Modelling antecedents of blood donation motivation among non-donors of varying age and education.

Understanding blood donation motivation among non-donors is prerequisite to effective recruitment. Two studies explored the psychological antecedents of blood donation motivation and the generalisability of a model of donation motivation across groups differing in age and educational level. An older well-educated population and a younger less well-educated population were sampled. The studies assessed the role of altruism, fear of blood/needles and donation-specific cognitions including attitudes and normative beliefs derived from an extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Across both samples, results showed that affective attitude, subjective norm, descriptive norm, and moral norm were the most important correlates of blood donation intentions. Self-efficacy was more important among the younger less well-educated group. Altruism was related to donation motivation but only indirectly through moral norm. Similarly, fear of blood/needles only had an indirect effect on motivation through affective attitude and self-efficacy. Additional analyses with the combined data set found no age or education moderation effects, suggesting that this core model of donation-specific cognitions can be used to inform future practical interventions recruiting new blood donors in the general population.

Identifying blood donors willing to help with recruitment.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Social influence shapes behaviour and donors are ambassadors for blood banks. Donors are role models for family and friends and, therefore, so may be able to help with donor recruitment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire was used to assess donors' willingness to engage in donor recruitment. Measures included willingness to recruit new donors and antecedents of recruitment motivation based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). RESULTS: More than half of our participants were willing to try to recruit friends and family (57%). Self-efficacy was the most important correlate of intention to recruit as were cognitive attitude and experience with the blood bank. The findings suggest that the TPB provides a good basis for understanding cognitive antecedents of donors' willingness to recruit other donors. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that using existing donors to recruit new donors could be an efficient and cost-effective way to recruit additional donors. This approach warrants further investigation.

Public reactions towards people with AIDS: an attributional analysis.

This article addresses the issue of stigmatization and discrimination towards people with AIDS (PWAs) using Weiner's attributional theory of motivation and emotion. In a field experiment, subjects responded to vignettes describing patients with AIDS, syphilis, lung cancer or tuberculosis. In these vignettes, the onset of the diseases was either described as personally controllable or as uncontrollable. Results show that although attributional variables do account for a significant amount of variance in helping behavior and emotions towards PWAs, other variables such as the incurability of the disease, the risk of infection and associations with (homo)sexuality, may be more useful in explaining reactions to PWAs. Implications for education tailored at the prevention of the stigmatization of PWAs are discussed.

Reactions among Dutch youth toward people with AIDS.

AIDS education emphasizing personal responsibility toward AIDS-inducing behavior might enhance negative reactions to people with AIDS. This study, based on Weiner's attributional theory of motivation and emotion, addressed this dilemma by reporting data from a sample of 1,018 Dutch secondary school students. Results support the reasoning that emphasizing personal responsibility, and consequently personal controllability, increases negative reactions to people with AIDS. In addition to causal attributions, however, AIDS knowledge and attitudes toward homosexuality also related significantly to reactions to people with AIDS. To prevent negative reactions to people with AIDS, the subject of homosexuality should be dealt with before AIDS education is provided. AIDS education should address the impossibility of HIV infection by daily interactions, and the meaning and consequences of being seropositive.

Factors associated with teachers' implementation of HIV/AIDS education in secondary schools in Cape Town, South Africa.

This study investigated the factors influencing whether high school teachers implemented HIV/AIDS education. The independent variables included constructs derived from expectancy value theories, teachers' generic dispositions, their training experience, characteristics of their interactive context and the school climate. We conducted a postal survey of 579 teachers responsible for AIDS education in all 193 public high schools in Cape Town. Questionnaires were completed and returned by 324 teachers (56% response rate) from 125 schools. Many teachers (222; 70%) had implemented HIV/AIDS education during 2003, and female teachers were more likely to have implemented than males (74% vs. 58%). The teacher characteristics associated with teaching HIV/AIDS were previous training, self-efficacy, student-centeredness, beliefs about controllability and the outcome of HIV/AIDS education, and their responsibility. The existence of a school HIV/AIDS policy, a climate of equity and fairness, and good school-community relations were the school characteristics associated with teaching HIV/AIDS. These findings demonstrate the value of teacher training and school policy formulation. They also demonstrate the value and importance of interventions that go beyond a sexual health agenda, focussing on broader school development to improve school functioning and school climate.

Why don't young people volunteer to give blood? An investigation of the correlates of donation intentions among young nondonors.

BACKGROUND: In the past decade, the number of blood donors has steadily declined in the Netherlands, and young adults are underrepresented among registered donors. An understanding of the correlates of donation intentions among nondonors could facilitate targeting psychological prerequisites of donation decisions in recruitment campaigns. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS. A cross-sectional study with self-administered questionnaires based on an extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; a social cognition model to study the determinants of volitional behavior) was conducted to assess potential cognitive determinants of willingness to donate blood in a student sample. A response rate of 50.5 percent yielded a sample of 311. RESULTS: Just over 7 percent of participants were registered blood donors but most (61.7%) had never seriously considered becoming donors. Self-efficacy (confidence in performing the behavior), attitude (the overall evaluation of the behavior), and personal moral norm (the perceived personal responsibility to perform the behavior) regarding blood donation were the most important correlates of the intention to become a blood donor. In total, 43 percent of the variance in the intentions toward blood donation could be explained by a TPB-based model. CONCLUSION: Among students, determinants of the intention to become a blood donor include self-efficacy, attitude, personal moral norm regarding blood donation, and subjective norm (perceived social support). Future research could establish whether campaigns targeting these psychological prerequisites would be more effective than current strategies.

Predicting condom use with casual and steady sex partners among drug users.

In many Western societies, drug users are accountable for heterosexual transmission of HIV. Although various studies have shown that safe sex is not a common practice among drug users, we still have little understanding of the factors that determine their use of condoms in their sexual relationships with steady or casual partners. The objective of this study is to gain more insight into the determinants of drug users' condom use with steady and casual sex partners. In a study conducted among 103 Dutch drug users, the participants indicated their intentions, vulnerability, attitude, personal norms, subjective norms, descriptive norms, self-efficacy and response efficacy regarding condom use with steady and casual partners. The results showed that some drug users had borrowed used syringes and that most drug users practise unsafe sex, especially with steady partners. Most drug users were hardly motivated to start using condoms. The study further showed that antecedents of condom use differ with regard to steady sex partners and casual sex partners. Self-efficacy and subjective norms were predictors of intentions to use condoms with steady partners; intention to use condoms with casual partners was only predicted by self-efficacy. These differences should be taken into account when designing AIDS prevention interventions to encourage use of condoms.

Planned development and evaluation of AIDS/STD education for secondary school students in The Netherlands: short-term effects.

This study evaluated the effects of an AIDS/STD curriculum for 9th- and 10th-grade students in the Netherlands. Curriculum development was based on (1) theory-based need assessments among students and teachers, (2) pilot testing of data-based and theory-based methods and materials, and (3) cooperation between researchers and students, teachers, and gatekeepers within the school system. Using a quasi-experimental design, program effects on students' attitudes, beliefs, and sexual behavior were compared with those of current AIDS/STD education practice. The results indicated that the experimental curriculum had a stronger favorable impact on students' attitudes and beliefs regarding using condoms consistently. Regarding sexual risk behavior, a differential curriculum effect could be demonstrated. These findings support the contention that current AIDS/STD education can be improved by (1) using empirical data, (2) applying multiple theories from the social sciences, and (3) involving representatives within the school system in the development process.