Abstract
There is an increasing emphasis on designing health promotion interventions for low-socioeconomic-status (SES) individuals. However, many previously developed behavior change tools have not been tested in this population. Self-efficacy was measured at pre- and postintervention as part of a randomized clinical trial to reduce cholesterol levels in rural low-SES Southern adults. A 22-item scale was designed and validated to measure subjects' confidence in their abilities to make dietary changes. High mean self-efficacy was noted in both control and intervention subjects at pre- and postintervention. Mean self-efficacy score was a significant predictor of dietary change at both preintervention and postintervention. This study demonstrates that self-efficacy is a predictor of ability to make dietary changes in a low-SES rural population. This finding is of significance to researchers and practitioners wishing to design theory-based health promotion interventions in this population.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 357-368 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Health Education and Behavior |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1997 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health