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Home / American Journal of Health Behavior, Volume 39, Number 2

Getting Youth to Check it Out!®: A New Approach to Teaching Self-screening

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Objectives: To determine if intervention school students who received skills-based breast self-exam (BSE)/testicular self-exam (TSE) training were more likely than control school students to report higher intentions to perform BSE/TSE, greater BSE/TSE self-efficacy, and actual performance of BSE/TSE. Methods: BSE/TSE behaviors, intentions, and self-efficacy were assessed in a high school-based trial (N = 6 schools; 3 schools randomized/condition) using self-reported data at 3 time points (N = 1058, 9 th grade students). Results: At follow-up, intervention students had greater BSE/TSE intentions and self-efficacy than control students. Intervention students were more likely than control students to report monthly BSE (54.8% vs 27.2%, p = .031) and TSE (81.5% vs 31.4%, p = .010). Conclusions: Skills-based interventions with goal setting affect teenagers' self-examination behaviors, intentions, and self-efficacy. Teaching self-screening may empower teenagers to become more engaged in their preventive health, which may lead to improved health as they age.

Keywords: ADOLESCENT HEALTH PROMOTION; BREAST SELF-EXAM; GROUP RANDOMIZED TRIAL; TESTICULAR SELF-EXAM

Document Type: Research Article

Affiliations: 1: Division of Epidemiology, Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA. [email protected] 2: Student Health Services, California Maritime Academy, Vallejo, CA, USA 3: Life Skills Center, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA 4: Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA 5: Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

Publication date: 01 March 2015

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  • The American Journal of Health Behavior seeks to improve the quality of life through multidisciplinary health efforts in fostering a better understanding of the multidimensional nature of both individuals and social systems as they relate to health behaviors.

    The Journal aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of personal attributes, personality characteristics, behavior patterns, social structure, and processes on health maintenance, health restoration, and health improvement; to disseminate knowledge of holistic, multidisciplinary approaches to designing and implementing effective health programs; and to showcase health behavior analysis skills that have been proven to affect health improvement and recovery.

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