Predictors of adopting the breast cancer preventive nutritional behaviors among women of reproductive age based on the Constructs of the Bandura Social Cognitive Theory

Introduction and Aim: With regard to the prominent role of behavior in the incidence of types of cancer, the present study was designed to determine predictors of adopting the breast cancer preventive nutritional behaviors among women of reproductive age residing in Davarsen city of Sabzevar County in Razavi Khorasan Province of Iran, based on the constructs of the Bandura s social cognitive theory, in 2017. Methods:The descriptive-analytical cross sectional study was conducted on 160 women of reproductive age residing in Davarsen city. Data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS and linear regression, Spearman s correlation, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. Results:The mean age of women of reproductive age was 32.6 years. The results of the Spearman’s correlation test showed that only awareness variable (r = 0.15, p <0.05) was significantly correlated with behavior and could predict 12% of changes in the breast cancer preventive nutritional behaviors in women (R2 = 1.2, F=5.48, p <0.001). Conclusion:Focusing on improving women s awareness of preventative nutritional behaviors is important to design the educational programs of breast cancer prevention.

Keywords:

Bandura cognitive-social theory , nutritional behaviors , breast cancer , predictors