Health Beliefs

We employed multilevel structural equation modeling with data collected during telephone interviews with 1,156 parents of sixth graders from 36 rural schools to examine the relationships of family sociodemographic factors, parents' perceptions of their child's susceptibility to future substance use involvement, parents' perceptions of their ability to prevent such problems, and the perceived benefits of family-skills programs designed to prevent adolescent problems. Family-level findings suggested that parent gender and marital status were particularly salient; each exhibited direct effects on each of the three parent perceptions examined. Findings supported the hypotheses that parental efficacy perceptions inversely affect perceptions of child susceptibility and that perceptions of child susceptibility positively affect perceived program benefits. At the community level, lower household incomes were associated with higher levels of perceived child susceptibility to substance use.

Vaccinations and immunisations have become one of the cornerstones of health promotion and preventive health care globally and they are firmly embedded within the bio-medical model of medicine. That there have been objectors to mass vaccination programmes from the very beginnings of its history is often forgotten. Objectors are often characterised as dissenters, as irresponsible and implicated in the failure of public health policy to prevent epidemics by interfering with herd immunity protection of the population. This thesis aims to explore the reasons why some people actively choose not to vaccinate their children and to examine their health beliefs and practices. Existing work with non-vaccinating parents has been dominated by quantitative and epidemiological studies attempting to determine why parents do not vaccinate or mixed method studies which also focus on lay perspectives; they aim to identify issues in order to help programmes to increase vaccination uptake. There is a shortage of studies focusing on the health beliefs of parents who make active decisions not to vaccinate in the context of those beliefs and health related practices. This study focuses on a small group of parents who have consciously decided not to have their children vaccinated for the common childhood illnesses and extends to those parents where travel vaccinations were also refused. Fifteen adults were studied, one was not a parent; in depth open ended interviews were conducted. The research process highlights both the level of trust between researcher and respondent and the experience of feeling marginalised and misunderstood for their beliefs. Both influence the data generated. The findings indicate that parents’ experience with healthcare practitioners varied enormously; from support and encouragement for their stance on vaccination to accusations of being a ‘bad parent’. In this study the respondents chose not to partake of the vaccination regime for their children because they believed that the vaccinations were either an unnecessary intervention, or, might do more harm than good. Some parents would never have any vaccination for themselves or their children in any circumstances as they did not agree with the principle at the outset. Others did not rule out all vaccinations in all circumstances, but kept an open mind. How people came to their points of view, who and what influenced them in their health beliefs and decision making varied and was complicated. Influences included the media, books, individual alternative health-care practitioners, parents, friends, the world wide web or some kind of ‘gut feeling’ that the practice was ‘wrong’, or a combination of some or all of these. There was no evidence for anti-vaccination pressure from any one organisation or person. Lack of faith, trust or belief in science as a health promoting body of knowledge was a significant aspect for some of the parents. Mistrust in the ethics of the pharmaceutical companies and their relationships with both the government and general practitioners made some of the parents mistrust their advice. Those parents who had a scientific background disagreed with the science of vaccinations. The conclusion highlights the difficult position people who do not believe in vaccination find themselves in and the role of health beliefs that are embedded in different understandings of what constitutes health-illness and how health can be maintained.

Background: Gender differences in health behaviors have been reported in many studies but causal mechanisms have been neglected.Purpose and Methods: This study examines 4 food choice behaviors in a large sample of young adults from 23 countries and tests 2 possible explanatory mechanisms for the gender differences—women’s greater likelihood of dieting and women’s greater beliefs in the importance of healthy diets.Results: Women were more likely than men to report avoiding high-fat foods, eating fruit and fiber, and limiting salt (to a lesser extent) in almost all of the 23 countries. They were also more likely to be dieting and attached greater importance to healthy eating. Dieting status explained around 22% of the gender difference in fat choices, 23% of fiber choices, and 7% of fruit, but none of the gender difference in salt. Health beliefs explained around 40% of the differences in each of the dietary behaviors and together they explained almost 50%. Gender differences in food choices therefore appear to be partly attributable to women’s greater weight control involvement and partly to their stronger belifs in healthy eating.Conclusions: Further research is needed to understand the additional factors that could promote men’s participation in simple healthy eating practices.

