared to the criterion measures. In Study 4, a series of structural equation models were tested with the aim of predicting PPA and UPA using the variables that constitute the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The TPB was able to predict PPA but not UPA. The addition of a direct path between past behaviour to UPA did not result in a significant prediction. Further work is required to examine the factorial structure of the PPA subscale and to increase the number of items in the UPA subscale. In sum, the programme has contributed a valid and reliable theory-based measure of PA as well as evidence to support the utility of the TPB in PA research. However, the TPB framework may require the addition of predictors such as past behaviour and actual behavioural control.

The theory of planned behaviour proposes that behaviour is predicted by behavioural intention which is, in turn, predicted by attitudes toward the behaviour, subjective norms regarding the behaviour and perceived control over the behaviour. Implied within this theory is that each of the three base components (attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control) influences intentions. However, despite being one of the most widely used theories in social psychology, few studies have investigated this basic premise. In addition, research on cognitive dissonance, public commitment, confirmation bias, implemental mindset, and the false consensus effect suggest that there may be a reverse-causal influence of intentions back on the base components of the theory. This potential reverse-causal sequence was tested in three studies. The first was correlational, the second was a lab-based experiment, and the third was a quasi-experimental field study. Study 1 employed a cross-lagged correlation design and showed that a reciprocal relation between intentions and base components was plausible. For the behaviour of supporting an environmental organization, Study 1 showed that attitudes were likely to influence intention-setting and that intention-setting subsequently influenced subjective norms. Study 2 employed a modified version of a free choice paradigm in which participants chose to set an intention to support one of two environmental organizations (using different support behaviours). Consequently participants rated the base components for the chosen organization higher and the rejected organization lower. However, this effect was primarily observed if participants were not initially committed to supporting an organization before the study began. Study 3 was a field study in which chemistry lab users who were exposed to an intervention that targeted behavioural intentions subsequently perceived more positive subjective norms (one aspect of subjective norms was changed). Together, the three studies demonstrate that a reverse-causal relation between intentions and base components is plausible and, thus, the theory of planned behaviour should be modified to include a reciprocal relation between these constructs. Intentions are most likely to influence base components that are least relevant to actual behaviour. When attitudes, subjective norms or perceived behavioural control are associated with actual behaviour, the one that is most strongly associated is least likely to change in response to setting an intention to engage in that behaviour. Other, less relevant, base components are more likely to change. / Graduate / 0451 / 0621 / 0768

This dissertation examines the creation and development of the United States government's Title X family planning program from 1965 to 1988. It argues that Title X became controversial when its supporters shifted their focus from promoting family self-sufficiency to celebrating individual reproductive freedom. The new individualist arguments profoundly threatened many Americans who wanted government policy to support the patriarchal nuclear family. Support for federally-subsidized family planning programs in the 1960s rested on an ideology of nuclear family economic independence. Advocates reasoned that birth control services would enable poor Americans, especially African-Americans, to have children only within stable, self-sufficient marriages. Using these arguments, family planning advocates developed nearly-unanimous support for family planning programs among federal policymakers. In the early 1970s, though, family planning supporters embraced feminist and anti-racist critiques of their earlier ideas, leading them to promote subsidized family planning as a route to individual women’s reproductive freedom. In turn, the dissertation examines the growth of the New Right in reaction to the new liberal focus on individual freedom. While some dissenters had opposed family planning programs in the 1960s, this opposition mushroomed in the 1970s as opponents identified Title X as a threat to the family. Family planning opponents focused on two aspects of subsidized birth control programs that endangered the patriarchal nuclear family: abortion and teenagers’ access to contraception. Both of these issues jeopardized the husband’s and father’s authority over his dependents. In addition, opponents claimed that federal government spending on Title X overused their tax dollars, compromising their own ability to be self-sufficient and, thus, the survival of their own independent nuclear families. As a result, they mobilized in opposition to Title X in the 1970s and 1980s. The dissertation uses a wide variety of archival materials, government documents, and published sources to document the trajectory of debates over federally-funded family planning programs / History

The purpose of this study was to use the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to predict university students’ intention to use emergency contraception (EC). The study explored the utility of the TPB model constructs (attitude [A], subjective norm [SN], perceived behavioral control [PBC]) as well as recent past behavior (RPB) to predict students’ intention to utilize EC. The study also investigated the significance of demographic and personal characteristics—age and gender in particular—as they relate to the TPB components and RPB. A web-based survey, developed from three structured focus groups, was pretested and emailed to 2,000 university students. An overall usable response rate of 21.0 percent was obtained. In general, university students intended to use EC should the need occur, held favorable attitudes toward the use of EC, were somewhat influenced by social norms regarding EC use, and perceived themselves to have some control over EC utilization. For direct measures (TPB), A, SN, and PBC were significant predictors of intention to use EC. The direct model explained 49.2 percent of the variance in intention. Using indirect measures, A and SN were significant predictors of intention, but PBC was not; the indirect model accounted for 41.3 percent of the variance in intention to take EC. Attitude was the strongest TPB predictor for both models, followed by SN and PBC. The RPB variable did not significantly improve the TPB model. While hypothesized age differences were not significant, gender differences showed female students having a more favorable A and SN as well as a stronger PBC (direct measures) toward the use of EC. In addition, several statistically significant relationships occurred between demographic/personal characteristics and the TPB constructs. In summary, this study identified several key factors that partially explain why university students either intend or do not intend to use EC if needed. The TPB has utility in predicting utilization of EC in university students. Focusing particular attention on A, as well as SN and PBC, will allow researchers, educators, healthcare professionals, and legislators to develop strategies and educational programs to enable men and women to use EC responsibly. / text

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone / This Capstone looks into the aspects of planned communities that are successful in reducing the need for automobile usage among residents. / The goal of this study is to assess automobile use in sustainably developed communities and note the ways in which these communities successfully reduce the need for personal automobiles. In response to research about the environmental and health effects of urban sprawl, developers have pushed for sustainably developed communities. These master plan communities follow particular guidelines and set goals to alleviate their effect on the environment and help reduce the negative effects of sprawling development. Because auto-dependency is a sign of sprawl, it is important that these communities develop in such a way that reduce citizens’ reliance on personal automobiles. This study will examine three separate master planned communities in the Tucson region and assess how each one addresses the issue of automobile usage, examining common factors between the different communities and what factors make these communities successful. This study found that several factors are important in reducing automobile use. These examples of successful development will potentially help future communities be successful in reducing automobile usage.