Breast cancer prevention as social behavior : integrating individual and social motivators behind early breast cancer detection amongst Chinese women

Breast cancer, traditionally a disease prevalent among Western women, has become an increasing health burden in China. While studies have shed light on the medical aspects of breast cancer prevention, research pertaining to Chinese women’s behavioral intentions to carry out adaptive measures is rela...

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Main Author: Wang, Yumeng
Other Authors: May Oo Lwin
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/59107
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author Wang, Yumeng
author2 May Oo Lwin
author_facet May Oo Lwin
Wang, Yumeng
author_sort Wang, Yumeng
collection NTU
description Breast cancer, traditionally a disease prevalent among Western women, has become an increasing health burden in China. While studies have shed light on the medical aspects of breast cancer prevention, research pertaining to Chinese women’s behavioral intentions to carry out adaptive measures is relatively limited. The current study aims to examine individual- and societal-level factors as predictors of Chinese women’s early breast cancer detection intentions. An integrated framework drawing on threat appraisal and coping appraisal from Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), subjective norms and traditional health beliefs is developed to explore Chinese women’s intentions to undertake prevention methods, including breast screening intention, breast self-examination intention, and healthy lifestyle intention. A survey was conducted with 642 female participants aged 25 to 60 in China to examine the hypothesized relationships. Findings indicated the rigor of social appraisal and several distinctions among three sub-models. Among the social-level predictors, social encouragement was significantly and positively associated with all three behavioral intentions, while media encouragement was found to be positively related to Chinese women’s breast self-examination intention and healthy lifestyle intention. The traditional health beliefs component was positively related with participants’ healthy lifestyle intention. The results also revealed that coping appraisal variables were more significantly associated with protective intentions, relative to threat appraisal predictors. The findings hold implications for health policy makers and breast cancer campaign development in China and Asian countries with similar collectivist cultures.
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spelling ntu-10356/591072019-12-10T14:11:31Z Breast cancer prevention as social behavior : integrating individual and social motivators behind early breast cancer detection amongst Chinese women Wang, Yumeng May Oo Lwin Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information DRNTU::Social sciences::Communication::Cultural studies Breast cancer, traditionally a disease prevalent among Western women, has become an increasing health burden in China. While studies have shed light on the medical aspects of breast cancer prevention, research pertaining to Chinese women’s behavioral intentions to carry out adaptive measures is relatively limited. The current study aims to examine individual- and societal-level factors as predictors of Chinese women’s early breast cancer detection intentions. An integrated framework drawing on threat appraisal and coping appraisal from Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), subjective norms and traditional health beliefs is developed to explore Chinese women’s intentions to undertake prevention methods, including breast screening intention, breast self-examination intention, and healthy lifestyle intention. A survey was conducted with 642 female participants aged 25 to 60 in China to examine the hypothesized relationships. Findings indicated the rigor of social appraisal and several distinctions among three sub-models. Among the social-level predictors, social encouragement was significantly and positively associated with all three behavioral intentions, while media encouragement was found to be positively related to Chinese women’s breast self-examination intention and healthy lifestyle intention. The traditional health beliefs component was positively related with participants’ healthy lifestyle intention. The results also revealed that coping appraisal variables were more significantly associated with protective intentions, relative to threat appraisal predictors. The findings hold implications for health policy makers and breast cancer campaign development in China and Asian countries with similar collectivist cultures. ​Master of Communication Studies 2014-04-23T07:46:02Z 2014-04-23T07:46:02Z 2014 2014 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10356/59107 en Nanyang Technological University 109 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle DRNTU::Social sciences::Communication::Cultural studies
Wang, Yumeng
Breast cancer prevention as social behavior : integrating individual and social motivators behind early breast cancer detection amongst Chinese women
title Breast cancer prevention as social behavior : integrating individual and social motivators behind early breast cancer detection amongst Chinese women
title_full Breast cancer prevention as social behavior : integrating individual and social motivators behind early breast cancer detection amongst Chinese women
title_fullStr Breast cancer prevention as social behavior : integrating individual and social motivators behind early breast cancer detection amongst Chinese women
title_full_unstemmed Breast cancer prevention as social behavior : integrating individual and social motivators behind early breast cancer detection amongst Chinese women
title_short Breast cancer prevention as social behavior : integrating individual and social motivators behind early breast cancer detection amongst Chinese women
title_sort breast cancer prevention as social behavior integrating individual and social motivators behind early breast cancer detection amongst chinese women
topic DRNTU::Social sciences::Communication::Cultural studies
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/59107
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