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Passing years, changing fears? Conceptualizing and measuring risk perceptions for chronic disease in younger and middle-aged women

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Abstract

As is true for many behavioral theory constructs, no consensus exists on how best to measure perceived risk; therefore, it is unclear whether different measures of disease risk perception are conceptually equivalent and whether such measures are equally appropriate for people with different objective disease risk. To investigate these issues, we used four commonly utilized risk perception items (measuring beliefs about personal risk, others’ risk, disease prevalence, and mortality) to assess susceptibility to cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and lung cancer among 454 younger (ages 18–25) and 169 middle-aged (40–64) women. We examined age- and ethnicity-related differences in participants’ responses to the items. We also used structural equation modeling to test whether these items reflect a multidimensional, disease-specific latent construct of risk perception; and to test whether consistency exists in participants’ disease-specific risk perceptions. Despite differences in responses to individual items, hypothesized models of perceived risk fit both age groups, suggesting that risk perception can be conceptualized in younger and middle-aged women as a multidimensional construct that is specific to disease yet reflective of global risk-related beliefs.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the research support provided by an Individual Development Award from United University Professors and funding from the Department of Psychology at Stony Brook University.

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  1. Jada G. Hamilton

    Present address: Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, Center for Cancer Training, Process of Care Research Branch, Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, 6130 Executive Boulevard, Room 4051C, MSC 7331, Bethesda, MD, 20892-7331, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    Jada G. Hamilton & Marci Lobel

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  1. Jada G. Hamilton
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  2. Marci Lobel
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Correspondence to Jada G. Hamilton.

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Hamilton, J.G., Lobel, M. Passing years, changing fears? Conceptualizing and measuring risk perceptions for chronic disease in younger and middle-aged women. J Behav Med 35, 124–138 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-011-9342-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-011-9342-8

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