First Name:
Charlene
Last Name:
Colón
Major Department:
Psychology
Thesis Director:
Courtney Rocheleau
Date of Thesis:
May 2011
According to the Center for Disease Control every year over 40,000 women die of breast cancer. Breast self-examinations are the easiest and least expensive way for women to become familiar with their normal breast tissue so that they will be able to identify any potentially dangerous changes as they age. The American Cancer Society recommends that women in their twenties start performing breast self-examinations as part of their monthly routine. In accordance with the Health Belief Model, five variables (susceptibility, seriousness, benefits, barriers, and self-efficacy) were used to determine the likelihood that women would intend to engage in positive breast self-examination behaviors. These variables were measured on a 5-point likert scale. Contrary to the HBM, only barriers (r = -.48, p = .002) and self-efficacy (r = .42, p = .008) exhibited significant correlations with intentions, and only barriers was significantly associated with intentions, over and above the other HBM measures (p = .04).