Theorizing the Pathways From Seeking and Scanning to Mammography Screening

Abstract

This study combines insights from existing theories in mass communication and health communication, and builds an integrated model accounting for the mechanisms by which an individual’s acquisition of mammogram-related media information becomes associated with intentions to obtain a mammogram. Our model was largely supported by a survey with a nationally representative sample of American females between the ages of 40 and 70 years. As expected, seeking and scanning mammogram-related information from the media were both positively associated with reflective integration of media health information, which in turn was positively related to behavioral attitudes and perceived normative pressures. Attitudes and normative pressures were then positively linked to the intention to get a mammogram. Based on these findings, we offer some suggestions for future research in this area.

Notes

¹ Although Smith-McLallen and Fishbein (2008) examined the effects of TRA/TPB/IM variables on cancer-related behaviors including screening mammography, they did not link SSB (seeking and scanning behaviors) with their findings. As an effort to extend their research, we proposed direct and indirect pathways from SSB to getting a screening mammography, thereby providing insight into the reasoning processes leading up to the more proximal behavioral predictors. In addition, the data they used came from the first wave of the survey, whereas this study is based on data from the second wave. Reflective integration, a key concept in this study, was measured only in the second wave.

² We understand that some guidelines for mammography screening changed since our surveys took place (Squiers et al., 2011; Weeks, Friedenberg, Southwell, & Slater, 2012). These changes do not affect the current analysis, however, because at the time of measurement (between 2004 and 2006), the screening guidelines were still consistently supportive of the practice.

³ We did additional analysis to see if a certain medium could produce stronger associations with the outcomes than the others. The analysis was not successful because of strong associations of seeking and scanning across these media. The average Pearson correlation was .47 and ranged as high as .64, resulting in multicollinearity. As a result, it was not possible to differentiate effects among these media.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by a grant from the NCI Center of Excellence in Cancer Communication (CECCR) at the University of Pennsylvania (P50 CA101404), by the ICT R&D program of MSIP/ITP (2013-005-002-013, How to create an ICT-based eco-system for content industry), and by the Invitation Program for Distinguished Scholars at Seoul National University. We acknowledge that the NCI does not bear any responsibility for the content reported in this article.