Dominique Beaulieu

Factors explaining the intention to give blood among the general population

Background and Objectives  The aim of this study was to identify factors explaining the intention to donate blood.

Breast cancer: The intention to have a mammography and a clinical breast examination - application of the theory of planned behavior

Abstract The purpose of these cross sectional studies was to identify the psychosocial factors explaining womens intention to have a mammography within the next two years and their intention to have a clinical breast examination (CBE) by a professional within the next year. Two random samples of women aged 40–69 years (na = 354, nb = 344) completed a self-administered questionnaire that investigated theoretical constructs of the theory of planned behavior. The results of structural equation modeling showed that subjective norms and perceived behavioral control explained 81 % of the variance in intention of having a mammography. Sixty-five percent (65%) of the variance in intention of having a CBE was explained by attitude and perceived behavioral control. In conclusion, women need to be better informed, have better skills to overcome psychological and physical barriers in performing preventive breast behaviors, and promotion of preventive breast cancer methods should consider people significant for women.

Factors predicting staying in school to eat lunch

Purpose – Easy access to fast‐food restaurants in the immediate environment of a high school is such that a high proportion of students do not remain in school for lunch. Hence, the probability that they will eat a healthy meal is reduced. The aim of this study is to identify the behavioral determinants of “staying in school to eat lunch” among high school students.Design/methodology/approach – The Theory of Planned Behavior has been applied to the development of a questionnaire self‐administered among 153 randomly selected high school students.Findings – Overall, 52.3 percent of students remained to eat at school every day during a follow‐up period of two weeks. Logistic regression analyses showed that intention (OR: 16.22; 95 percent CI 7.08‐37.21) was the sole predictor of behavior and that intention was determined by the descriptive norm (OR: 12.67; 95 percent CI 3.39‐47.27), perceived behavioral control (OR: 11.46; 95 percent CI 4.53‐29.04) and attitude (OR: 2.70; 95 percent CI 1.06‐6.85).Practical i...

Efficacy of school-based interventions aimed at decreasing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among adolescents: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE To verify the efficacy of school-based interventions aimed at reducing sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption among adolescents in order to develop or improve public health interventions. DESIGN Systematic review of interventions targeting adolescents and/or the school environment. SETTING The following databases were investigated: MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL and EMBASE. Proquest Dissertations and Theses was also investigated for unpublished trials. SUBJECTS Adolescents were defined as individuals between the ages of 12 and 17 years. RESULTS A total of thirty-six studies detailing thirty-six different interventions tested among independent samples (n 152 001) were included in the review. Twenty interventions were classified as educational/behavioural and ten were classified as legislative/environmental interventions. Only six interventions targeted both individuals and their environment. Over 70 % of all interventions, regardless of whether they targeted individuals, their environment or both, were effective in decreasing SSB consumption. Legislative/environmental studies had the highest success rate (90·0 %). Educational/behavioural interventions only and interventions that combined educational/behavioural and legislative/environmental approaches were almost equally effective in reducing SSB consumption with success rates of 65·0 and 66·7 %, respectively. Among the interventions that had an educational/behavioural component, 61·5 % were theory-based. The behaviour change techniques most frequently used in interventions were providing information about the health consequences of performing the behaviour (72·2 %), restructuring the physical environment (47·2 %), behavioural goal setting (36·1 %), self-monitoring of behaviour (33·3 %), threat to health (30·6 %) and providing general social support (30·6 %). CONCLUSIONS School-based interventions show promising results to reduce SSB consumption among adolescents. A number of recommendations are made to improve future studies.

Staying in school for lunch instead of eating in fast-food restaurants: results of a quasi-experimental study among high-school students.

OBJECTIVE Following the adoption of food policies replacing unhealthy products by healthy foods in school, the present study tested the effectiveness of an intervention aimed at encouraging high-school students to stay in school for lunch instead of eating in fast-food restaurants. DESIGN A 12-week multi-strategy intervention targeting specific determinants of behaviour was evaluated via a quasi-experimental pre- and post-intervention design. A self-administered questionnaire was employed based on the theory of planned behaviour. SETTING An experimental (n 129) and a control school (n 112) in central Canada. SUBJECTS High-school students aged 12 to 17 years. RESULTS Compared with control school students, those in the experimental school significantly increased the mean number of days that they stayed in school for lunch (relative risk = 1.55; 95 % CI 1.06, 2.27; P = 0.024), as well as the proportion who remained in school for lunch every day (relative risk = 1.21; 95 % CI 1.04, 1.40; P = 0.014). Among the psychosocial variables targeted, only self-efficacy appeared to be influenced by the intervention, mainly because of a decline in control group values. Mediation analysis indicated a significant mediating effect of self-efficacy on the mean number of days that students stayed in school for lunch (bias-corrected and accelerated point estimate = 0.079; 95 % CI 0.0059, 0.1958). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that interventions aimed at enhancing self-efficacy can successfully contribute to students staying in school during lunch time. Such interventions should be considered in obesity prevention programmes adapted to high-school students.

Development of an intervention programme to encourage high school students to stay in school for lunch instead of eating at nearby fast-food restaurants.

Many schools have recently adopted food policies and replaced unhealthy products by healthy foods. Consequently, adolescents are more likely to consume a healthy meal if they stay in school for lunch to eat a meal either prepared at home or purchased in school cafeterias. However, many continue to eat in nearby fast-food restaurants. The present paper describes the development of a theory-based intervention programme aimed at encouraging high school students to stay in school for lunch. Intervention Mapping and the Theory of Planned Behaviour served as theoretical frameworks to guide the development of a 12-week intervention programme of activities addressing intention, descriptive norm, perceived behavioural control and attitude. It was offered to students and their parents with several practical applications, such as structural environmental changes, and educational activities, such as audio and electronic messages, posters, cooking sessions, pamphlets, improvisation play theatre, quiz, and conferences. The programme considers theoretical and empirical data, taking into account specific beliefs and contexts of the target population. This paper should help programme planners in the development of appropriate interventions addressing the problem.