Browsing by Subject "Beliefs"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Comparing Dysmenorrhea Beliefs and Self-Management Techniques Across Symptom-Based Phenotypes
    (Wiley, 2021) Rogers, Sarah K.; Rand, Kevin L.; Chen, Chen X.; Psychology, School of Science
    Objectives: To compare beliefs about dysmenorrhea and self-management techniques across three dysmenorrhea symptom-based phenotypes. Background: Many reproductive-age women experience dysmenorrhea, with varying symptoms and intensity. Dysmenorrhea symptom-based phenotypes have been identified in previous research, defining distinctive phenotypes of mild localised pain, severe localised pain, and multiple severe symptoms. It is unknown if women from different phenotypes hold different beliefs about dysmenorrhea or if they engage in different self-management techniques. Design: Quantitative secondary analysis of cross-sectional survey data. Methods: This online study surveyed 762 women with dysmenorrhea in the United States. Participants reported their dysmenorrhea symptom intensity, beliefs about dysmenorrhea (i.e. beliefs about consequences, timeline, controllability, symptom severity, normalcy, emotional response to symptoms and treatments) and self-management techniques to prevent or treat symptoms. Beliefs regarding dysmenorrhea and types of self-management techniques used were compared across three phenotypes utilising ANOVA tests and Tukey's HSD for pairwise comparisons. Reporting followed the STROBE guidelines. Results: Women with multiple severe symptoms had significantly more negative beliefs regarding dysmenorrhea and utilised significantly more self-management techniques than women with severe localised pain and women with mild localised pain. Women with severe localised pain had significantly more negative beliefs regarding dysmenorrhea and utilised significantly more self-management techniques than women with mild localised pain. Negative beliefs regarding dysmenorrhea included: consequences of dysmenorrhea, timeline of symptoms, personal and treatment control, symptom severity, normalcy of symptoms, emotional response to symptoms and willingness to utilise complementary medicine. Conclusion: Results further support the distinction between dysmenorrhea symptom-based phenotypes. Not only do women in different phenotypes experience different severity and number of dysmenorrhea symptoms, they also perceive and manage their dysmenorrhea differently. Relevance to clinical practice: These findings have implications for tailoring interventions to different dysmenorrhea symptom-based phenotypes.
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    Do beliefs about race differences in pain contribute to actual race differences in experimental pain response?
    (2018-12) Mehok, Lauren E.; Hirsh, Adam T.; Mosher, Catherine E.; Stewart, Jesse C.
    Chronic pain is a costly health problem that affects more than 100 million people in the United States. Race differences exist in the way that pain is experienced and in how it is treated. Many biopsychosocial factors contribute to race differences in pain tolerance. Beliefs about race differences in pain sensitivity may be one of these factors. Previous research has identified that individuals’ explicit beliefs about their gender group influence their own pain tolerance on a cold pressor task. Explicit beliefs about race and pain sensitivity have also been identified but have yet to be linked to actual pain tolerance. Implicit beliefs about race are well documented; however, little is known about the extent to which individuals hold implicit beliefs about race differences in pain sensitivity or whether these beliefs contribute to actual race differences in pain. My thesis examined explicit and implicit beliefs about race and pain and explored whether these beliefs moderated race differences in pain tolerance. I found that White participants had a higher pain tolerance than Black participants on the cold pressor task, U=1165.50, p<.01. Participants held the explicit, t(131)=-6.83, p<.01, and implicit, t(131)=6.35, p<.01, belief that White people are more pain sensitive than Black people. Both explicit, b=-0.37, p=.71, and implicit, b=-21.87, p=.65, beliefs failed to moderate the relationship between race and pain tolerance. Further exploration indicated that participants’ comparisons of their own pain sensitivity to that of their race group moderated the relationship between race and pain tolerance, ⍵=4.40, p=.04. These results provide further insight into race differences in pain tolerance. Researchers may consider examining explicit and implicit beliefs about race differences in pain in health care providers to better understand disparities in pain related recommendations.
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    Understanding the Challenges of HPV-Based Cervical Screening: Development and Validation of HPV Testing and Self-Sampling Attitudes and Beliefs Scales
    (MDPI, 2023-01-15) Tatar, Ovidiu; Haward, Ben; Zhu, Patricia; Griffin-Mathieu, Gabrielle; Perez, Samara; McBride, Emily; Lofters, Aisha K.; Smith, Laurie W.; Mayrand, Marie-Hélène; Daley, Ellen M.; Brotherton, Julia M. L.; Zimet, Gregory D.; Rosberger, Zeev; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    The disrupted introduction of the HPV-based cervical screening program in several jurisdictions has demonstrated that the attitudes and beliefs of screening-eligible persons are critically implicated in the success of program implementation (including the use of self-sampling). As no up-to-date and validated measures exist measuring attitudes and beliefs towards HPV testing and self-sampling, this study aimed to develop and validate two scales measuring these factors. In October-November 2021, cervical screening-eligible Canadians participated in a web-based survey. In total, 44 items related to HPV testing and 13 items related to HPV self-sampling attitudes and beliefs were included in the survey. For both scales, the optimal number of factors was identified using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and parallel analysis. Item Response Theory (IRT) was applied within each factor to select items. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to assess model fit. After data cleaning, 1027 responses were analyzed. The HPV Testing Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (HTABS) had four factors, and twenty-two items were retained after item reduction. The HPV Self-sampling Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (HSABS) had two factors and seven items were retained. CFA showed a good model fit for both final scales. The developed scales will be a valuable resource to examine attitudes and beliefs in anticipation of, and to evaluate, HPV test-based cervical screening.