Due to unprecedented threat to the economy and the quality of life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this study focused on cost-benefit analysis during the lockdown of COVID-19 and the health belief model of COVID-19 pandemic in Ogun State, Nigeria. A total of 2400 copies of the questionnaire were administered to solicit information from the respondents using systematic random sampling technique on the targeted population while 2363 copies were retrieved and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings of the study revealed that the lockdown had negative impacts on health, economic, and social impacts. Results showed that 50.7% of the respondents spent no time going to the market and/or work during COVID-19, and this made 81.9% of them unable to gain extra gain during the lockdown as they were completely restricted for activities. The lockdown had impacts on socioeconomic activities as the prices of consumable goods increased due to the low supply. 71.8% of the respondents indicated that the government did not provide palliative measures for the households. The results further showed that everyone could be infected with

To critically review and synthesize original research designed to examine the health beliefs, including risk perceptions and health behaviors related to diet and physical activity of women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus. PubMed and CINAHL databases were searched for studies published in the last decade (1998-2008) that examined variables related to the health beliefs and behaviors of women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus. Keyword searches included health beliefs, health behaviors, perceived risk, gestational diabetes, type 2 diabetes, diet, physical activity, and postpartum. Eight articles, representing 6 studies, were selected that met the inclusion criteria of original research, dependent variable of health beliefs and behaviors of women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus, and measurement after pregnancy. Articles were reviewed and discussed according to the concepts of risk perception and health beliefs, health behaviors related to diet and physical activity, and psychosocial factors related to women's health beliefs and behaviors. Data revealed common health beliefs and behaviors of women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus, including low risk perceptions for future type 2 diabetes mellitus and suboptimal levels of physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake. The majority of studies revealed a distinct knowledge-behavior gap among women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus, whereas others revealed a lack of knowledge regarding necessary lifestyle modifications. Findings from this review may assist women's health researchers and clinicians in developing appropriate interventions for increasing risk awareness, promoting self-efficacy for weight loss and physical activity behaviors, and decreasing rates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease among women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus. Further research is necessary to identify factors that influence the health beliefs and behaviors of women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus. Future research should focus on populations of greater racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity, as the majority of studies have been conducted with non-Hispanic White, socioeconomically advantaged women.

Despite considerable effort made in teaching interpersonal skills to medical students, given the crucial role of the doctor-patient relationship in interviewing, diagnosis, adherence to treatment et emotional support, current observation and several studies actually show a measurable decrease in students' empathy as they become professionals. This tendency appears to be the result of adaptative mechanisms aimed at controlling the uncertainties of medical practice, especially during internship, a decisive phase of the professionalization process.
For several years, in regular group sessions in the Geneva University Hospital, medical students (during internship in Internal Medicine) were offered the opportunity to use their empathic skills. This article describes the technique used to identify cognitive discrepancies between students and patients (e.g. health beliefs) as sources of incomprehension and mutual frustration, completed by a discussion of the patient's emotional impact on students. As consideration of interpersonal factors is particularly prone to raise apprehensions and fears, thus increasing uncertainty, the need for control seems to preclude empathy. To overcome this apparent contradiction, effective training requires a sufficiently structured environment supposing often neglected framework conditions. Beyond individual training (the supervisor's own qualification) and characteristics of the group (similar practice), the hospital as an institutional setting has to guarantee the integration of mediacl psychology into the weekly schedule of the clinic, assuring regularity and sufficient time, necessary for the personal evolution of the participants towars a greater tolerance of uncertainty, thus permitting the free use of empathy as part of their professional identity.

Background For centuries, sunlight has been used for therapeutic purposes. Parents still sun their infants to treat neonatal jaundice, nappy rash or mostly to supply vitamin D for bone development as a consequence of health beliefs. In this study we aimed to assess ...

Background The purpose of the present study was to assess the validity and reliability of Form A of Multidimensional Health Locus of Control scales in Iran. Health locus of control is one of the most widely measured parameters of health belief for the planning of health education programs. Methods 496 university students participated in this study. The reliability coefficients were calculated in three different methods: test-retest, parallel forms and Cronbach alpha. In order to survey validity of the scale we used three methods including content validity, concurrent validity and construct validity. Results We established the content validity of the Persian translation by translating (and then back-translating) each item from the English version into the Persian version. The concurrent validity of the questionnaire, as measured by Levenson's IPC scale was .57 (P < .001), .49 (P < .01) and .53 (P < .001) for IPC, respectively. Exploratory principal components analysis su...

African Americans experience disproportionate incidence and mortality rates from colorectal cancer (CRC). This health disparity is partially explained by low participation in screening. This study aimed to identify factors influencing adherence to colorectal cancer screening among African Americans. Telephone interviews were conducted with African Americans living in Maryland (57% response rate). A total of 504 respondents agreed to participate. The survey primarily assessed participation in CRC screening, health beliefs and attitudes about CRC screening, and demographics. Nearly 77% of respondents reported being adherent to CRC screening guidelines. Of those not adherent, nearly 50% reported not ever receiving a physician recommendation to be screened. Having health insurance was a strong correlate of adherence. Study participants with greater perceived CRC risk were more likely to be adherent. Further, those who reported that they were caregivers were less likely to be adherent to screening. Findings indicate that those who were the primary care takers of children or disabled persons were less likely to participate in CRC screening. Efforts are needed to ensure that caregivers do not neglect their own preventive health, including CRC screening. Further, access to care and health insurance coverage also appear to be an important factor for participation in CRC screening. Ensuring that those who do not have adequate healthcare coverage are not excluded from participation in CRC screening due to cost should be an important priority if reduction in CRC health disparity is to be achieved.