The Health Belief Model: A Decade Later

Abstract

Since the last comprehensive review in 1974, the Health Belief Model (HBM) has continued to be the focus of considerable theoretical and research attention. This article presents a critical review of 29 HBM-related investigations published during the period of 1974-1984, tabulates the findings from 17 studies conducted prior to 1974, and provides a summary of the total 46 HBM studies (18 prospective, 28 retrospective). Twenty-four studies examined preventive-health behaviors (PHB), 19 explored sick-role behaviors (SRB), and three addressed clinic utilization. A "significance ratio" was constructed which divides the number of positive, statistically-significant findings for an HBM dimension by the total number of studies reporting significance levels for that dimension. Summary results provide substantial empirical support for the HBM, with findings from prospective studies at least as favorable as those obtained from retrospective research. "Perceived barriers" proved to be the most powerful of the HBM dimensions across the various study designs and behaviors. While both were important overall, "perceived susceptibility" was a stronger contributor to understanding PHB than SRB, while the reverse was true for "perceived benefits." "Perceived severity" produced the lowest overall significance ratios; however, while only weakly associated with PHB, this dimension was strongly related to SRB. On the basis of the evidence compiled, it is recommended that consideration of HBM dimensions be a part of health education programming. Suggestions are offered for further research.

The impact of changing attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy on health-related intentions and behavior: A meta-analysis.

“…A novel feature of the present review was that health behaviors were categorized using a taxonomy that drew upon both the long-standing distinction between prevention behaviors and disease management behaviors (Janz & Becker, 1984) and Ouellette and Wood's (1998) analysis of the impact of frequent versus infrequent performance on behavioral prediction. The key finding obtained in the current analysis was that changing attitudes and self-efficacy had a smaller effect on frequent prevention behaviors compared to both infrequent prevention behaviors and disease management behaviors.…”

Challenges to parent nutrition education: a qualitative study of parents of urban children attending low-income schools

“…Both English and Spanish versions of the questionnaire were available. Semi-structured interviews were loosely guided by the Health Belief Model including general predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors associated with good dietary practices (28) .…”

Participation Patterns Among Mexican–American Parents Enrolled in a Universal Intervention and Their Association with Child Externalizing Outcomes

“…Predictor selection was informed by the Health Beliefs Model (HBM; Janz & Becker, 1984), the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Azjen & Fishbein, 2000), and by research on the influence of culture (Carpentier et al, 2007;Prado et al, 2006) and group psychotherapy process (Burlingame, McClendon, & Alonso, 2011;Duncan, Miller, Wampold, & Hubble, 2010) on parent program participation.…”