Young women’s intentions to delay childbearing: A test of the theory of planned behaviour

Abstract

Objectives: The general purpose of the present study was to examine the applicability of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) in accounting for young women's intentions to delay childbearing. Background: TPB has been successfully applied in numerous studies examining intentions to have/not have a child but, to date, intentions to delay childbearing has not been explicitly examined within this framework. The present study addresses this gap by examining childless women's intentions to delay motherhood within the framework of the TPB. Methods: Sixty-nine young, childless women (M age = 21.0) completed a self-administered TPB questionnaire encompassing intentions to delay childbearing past the age of 30 and measures of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control, as well as the beliefs underlying these global constructs. Results: Attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived control all significantly contributed to account for 61% of the variance in intentions to delay childbearing past the age of 30, but perceived control emerged as the most significant predictor, accounting for 24% of the unique variance. Following a targeted examination of the belief structure underlying perceptions of control over delayed childbearing, five control beliefs emerged as significantly related to the global measure of perceived control. These beliefs were related to personal health, fertility, and belief that one will be in a stable relationship in the future. Confidence in the longevity of fertility was the prime contributor to perceptions of control. Conclusion: The results provide preliminary support for the applicability of the TPB model in accounting for intentions to delay childbearing among a sample of young childless women.

The Role of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Childbearing Intentions in Iranian Women: A Path Analysis

“…In line with the present ndings, Li et al (2019) also found that all the constructs of TPB affected childbearing intentions while perceived behavioral control was the strongest construct determining the desire to have children, followed by attitude and subjective norms [25]. In another study, the researchers concluded that childbearing intentions have positive and signi cant relationships with all the three constructs of TPB (namely attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) [34].…”

“I Want to Be Like You!”: The Influence of Role Models on Entrepreneurial Intention

“…TPB is widely used in different areas, including psychology (e.g., Hashim, Jawis, Wahat, and Grove 2014;Williamson, and Lawson 2015;Lheureux, Auzoult, Charlois, Hardy-Massard, and Minary 2016), biology (e.g., Sagas, Cunningham, and Pastore 2006;Hamilton, Cox, and White 2012), and for therapeutic use in the health sciences (e.g., Agarwal 2014;Catalano, Knowlden, Birch, Leeper, Paschal, and Usdan 2017). It remains the most commonly used predictive model to analyze human intentions today (Krueger Jr 2017).…”

Comparing the fertility desire and related factors in mothers with intellectually disabled children and mothers with healthy children

“…[ 11 ] Williamson and Lawson studied women over 30 years and found that those with higher perceived behavioral control scores had higher the fertility desire. [ 12 ] Furthermore, Rai et al . [ 13 ] studied the association between gender preference and fertility intention and found that women whose first child was a girl had a higher tendency towards childbearing than those who had a boy.…”