A Reasoned Action Approach to Social Connection and Mental Health: Racial Group Differences and Similarities in Attitudes, Norms, and Intentions

ABSTRACT

This study employed a Reasoned Action Approach to investigate two communication behaviors that were being built into a statewide behavioral health campaign: initiating a conversation about one’s own mental health struggles, and starting a conversation to discuss someone else’s mental health difficulties. We examined whether the extent of attitudes, perceived norms, and perceived behavioral control regarding intent to perform these behaviors varied by racial identity. Using original survey data from Texans (N = 2,033), we conducted regression analyses for the two communication behaviors and found that intention to seek help was primarily explained by instrumental attitude, injunctive norm, descriptive norm, and perceived capacity; and intention to start a conversation to help someone else was primarily explained by instrumental attitude, injunctive norm, and perceived capacity. Additionally, we identified important common and distinct determinants of the two behaviors across different racial groups. Implications for health communication campaign message development and audience segmentation are discussed.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Susan Kirtz, Chris Beeler, Jessica Hughes Wagner, Lauren Pezzullo, Kaitlin Berns, and Olubunmi Obayemi for their contributions to this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Respondents who self-identified as other or multiple races were included in analyses with the full sample while excluded from analyses when comparing racial subgroup differences.

2. There were 93 respondents who tested the survey in the pilot soft-launch and answered both question modules.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission [Contract #HHS001042300001].