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

• Main Author: Wang, Yumeng
• Other Authors: May Oo Lwin
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Communication::Cultural studies
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/59107
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

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.