Increasing Women's Calcium Intake: The Role of Health Beliefs, Intentions, and Health Value1

Undergraduate women who varied in how much they valued health were exposed to written communications persuading them of their vulnerability to osteoporosis and of the effectiveness of a recommended action in preventing this disease. Vulnerability had a significant main effect on intentions and subsequent behavior. This effect was obtained regardless of how much the subjects valued their health or whether the coping response was effective. Intentions to perform the recommended behaviors proved to be the best predictors of self-reported and actual behavior change, in support of the Ajzen-Fishbein (1980) model. Intentions, in turn, were predicted from recipients' beliefs regarding their ability to perform the behavior, their vulnerability to the health threat, and the effectiveness of the recommended threat-reducing response. Implications of these findings for health promotion campaigns are discussed.