Older Women and Mammography Screening: Do Possible Selves Contribute?

Abstract

This study sought to explore the contribution of the self-concept to older women’s adherence to regular ammography screening behavior. The PRECEDE and health belief model concepts were incorporated with a easure of the women’s future selves to determine whether the self-concept adds to our ability to predict creening.Aself-administered questionnairewas completed by 210 community-dwellingwomen ages 50 to 75 years, recruited from urban and rural women’s groups. Logistic regression analyses revealed that predictors of dherence were clinical breast examination, physician recommendation, age, barriers, benefits, feared ealth-related possible self, and self-efficacy in the feared domain. The addition of the self measures significantly mproved the overall fit of the model. Implications for theory development, practice, and future research re discussed.