The research presented here utilized a unique method for empirically investigating the extent to which there are a set of shared beliefs among a general population which influence health related behavior judgments. The health behavior domains examined are the initiation and maintenance of cigarette smoking cessation, weight loss and regular physical exercise. A ten dimension theoretically based multidimensional psychological model was developed to provide the framework of beliefs about what intrapsychic (personal) and external societal (environmental) factors influence health behavior probability judgments. The model includes such personal factors as belief in susceptibility to illness, confidence in ability to change, and one's stated intention to change. External factors include accessibility to behavior change resources, degree of social support for change, and the pervasiveness of a given health practice within a person's social environment. A factorial survey design was used to study how these factors are associated with initiating and maintaining health behavior change. Different levels of information from each model dimensions were randomly included in vignettes and presented to a sample of 222 Town of Amherst, MA, employees who each rated 30 separate vignettes as to the likelihood that the vignette person would initiate and then maintain either smoking cessation, weight loss and regular exercise. Regression analyses performed on the 1,390 rated vignettes ascertained that a relatively strong degree of consensus exists (R$\sp2$ =.38) among subjects regarding the most important factors involved in health behavior change efforts. It was empirically shown that whether just starting out or continuing to practice positive health behaviors, one's stated intentions to change, one's expressed level of confidence in their ability to change (self-efficacy) and the ongoing support and encouragement of family, friends and coworkers for changing health habits, are the key indices for predicting and explaining health related behavior change. The implications of these findings of future health education practice and research are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-8006 |
| Date | 01 January 1991 |
| Creators | Davoli, Gerald William |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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