Choosing a Place of Death: The Influence of Pain and of Attitude Toward Death1

This experimental study sought to verify if factors like pain or attitude toward death can determine the choice of a place of death. Using a questionnaire developed from Triandis’(1980) theory, the influence of pain on the intention of choosing a place of death was measured among 138 respondents. “Attitude toward death,” used as a control variable, was measured by means of the Death Attitude Profile. Variance analyses (p < .008) demonstrated the influence of pain on intention of choosing a place of death and on the cognitive component. Linear regression (p .002) highlighted 2 determinants of intention of choosing a place of death: moral norm and social role. As for attitude toward death, it seems to have no influence on the choice of a place of death.     

Prediction of Needle Sharing Among Injection Drug Users1

The aim of the present study was to identify the psychosocial factors associated with the intention and behavior of not sharing used needles and syringes among 459 intravenous drug users (IDUs). The intention to not share used needles was positively associated with personal normative beliefs and self‐efficacy; it was negatively related to the proportion of injections with lending used needles and borrowing syringes from sexual partners. Borrowing used needles was negatively associated with intention whereas loaning syringes was positively related to a negative HIV test result. These results suggest that it is only when a direct personal exposure to HIV infection is possible (borrowing) that intention not to borrow is highlighted. Moreover, being HIV positive appears to reduce loaning used syringes.     

Factors Explaining the Intention to Use Condoms Among Injecting Drug Users Participating in a Needle‐Exchange Program1

This study identified the psychosocial factors related to condom‐use intention, based on Triandis’ (1980) theory of interpersonal behavior, among 261 injection drug users participating in a needle‐exchange program. With regular partners (n= 139), condom‐use intention was explained by normative beliefs, self‐efficacy, length of relationship with last regular sexual partner, and taking oral contraceptives. Condom‐use intention with casual partners (n= 157) was also associated with self‐efficacy and normative beliefs, on top of cognitive dimension with attitudes and lending used needles. Neither the perception of being HIV‐positive, nor the habit of using a condom was associated with intention. It is thus suggested that interventions aimed at promoting condom use among this clientele be oriented toward the reinforcement of personal convictions as well as toward the development of competencies needed to overcome obstacles, since both relate to the intention to adopt this behavior.     

Intentions to select a given level of care when confronted with an ethical issue: the impact of a living will

The aim of this study is to evaluate the level of care nurses intended to select in a potential situation of overly aggressive therapy, whether the patient had or did not have a living will. MANOVA revealed that the presence of a living will had a significant impact on nurses' decision making when selecting a level of care ( p < .0001); this impact was noted for each construct in the theoretical framework ( p < .005). Multiple regression analysis indicated the 86% of the variance in nurses' intention was determined by the cognitive component of their attitude and perceived professional norm ( p < .0001). In summary, most of the nurses intended to respect the wishes expressed by the patient in a living will.     

Why does asking questions change health behaviours? The mediating role of attitude accessibility

Objective: The question-behaviour effect (QBE) refers to the finding that measuring behavioural intentions increases performance of the relevant behaviour. This effect has been used to change health behaviours. The present research asks why the QBE occurs and evaluates one possible mediator – attitude accessibility.

Design: University staff and students (N = 151) were randomly assigned to an intention measurement condition where they reported their intentions to eat healthy foods, or to one of two control conditions.

Main outcome measures: Participants completed a response latency measure of attitude accessibility, before healthy eating behaviour was assessed unobtrusively using an objective measure of snacking.

Results: Intention measurement participants exhibited more accessible attitudes towards healthy foods, and were more likely to choose a healthy snack, relative to control participants. Furthermore, attitude accessibility mediated the relationship between intention measurement and behaviour.

Conclusion: This research demonstrates that increased attitude accessibility may explain the QBE, extending the findings of previous research to the domain of health behaviour.     

Adherence to Hormone Replacement Therapy: A Longitudinal Study Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour

The aim of this longitudinal study was to assess the stability and determinants of the intention to adopt HRT over a one-year period using the Theory of Planned Behaviour. At baseline, a total of 644 middle-aged premenopausal women who had never used HRT, were recruited. At follow-up, 417 women completed an interview to assess any change in their reproductive status and in their behavioural intention. Among women who stayed premenopausal (n = 172) and among those who became perimenopausal (n = 209), the intention to adopt HRT was quite stable over the one-year period. However, being perimenopausal had a significant effect on the intention to adopt HRT at follow-up, as did subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and moral norm measured at baseline. Attitude towards HRT did not have a significant effect on the intention to adopt HRT one year later. Therefore, interventions to support women's decision-making about HRT should be tailored to their menopausal status and take into account their perception of social pressure to perform, control over this behaviour and moral obligation.     

The Theory of Planned Behavior: Some Measurement Issues Concerning Belief-Based Variables

The theory of planned behavior presents clear operational definitions of attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and each of their corresponding belief-based measures. Theoretically, the direct and indirect measures of a given construct must be closely correlated. Empirical results, however, indicate that this is not always the case. In the present study, 2 of the factors that could be responsible for this situation-namely, the scaling of the variables defining each belief-based construct and the adequacy of using an expectancy-value model within the belief-based measures-were verified among a data set of 16 studies concerned with the application of the theory of planned behavior to the field of health. The results indicate that the scaling method used affected the correlation coefficients between indirect and direct measures. However, the face validity of these scaling methods must be demonstrated. The results also support the idea that, in most cases, using the expectancy-value model is no better than using only one arm of the belief-based measure.